Tag Archives: 2005

Lark in the Morning

Lark in the Morning: The Verses of the Troubadours, a Bilingual Edition by Robert Kehew, with both French and English, translations by Ezra Pound, W D Snodgrass and Robert Kehew, a 2005 paperback from University of Chicago Press, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

Robert Kehew Lark in the Morning from University of Chicago Press

“Although the troubadours flourished at the height of the Middle Ages in southern France, their songs of romantic love, with pleasing melodies and intricate stanzaic patterns, have inspired poets and song writers ever since, from Dante to Chaucer, from Renaissance sonneteers to the Romantics, and from Verlaine and Rimbaud to modern rock lyricists. Yet despite the incontrovertible influence of the troubadours on the development of both poetry and music in the West, there existed no comprehensive anthology of troubadour lyrics that respected the verse form of the originals until now.

Lark in the Morning honors the meter, word play, punning, and sound effects in the troubadours’ works while celebrating the often playful, bawdy, and biting nature of the material. Here, Robert Kehew augments his own verse translations with those of two seminal twentieth-century poets—Ezra Pound and W. D. Snodgrass—to provide a collection that captures both the poetic pyrotechnics of the original verse and the astonishing variety of troubadour voices.” — back cover

 

“Now when I see the skylark lift
His wings for joy in dawn’s first ray
Then let himself, oblivious, drift
For all his heart is glad and gay,
Ay! such great envies seize my thought
To see the rapture others find,
I marvel that desire does not
Consume away this heart of mine.”
—from “The Skylark” by Bernart de Ventadorn, trans. W D Snodgrass

 

Re-discovering Mary Magdalene

Re-discovering Mary Magdalene is a DVD, still available from Star Wisdom Store, produced and narrated by Lila Sophia and David Tresemer, from 2005, which is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

David Tresemer Lila Sophia Re-discovering Mary Magdalene

I picked this up as part of my personal research, and for a short-lived study group I helped organize, on the topic of Magdalene as a suggested theme for BC Witchcamp, back in ’08.

“Who was Mary Magdalene? In 600 AD, Pope Gregory labeled her a penitent prostitute. Yet there are no direct reference in the Bible to confirm this label—none! The Christian Gospels do tell us, however, that she was permitted to perform the anointing of Jesus Christ, a task traditionally reserved for the senior priestess in the Isis tradition. Who is this mysterious woman and how do we find her?

This film incorporates excerpts from the theatrical production ‘My Magdalene,’ along with research on the making of that play, including visits to sacred sites in Europe and the Middle East. The community brought together to produce the play becomes a Mary Magdalene community. Take a journey of Remembrance to the roots of the Sacred Feminine in western culture.” — back cover

The Battle of Blythe Road

The Battle of Blythe Road: A Golden Dawn Affair: Aleister Crowley and the Revolt of the Adepti edited and introduced by Darcy Kuntz, with material on and from Aleister Crowley, William Wynn Westcott, William Butler Yeats, Florence Farr and more from a pivotal moment for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Western esotericism as a whole, Vol 14 of the Golden Dawn Studies Series, the 2005 second edition published by J D Holmes, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

Darcy Kuntz The Battle of Blythe Road

“The history of the magical battle that Crowley ignited so he could win control of the Second Order of the Golden Dawn. Included are a number of the official documents that were issued as fallout from the events and excerpts from Crowley’s diary from that period.” [via]

The Magic of a Symbol

The Magic of a Symbol by Florence Farr, edited with an introduction by Darcy Kuntz, Vol 6 of the Golden Dawn Studies Series, the 2005 second revised edition published by J D Holmes, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

Florence Farr The Magic of a Symbol

“This book contains Florence Farr’s ideas on Symbolism, the Kabbalah, Egyptian Magic, the Vedanta, Rosicrucians, Alchemy and the Tree of Life. Edited with Introductory Note by Darcy Kuntz.” [via]

The Serpent’s Path

The Serpent’s Path: The Magical Plays of Florence Farr, compiled, edited and introduced by Darcy Kuntz, Vol 25 of the Golden Dawn Studies Series, the 2005 revised edition published by J D Holmes, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

Florence Farr The Serpent's Path from Golden Dawn Studies Series

This volume contains four plays by Florence Farr: The Beloved of Hathor, The Shrine of the Golden Hawk, The Mystery of Time, and A Dialogue of Vision.

