Video from The Rite of Sol, The Chorus from Atalanta at Calydon, Before the Beginning of years as performed in 2012 by Eleusyve Productions in Seattle, WA.
Tag Archives: 2012
Vril
“Vril: The Power of the Coming Race” by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, from Edda, available in the US and Canada from J D Holmes, may be of interest.
“Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton’s cautionary tale of occult super-powers and advanced subterranean cultures have fascinated readers since 1871. Part early science-fiction, part educational tract, part occult romance, Vril keeps spellbinding readers thanks to its wide range of themes and emotions, as well as its thrilling sense of adventure.
A curious man descends into a mountain through a mine and experiences far more than he bargained for. Deep inside the mountain lies a completely different world. Its inhabitants, the Vril-ya, are human-like but physically superior and philosophically more advanced. They live in harmony made possible by their wisdom but also by the powerful and potentially destructive magical energy: Vril.
The impressed yet terrified visitor is allowed to stay and learn more about their ancient and advanced culture, something very few visitors have—it seems that all the previous adventurers have been mercilessly disposed of by the Vril-ya.”
Esotericism and the Academy
Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture by Wouter J Hanegraaff, from Cambridge University Press, previously only available as a 2012 hardcover, is due to release as a paperback tomorrow, March 6th, 2014.
“Academics tend to look on ‘esoteric’, ‘occult’ or ‘magical’ beliefs with contempt, but are usually ignorant about the religious and philosophical traditions to which these terms refer, or their relevance to intellectual history. Wouter Hanegraaff tells the neglected story of how intellectuals since the Renaissance have tried to come to terms with a cluster of ‘pagan’ ideas from late antiquity that challenged the foundations of biblical religion and Greek rationality. Expelled from the academy on the basis of Protestant and Enlightenment polemics, these traditions have come to be perceived as the Other by which academics define their identity to the present day. Hanegraaff grounds his discussion in a meticulous study of primary and secondary sources, taking the reader on an exciting intellectual voyage from the fifteenth century to the present day and asking what implications the forgotten history of exclusion has for established textbook narratives of religion, philosophy and science.” [via]
Feeders from Within
Hermetic Library fellow T Polyphilus reviews Feeders from Within by Peter J Evans, set in the Lovecraftian world of Arkham Horror.
Fantasy Flight Games has published two trilogies set in the Arkham Horror gaming milieu of 1930s Yog-Sothothery, but Feeders from Within is a standalone novel in the same setting, also using characters from the games. The principal protagonists here are drifting veteran Mark Harrigan, psychologist Carolyn Fern, and whistleblower cultist Diana Stanley. A few of Lovecraft’s own characters appear or enjoy mentions, most notably Dr. Henry Armitage, Miskatonic University librarian. With respect to the outré horrors they face, the book uses a synthesis of Lovecraft, Chambers, and Smith that has been established as canonical “mythos” in the game context.
The redoubtable fungus from Yuggoth is a prime culprit in this novel, and the story does indeed take on much of the paranoid mood of its Lovecraftian progenitor “The Whisperer in Darkness.” It is a fast read, with the ERB-cum-Hollywood sort of action story arc that builds to a final confrontation with … (that would be telling). Author Evans accomplishes the—in my opinion, most important—task of making the game characters interesting.
While not a high literary accomplishment, I found Feeders from Within to be compellingly savory textual junk food at the very least. The only real disappointment for me was Stephen Somers’ cover art, which, although it still accurately reflects the book’s contents (a scene from the prologue), didn’t seem up to the standard set by Anders Finér with the other Arkham Horror novels. [via]
Boom Festival 2012 Film The Alchemy Of Spirit (Part II of II)
Boom Festival 2012 Film – The Alchemy Of Spirit (Part II of II) from Boom Festival Official on Vimeo.
“Set during Boom Festival 2012 the documentary THE ALCHEMY OF SPIRIT tells the story of thousands of people from across the world, that come together every 2 years in the August full moon. Together they share the dream of a reality within and beyond this reality, where we can live in harmony with our planet and with each other.
