Mining the Hermetic, alchemical, and Neoplatonic influences behind the evolution of the deck, author Robert M. Place provides a historically grounded and compelling portrait of the Tarot's true origins, without overlooking the deck's mystical dimensions.Indeed, Place uncommonly weds reliable historiography with a practical understanding of the intuitive help and divinatory guidance that the cards can bring. He presents techniques that offer new and valuable ways to read and interpret the cards. Based on a simple three-card spread, Place's approach can be used by either the seasoned practitioner or the new inquirer.

    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.

    "To Ride a Silver Broomstick" presents both the science and religion of Witchcraft so you can become an active participant while growing at your own pace. This book is ideal for anyone, regardless of religious background: male or female, young or old, beginners and initiates.

    In order to decipher the true meaning of these symbols, the student must approach the Tarot with an open mind and an open spirit.This new approach to the study of the Tarot provides a clear but profound method of exploring and discovering your own inner depths, a necessary prerequisite to a thorough understanding of the ancient symbols. In addition, this handbook relates the Tarot to other occult sciences such as astrology, the cabala, and numerology. Here you will find basic lessons and exercises, procedures, and fundamental esoteric philosophy which will open up new dimensions to the inquiring mind, and allow you to fully comprehend the tarot and its powers of enlightenment and divination.

    Their supposed author, a mythical figure named Hermes Trismegistus, was thought to be a contemporary of Moses. The Hermetic philosophy was regarded as an ancient theology, parallel to the revealed wisdom of the Bible, supporting Biblical revelation and culminating in the Platonic philosophical tradition. This new translation is the only English version based on reliable texts, and Professor Copenhaver's introduction and notes make this accessible and up-to-date edition an indispensable resource to scholars.

    Some historical and other data are included to better illustrate the symbolism involved in modern candle burning. The modern rituals outlined in the book are based on practices which have been described by mediums, spiritual advisors, evangelists, and others who should be in a position to know. All the candle burning rituals include a Psalm best suited to the purpose you want to achieve, whether it is to find love, attain money, stop slander, overcome an enemy, or countless others. 106 pgs.

    With insight and depth impossible to gain from the commonly known sun-sign profiles, the enlightening self-portrait offered by the Nodes of the Moon can explain the life lessons you came here to learn and how to achieve the fulfillment and peace you desire. Jan Spiller shows you how to locate the all-important North Node of the Moon in your astrological chart and provides a detailed interpretation of its influence and exclusive exercises to help you learn about:• The SPECIAL TALENT that is waiting for you, a unique gift that could easily be turned into professional success• The SELF-DEFEATING TENDENCIES in your personality that can hold you back and sabotage relationships• The LOVE PARTNER who can be your soul mate—and the partner whose hold over you can lead to heartbreak• The TRAP or temptation from a past life that can lead to disaster if you are not forewarned• The HEALING AFFIRMATIONS designed to help you release your positive energy and strengthen the qualities that can bring you true happinessJan Spiller is nationally recognized as a leader in the astrology field. She is a faculty member of the American Federation of Astrologers and co-author of Spiritual Astrology.

    Its roots lie in the ancient pagan beliefs of our ancestors, who built many thousands of stones circles, long barrows and dolmens throughout ancient Europe. These same symbols and techniques were used by the pagan Celts and Germans. This book is a complete manual of magick based upon arcane symbolism and secret techniques. Contents: Meaning /Urda /Origins /Futhorc /Magical inscriptions / Memorial stones /Fascism / Titles / Cosmology / Nature / Qabala / Vision / Werdandi / Rune stance / Breathing/ Vowel song / Problems / Tune in / Health? / Divination / Alignments / Sigil sorcery / Seior and Seething / Energy /lda / Rune companion / Sources Jan Fries lives in Frankfurt near the Taunus Mountains. He is a musician, artist and magician. '...eminently practical and certainly breaks new ground.' - Ronald Hutton (author Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles) Recommended by The Cauldron 'a very meaty read...' PJ in Gippeswic Preface to the new edition When I went to school, my history teacher told us about the old Germani. In her opinion, the Taunus mountains were populated by a bunch of brawny brawlers who wore horned helmets and small pieces of pelt. They lived in hilltop settlements which were fortified by ringwalls. Barely able to manage agriculture, they had to rely on hunting to fill their stomachs. They lived in shabby huts with mud-plastered walls and when the Romans came, they fought the invaders with crude swords, pointy sticks and by hurling rocks at them... Nowadays, the ringwalls of the Taunus are known as the work of La Tene Celts, who lived on the heights in well organised cities. For this new edition much of the text has been rewritten and updated. A large section on the bronze ages, the Celts, Germani and the later Vikings added. The theme of Wodan and Helja has been elaborated with more detail on pagan Scandinavia. The chapter on magical rune inscriptions has been extended, on Seior/seething trances rewritten, the bibliography updated and twelve pages of new illustrations added.

    This powerful handbook teaches the fundamentals of raising, sensing, and directing energy with simple, focused training.Sharing colorful stories from her own magickal practice, author Mya Om addresses the most common reasons why spells don't work and gives helpful tips on how to rewrite or recast them so they do work.This engaging guide is filled with a variety of fun exercises you can use to develop your own spellcasting skills, from learning to sense your own energy to performing mirror magick.