Thunder Perfect Mind

“Thunder Perfect Mind” is a video of a Jordan Scott & Ridley Scott film for a 2005 Prada ad, staring Daria Werbowy, music composed by John Altman, and words selected from “Thunder, Perfect Mind”, one of the Gnostic texts found at Nag Hammadi [HT Jordan Stratford]

Thunder, Perfect Mind (excerpt)
Translated by George W MacRae, in The Nag Hammadi Library

“For I am the first and the last.
I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.
I am and the daughter.
I am the members of my mother.
I am the barren one
and many are her sons.
I am she whose wedding is great,
and I have not taken a husband.
I am the midwife and she who does not bear.
I am the solace of my labor pains.
I am the bride and the bridegroom,
and it is my husband who begot me.
I am the mother of my father
and the sister of my husband
and he is my offspring.
I am the slave of him who prepared me.
I am the ruler of my offspring.
But he is the one who begot me before the time on a birthday.
And he is my offspring in (due) time,
and my power is from him.
I am the staff of his power in his youth,
and he is the rod of my old age.
And whatever he wills happens to me.
I am the silence that is incomprehensible
and the idea whose remembrance is frequent.
I am the voice whose sound is manifold
and the word whose appearance is multiple.
I am the utterance of my name.”

Sabazius has posted a particular story of Thelema and Prison Ministry

Sabazius has posted a particular story of Thelema and Prison Ministry over on his blog at “DRW” which may be of interest.

“While in prison awaiting his eventual execution, Wallace turned to contemplation of his crimes and their ramifications, and, as a result, began to study philosophy. His studies led him to Thelema, and this led him to begin corresponding with O.T.O. some time around 1997 e.v., or a bit before. He was a prolific, avid correspondent. He corresponded with one of our E.G.C. bishops on a regular basis for many years, and later also corresponded with a number of other volunteers in our Prison Ministry program. In his correspondence, he proved to be a highly intelligent, literate, articulate, and perceptive individual, who identified himself as a Thelemite and felt changed by his acceptance of the Law of Thelema. In his correspondence, as well as in an interview before his execution, he acknowledged full personal responsibility for his crimes, and expressed remorse over having committed them.” [via]

Thelema Coast to Coast #04: May 14, 2005

In Thelema Coast to Coast #04: May 14, 2005, which you can listen to via Episode #4, there’s an interview with Tony Stansfeld-Jones, the son of Charles Stansfield Jones, Frater Achad. You can read quite a few of the works by Frater Achad over at The Qabalistic and Thelemic Works of Frater Achad.

I’ve also gone ahead and added a stub entry for Charles Stansfeld Jones at the Hermeneuticon wiki. Yeah, and I’ve also tried to fix a few places where I’d spelled “Stansfeld” wrong on pages in the library, even on pages in the Frater Achad section.

Thelema Coast to Coast #03: May 7, 2005

For one of the earliest shows, Thelema Coast to Coast #03: May 7, 2005, which you can listen to via Episode #3, there’s an interview with Richard Kaczynski about the original publication of Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley, which recently saw a major update.

And, if you’re interested in biographies of Aleister Crowley, you may want to check out the upcoming publication of Aleister Crowley: The Biography: Spiritual Revolutionary, Romantic Explorer, Occult Master and Spy by Tobias Churton, due to arrive Sept 2011. Apparently this work has materials that aren’t in Perdurabo, so they could make a good combination for your own library.