It is a movie about Boomers that learn together about a different way of living, they co-create and share “out of the box” revolutionary ideas for change, to be spread like seeds.”
Boom Festival 2012 Film The Alchemy Of Spirit (Part II of II) is a video from Boom Festival added to the Hermetic Library video pool.
Hermetic Library Anthology Album Mega Pack for your last minute gifting needs in 2013
I wanted to mention again the previously announced ongoing special offer on the complete 2011-2013 music collection from the Hermetic Library Anthology Project which includes separate individual download codes for 9 complete Magick, Music and Ritual digital albums for an especially reasonable rate over buying each piecemeal. And, you know, since it’s all digital downloads, these are something that could be given last minute or even belatedly, if needs must and I would endeavor to help get you sorted in a timely fashion. You may be interested in this for your seasonal gifting needs at the end of 2013, or maybe for your own selfish but still completely valid wants.
All 9 anthology albums are available immediately, everything that has been released so far from the very first Yule 2011 issue through the newest Fall 2013 album recently released, and which completes the 2nd full year of albums, to coincide with astronomical Samhain, at 15° Scorpio.
These anthology albums offer the work of over 70 amazing musicians who are inspired by or incorporate the Western Esoteric Tradition into their work, and who have contributed their work to this benefit anthology album project. The entire 2011-2013 collection contains over 12 hours of music. Each album is a carefully created playlist that also combines with all the others into one enormous playlist as well.
The full list of musicians, artists, tracks and more can be found on the Hermetic Library’s Anthology Project Pages.
Downloads are available in your choice of high-quality MP3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. And, each download code can be used individually, or given out as gifts to friends and family.
Grab the entire collection today, either one of each album to get the whole collection or some combination of 9 download codes you desire to have or gift, in order to help support the continuing work of the Hermetic Library, help cover hosting costs and other expenses like materials acquisitions, and support new efforts and growth in the years to come!
The Invocation of Holy Fire
The Invocation of Holy Fire from The Rite of Mars featuring Kristin Holsather is a video with music and photos from Eleusyve Productions related to Aleister Crowley’s Rites of Eleusis. The music is from the upcoming production of Rite of Mars planned for 2014, which you can help make a reality, with photos from the 2012 live production of Rite of Sol. On the Eleuysve YouTube page, they are posting a new video each week in December 2013 featuring previews of Rite of Mars tracks.
“This is a musical interpretation of The Invocation of Holy Fire composed for The Rite of Mars, scheduled to be staged in 2014 by Eleusyve Productions. The vocal track is performed by Kristin Holsather performing at Aries, the same role she performed on stage in The Rite of Sol.
The photographs were taken in 2012 by Sandra Buskirk and Todd Gardiner during live presentations of The Rite of Sol.
The Invocation of Holy Fire is one of many ritual incorporate directly into The Rites of Eleusis by Aleister Crowley. While this ritual is not one of the rituals of The Golden Dawn that are incorporated elsewhere among The Rites of Eleusis (including The Lesser Banishing Ritual of The Pentagram, which is also featured during The Rite of Mars) this ritual does follow a formulaic structure similar to other Golden Dawn style workings and seems to be a variation on a similar theme.
Aleister Crowley’s invocations throughout these Rites, particularly his understanding of Mars, would have been informed by The Bartzabel Workings that took place in July of 1909 and the Enochian working detailed in The Vision and The Voice that took place later that year.
The Rites of Eleusis were originally stage at Caxton Hall in London during the Autumn of 1910. While some have expressed the opinion that these were intended to be private ceremonies for initiates only, an interesting argument given the presence of magickal rituals within the plays, all surviving documentation from playbills to diaries support the understanding that they were intentionally written and produced with an educated public in mind.”