    Such vivid and exciting personal accounts add greatly to the unique qualities of this work.The translation and notes by A.E. Waite are immaculate. Waite was a noted occult scholar of his day, teaching in both the Hermetic and Rosicrucian orders. Due to the high calibre of both author and editor, this book maintains its pre-eminent position in the literature of the magic arts.

    Partial Contents: Introduction to the study of Tarot; The General Key to the Tarot; The Sacred Word; Esotericism of Numbers; Key to the Minor and Major Arcana; Connection between the Major and Minor Arcana; Symbolism in the Tarot; History of the Symbolism of the Tarot; Androgony; Cosmogony; General Transition; Summary of the Symbolical Tarot; Key to the Applications of the Tarot; Astronomic Tarot; Initiative Tarot; Kabalistic Tarot; Authors who have interested themselves in the Tarot; Divining Tarot. Preface by A.E. Waite.

    This 600-year-old tradition reflects not only a history of seekers, but our journey of artistic expression and the ways we communicate our collective human story.For many in the West, Tarot exists in the shadow place of our cultural consciousness, a metaphysical tradition assigned to the dusty glass cabinets of the arcane. Its history, long and obscure, has been passed down through secret writing, oral tradition, and the scholarly tomes of philosophers and sages. Hundreds of years and hundreds of creative hands--mystics and artists often working in collaboration--have transformed what was essentially a parlor game into a source of divination and system of self-exploration, as each new generation has sought to evolve the form and reinterpret the medium.Author Jessica Hundley traces this fascinating history in Tarot, the debut volume in TASCHEN's Library of Esoterica series. The book explores the symbolic meaning behind more than 600 cards and works of original art, two thirds of which have never been published outside of the decks themselves. It's the first ever visual compendium of its kind, spanning from Medieval to modern, and artfully arranged according to the sequencing of the 78 cards of the Major and Minor Arcana. It explores the powerful influence of Tarot as muse to artists like Salvador Dal� and Niki de Saint Phalle and includes the decks of nearly 100 diverse contemporary artists from around the world, all of whom have embraced the medium for its capacity to push cultural identity forward. Rounding out the volume are excerpts from thinkers such as �liphas L�vi, Carl Jung, and Joseph Campbell; a foreword by artist Penny Slinger; a guide to reading the cards by Johannes Fiebig; and an essay on oracle decks by Marcella Kroll.

    A carefully chosen series of his instructions for concentration, meditation, magick, invocation, even sex magick are included. Crowley's descriptions of the teaching Orders A:.A:. and OTO are presented, along with the Creed of EGC. In addition, a suggested reading list of Crowley's "top-eleven" most important books is enhanced by an extensive bibliography for further in-depth research. This is the first and only introductory book that does not pretend to "improve" upon the Master's writings, but attempts to showcase them into a coherent introduction to his spiritual system. .A practicing occultist whose mastery of western magick and eastern mysticism was unsurpassed by any of his contemporaries, and who continues to be an icon for many of today's practicing magicians..The founder and prophet of the new religious movement of Thelema, best known by its oft-misunderstood catchphrase, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.".A prolific poet whose Collected Works, by age thirty, filled three volumes, and whose last published work, Olla, was subtitled Sixty Years of Song..A maverick mountaineer whose numerous innovations and world records in the sport are acknowledged by even his most vocal critics..An adventurer whose exploits in the far east were serialized by Vanity Fair magazine as "A Burmese River.".An impresario who took the violin troupe, the Ragged Ragtime Girls, on a tour of Russia..A British secret agent who marshaled his literary and occult connections to the service of his country, including (reputedly) the invention of the "V for Victory" sign as a magical antidote to the swastika..A ranked chess master who could trounce many players without even looking at the chess board..A pioneering entheogenic explorer who conducted psychedelic experiments with mescaline..Producer and star of The Rites of Eleusis, a series of ritualistic plays featuring an innovative blend of magick, drama, music and poetry. .One of the most unjustly vilified men in the history of journalism, garnering headlines like "The Wickedest Man in the World" and "A Man We'd Like To Hang."More mistruth and rumor has circulated about Aleister Crowley than perhaps any other figure in recent history. When the reporter Henry Hall introduced him to readers of the New York World Sunday Magazine, he wrote, "Some said that he was a man of real attainments, others that he was a faker. All agreed that he was extraordinary." Crowley openly defied social conventions, challenging people to examine what they really believed, and why they believed it. He confronted blind faith with rational skepticism. Yet he likewise challenged the skeptic with scientific illuminism, a systematic approach to spirituality that he described as "The method of science, the aim of religion."

    With never-before-seen material from Arthur Edward Waite's own secret order, an exploration of the world that inspired Pamela Colman Smith, and a practical guide to interpreting the cards, Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot will breathe new life into your readings.Drawing on Waite's unpublished writings, historic photographs of Smith, and much more, Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot unlocks the symbols and correspondences of the cards. Explore the comparisons between the court cards and the stage characters that influenced Smith; learn about her intuitive understanding of the Tree of Life and how that wisdom is reflected in her minor arcana. From stunning artwork and sample spreads to influential colors and music, this groundbreaking book draws back the curtain to reveal the true legacies of Waite and Smith.Praise: Astonishing revelations of Pixie Smith's contributions to the Tarot! Masterful, and not to be missed.--Mary K. Greer, author of The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals

    This text aims to help the reader discover how the heavens looked when they were born and to use the enclosed map to guide them to their true destiny.