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DE OCCULTA PHILOSOPHIA vol 1 by Agrippa – Hardcover Edition
I wanted to begin my own journey with a formal introduction to western esotericism from none other than H. Agrippa.
Physically speaking, this small volume is aesthetically pleasing in the extreme, and feels good to hold. The ribbon bookmark was much appreciated.
Content-wise, we have a lot said on divination, astrology, and looking at the natural world with a mixture of early-modern “science” and mysticism, to name just a few topics. I found the mixture of pretty much total hearsay (and even the occasional unhinged assertion) with likely-verifiable information pretty interesting from an academic standpoint, as I’m a historian by education. The way educated people thought about knowledge in the 16th century was somewhat different from our own, and lacked the rigor some of us are now used to. However, and I found this to perhaps be the most important concept that the work teaches, Agrippa reminds us, tantalizingly, that: “…none of this can simply be learned from books, but rather must be learned from experience…” I’m paraphrasing here, but the point stands. We must experiment, and not just read. Practice makes perfect.
As far as the quality of the translation – I simply can’t comment, as I don’t speak, read, or write Latin, and can’t compare an original Latin text with Mr. Young’s work. I have read on the web that Mr. Young as a translator is rather unknown outside of BLP’s publications, but I found his translations of the various poems in the text to be interesting as he was able to maintain rhyming schemes and a measure of meter.
While it remains to be seen how I will use the information presented in this work, I will certainly be grabbing the other three volumes to round out the simple and mundane start to my own path.
Rating: ★★★★★
—.:. LDE .:.
CROWN PRINCE OF THE SABBAT: Ars Diaboli by Mark Alan Smith (Limited Edition Hardcover Devil’s Harvest Edition)
The book arrived faster than I expected. I also did not expect such a hefty volume. This tome is heavy, both with pages and with knowledge. Reading through this book is the equivalent of studying for hours, with just the sheer amount of information that you are presented with. Some of it sticks right away, some does not, but as you read, that which did not make sense at first suddenly comes full circle and make perfect sense. Matters you never thought you could understand, Mark breaks them down so that you can grasp what he is speaking of. Very thought-provoking and informative.
Rating: ★★★★★
—Roger
OF COSMOGONIC EROS by Ludwig Klages – 2nd Edition Limited Edition Hardcover
Anacreon once said, “Again Eros struck me like a blacksmith wielding an enormous hammer and bathed me in an ice-cold torrent.”
Ludwig Klages’ seminal philosophical text elucidates what Eros-Phanes is (drive) but also what Eros is not (lust or Wolllust). This is not a sex magic book, but instead, one of a world-creating and primordial daimonic force.
“What liberates itself in ecstasy?” Klages asks; before further challenging the reader: “From what does it liberate itself?”
Samplings of Platonic gnosis abound throughout what can be considered a dense philosophical treatise that is wonderfully punctuated by a poesis often climaxing in lyrically-tangible beauty. While perhaps not for the beginner, a slow read whilst taking notes will yield new windows of exploration for the inquiring few.
Of Cosmogonic Eros is presented with a lengthy and detailed introduction by Professor Paul Bishop of the University of Glasgow.
The typesetting by Jessica Grote is classic Theion Publishing: scholarly with copious footnotes to guide the reader in their own research. Gorgeous Surbalin endpapers and a few black and white plates add brilliantly to the aura of this exquisite book.
David Beth is to be thanked for keeping Klages on the contemporary radar of inquisitive explorers who seek to liberate Soul from Spirit and into a visionary capacity of primal images.
Rating: ★★★★★
—Paul Roberts
GATEWAYS THROUGH STONE AND CIRCLE by Frater Ashen Chassan 10 year Anniversary Edition – Limited Edition Hardcover
Review title: “Ceremonial Magician Friend Simulator”. The book has been thoughtfully constructed, inside and out. (The book has no jacket; I wonder whether Mr. and Mrs. Roberts would consider, for an additional fee, affixing the cellophane-type library jackets to such hardcovers.) The text is legible; the illustrations and photographs are sharp. It goes without saying: Frater Ashen Chassan is the real deal. My impression is that Gateways Through Stone And Circle recreates to the extent possible in a written text the experience of having as a friend an accomplished ceremonial magician, and being able to receive answers from that friend to questions both practical (e.g., the fashioning of tools, proper recitations) and experiential (e.g. the experience of contact with a nonhuman intelligence). Why, even the author’s portrait (which I hope to have autographed at some point in the near future) seems to radiate good wishes to the reader. That said, the book is a sobering exposition of the work, time, and expense that must be expended in pursuit of this spiritual path. This work is not a casual hobby like painting model aircraft or collecting action figures from video games. This work demands commitment commensurate to that of earning a degree while working full time, or of studying and working as a deacon in one’s church. As Dr. Skinner says on page fifteen, “[t]his is a unique and valuable book…” My thanks to Frater Ashen Chassan and to the team that made this anniversary edition available to the magically-inclined reader.
Rating: ★★★★
—T
