Tag Archives: 2007

Before the Beginning of Years

Video of Jon Sewell performing “Before the Beginning of Years”, the chorus to Atalanta in Calydon by Algernon Charles Swinburne, in 2007, five years prior to the Eleusyve Productions staging of The Rite of Sol, based on the Rites of Eleusis script by Aleister Crowley.

Living Gnosticism

Living Gnosticism: An Ancient Way of Knowing by Jordan Stratford, the 2007 paperback from Apocryphile Press, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

Jordan Stratford Living Gnosticism from Apocryphile

“Twenty two centuries ago in Alexandria, a sect of philosopher-poets fashioned a myth the strands of which weave through Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Greek philosophy, and inspired the legends of the Holy Grail. Long banished to the realm of notorious heresy, the myths of the Gnostics (‘knowers‘) took root in the fertile imagination of the nineteenth century’s artistic movements and esoteric circles, bearing fruit in the daily spiritual practice of thousands today. In 1945, a library of Gnostic writings surfaced from the Egyptian desert, allowing the movement—after 1500 years of propaganda and slander—to speak with its own voice. Rich in imagery, nostalgic in tone, Gnosticism quietly restores Wisdom to her place as Goddess in Western religion, reveres Eve as the first saint, and acknowledges Mary Magdalene as foremost of the Apostles.” — back cover


The Serpent Myth

The Serpent Myth by William Wynn Westcott and Arthur Edward Waite, edited by Darcy Kuntz, Vol 9 of the Golden Dawn Studies Series, the 2006 third revised and enhanced edition published by J D Holmes, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

William Wynn Westcott Arthur Edward Waite The Serpent Myth

“An excellent treatise on this ancient symbol from the inner knowledge of the Golden Dawn system. First edition published in 1996. Revised with A. E. Waite’s paper on the Serpent Myth in 2001.” [via]

The Enochian Experiments of the Golden Dawn

The Enochian Experiments of the Golden Dawn: Enochian Alphabet Clairvoyantly Examined by Florence Farr, edited with an introduction and notes by Darcy Kuntz, Vol 7 of the Golden Dawn Studies Series, the 2007 third revised edition published by J D Holmes, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

Florence Farr The Enochian Experiments of the Golden Gawn

“The experiments Farr conducted with the Sphere Group in 1901 with the events and experiences chronicled in her diary. Keys to the Enochian Language; a corrected Holy Table; and a rare full page plate also are included.” [via]

The Golden Thread

The Golden Thread: The Ageless Wisdom of the Western Mystery Traditions by Hermetic Library fellow Joscelyn Godwin, with an foreword by Richard Smoley, a 2007 paperback from Quest Books, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

Joscelyn Godwin The Golden Thread from Quest Books

“The ancient sages of the Western Mystery Traditions passed on a knowledge beyond reason, allowing us to access transcendent states that reveal our own nature and that of the cosmos. Such sages exist in every age and elevate all of humanity, says Joscelyn Godwin, whether we realize it or not. Among those whose wisdom traces from antiquity to the present include:

  • Hermes Trismegistus
  • Zoroaster
  • Orpheus
  • Pythagoras
  • Plato
  • the Gnostics, the alchemists
  • and the Rosicrucians, Freemasons, and Theosophists

Each stage is always with us, Godwin emphasizes, and so each offers a potential source of inspiration and action for today.” — back cover

 

The Hermetic Library Reading Room is an imaginary and speculative future reification of the library in the physical world, a place to experience a cabinet of curiosities offering a confabulation of curation, context and community that engages, archives and encourages a living Western Esoteric Tradition. If you would like to contribute to the Hermetic Library Reading Room, consider supporting the library or contact the librarian.

The Brotherhood of Light and Darkness

The Brotherhood of Light and Darkness by Jason Augustus Newcomb, the 2007 hardcover from New Hermetics Press, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

Jason Augustus Newcomb's The Brotherhood of Light and Darkness

“Alexander Sebastian is an armchair occult enthusiast who lack much direction in life, but his world is turned upside down when his police detective brother-in=law asks him to help identify some magical symbols scrawled at a gruesome, ritualistic homicide. The crime is so horrific that it almost seems the killer might be some sort of demonic creature.

Alex quickly becomes obsessed with the crime, wondering who could be practicing black magick right in his hometown of Arlington, Massachusetts. He decides to find out and is quickly drawn into the underground modern magick scene. He encounters a cast array of odd characters—an obese, narcissistic, drug peddling adept, a beautiful, coke-snorting, sex magick dominatrix, an insanely jealous Freemason who pontificates with a lisp, and many others. But is one of them a killer? Or is one of them a demonic conjurer?

To find out more, Alex joins the A∴R∴T∴, an international magical fraternity with a sinister reputation, discovering that the murder victim was a member of this group. He soon begins to have unusually vivid and peculiar dreams, and terrifying encounters with what appears to be the world of the supernatural. He can’t tell whether these experiences are magical attacks from the killer, or just the product of his overactive imagination. As he tried to separate fact from fiction, and find out who is responsible for murder, Alex also discovers the beginning of his personal spiritual journey into the world of magical awakening.

This story is drawn largely from Newcomb’s own personal experiences over the past twenty years actively participating in the modern magical community. It comes out of his real life encounters with secret magical fraternities and the unique, eccentric people that populate this sub-cultuer. Fans of Harry Potter or the DaVinci Code will discover what the world of magick and secret societies really looks like when you’re personally involved. It reveals the world of the unknown as it truly exists, with an insider’s view of the real world of Witches, Wizards, Rosicrucians and magical creatures.”

 

The Hermetic Library Reading Room is an imaginary and speculative future reification of the library in the physical world, a place to experience a cabinet of curiosities offering a confabulation of curation, context and community that engages, archives and encourages a living Western Esoteric Tradition. If you would like to contribute to the Hermetic Library Reading Room, consider supporting the library or contact the librarian.

Neopaganism

Hermetic Library fellow Mark Stavish pointed out a paper by Michael LaRiviere on “Neopaganism” over at Thoughts of Amherst which may be of interest. Mark says, “Are Second Generation NeoPagans More Conservative Than Their Parents? A well done undergraduate paper from Amherst (2007).”

“I first was curious about individuals’ spiritual and religious life, and I made a point to differentiate between the two points. For instance, I wondered if individuals’ beliefs may have conflicted with the religion’s stated beliefs, or if one’s personal rituals were less formalized than group religious rituals. The very nature of Neopaganism provides an interesting answer to this question, as the movement is much more individual-oriented than traditional old religions. However, in considering the question of personal spirituality versus religion, another question arose as to the evolution of the religion. Did subsequent generations of Neopagans have differing views on spirituality and religion? Considering the liberalization of Roman Catholicism over the past fifty years, I thought perhaps a similar trend might be seen in Neopaganism. The answers I found were surprising, reflecting simultaneous pulls in various directions.” [via]

New enlarged edition of The Secret Source

You may be interested in a new enlarged edition of The Secret Source: The Law of Attraction and its Hermetic Influence Throughout the Ages by Maja D’Aoust and Adam Parfrey published by Process Media.

“The new clothbound edition of The Secret Source includes a new chapter highlighting The Law of Attraction as promoted by secret societies through the ages, including Albert Pike for Scottish Rite Freemasonry, and new images from the fraternal brotherhoods.” [via]

“The Secret Source was originally published in 2007 with a paperback edition, and now it’s been released in an attractive hardcover edition with further material on Sex Magic of the 19th Century.” [via]