The Kabbalah, Magick, and Thelema
The Kabbalah, Magick, and Thelema (Selected Writings, 2) [also] by Phyllis Seckler (Soror Meral), edited by Dr David Shoemaker et al., the 2012 hardcover limited edition of 666 from College of Thelema of Northern California (now the International College of Thelema) and Teitan Press, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.
“Phyllis Seckler (‘Soror Meral:’ 1917–2004) was introduced to the teachings of Aleister Crowley in the late 1930s and became a regular participant in the activities of Agape Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientis in California, and rose to become a Ninth Degree member of the ‘Sovereign Sanctuary of the Gnosis,’ and an Adeptus Minor of the A∴ A∴ The Kabbalah, Magick, and Thelema is the second volume of writings by Phyllis Seckler to be published by the College of Thelema of Northern California in association with The Teitan Press. Like the first volume, The Thoth Tarot, Astrology & Other Selected Writings, this collection is edited and introduced by three of Seckler’s former students: Rorac Johnson, Gregory Peters, and David Shoemaker, but this second volume additionally includes a short Foreword by one of her best-known early A∴ A∴ students, Lon Milo DuQuette.
In common with Crowley, Seckler found short, pithy essays, written in the form of ‘letters,’ to be an excellent and powerful teaching method, and the main body of this work comprises a series of these letters, covering diverse topics from kabbalah and the practice of ritual magic, through philosophy and spiritual enquiry to commentary on the Thelemic culture of the time. Originally published in Seckler’s journal In the Continuum, they are here presented for the first time in book form, accompanied by redrawn and corrected diagrams.
The book also reproduces a number of important letters that passed between Seckler and other significant figures in the history of post-Crowleyan Thelema, including Karl Germer, Israel Regardie, Grady McMurtry, Gerald Yorke, and Marcelo Motta. These letters, which cover matters as varied as the leadership succession of the O.T.O. and the thefts at Karl Germer’s library, are published here for the first time, as are a number of related photographs. ” [via]
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.
In the Center of the Fire
In the Center of the Fire: A Memoir of the Occult 1966-1989 by James Wasserman, the 2012 hardcover edition, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.
“In this daring exposé by a survivor of a unique era in the New York occult scene, James Wasserman, a longtime proponent of the teachings of Aleister Crowley, brings us into a world of candlelit temples, burning incense, and sonorous invocations. The author also shares an intimate look at the New York Underground of the 1970s and introduces us to the company of such avant-garde luminaries as Alejandro Jodorowsky, Harry Smith, and Angus MacLise. A stone’s throw away from the Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol’s Factory, William Burroughs’ ‘bunker,’ and the legendary Chelsea Hotel was a scene far more esoteric than perhaps even they could have imagined.
When James Wasserman joined the O.T.O. in 1976, there were fewer than a dozen members. Today the Order numbers over 4,000 members in 50 countries and has been responsible for a series of ground-breaking publications of Crowley’s works.
The author founded New York City’s TAHUTI Lodge in 1979. He chronicles its early history and provides a window into the heyday of the Manhattan esoteric community. He also breaks his decades of silence concerning one of the most seminal events in the development of the modern Thelemic movement — detailing his role in the 1976 magical battle between Marcelo Motta and Grady McMurtry. Long slandered for his effort to heal the temporary breach between the Orders of A∴A∴ and O.T.O., James Wasserman sets the record straight. And, he meticulously chronicles the copyright contest over the Crowley literary estate—of which he was an important participant.
This is also a saga with a very human tableau filled with tender romance, passionate friendships, an abiding spiritual hunger, danger, passion, and ecstasy. It also explores several hidden magical byways including the rituals of Voodoo, Tibetan Buddhism, and Sufism. Finally we are given a bird’s eye view of the 1960s hippie culture and its excesses of sex and drugs, and rock n roll—along with the personal transformations and penalties such a lifestyle brought forth.
Reconstructed from personal memories, magical diaries, multiple interviews, court transcripts, witness depositions, trial evidence, and extensive correspondence, this book elucidates a hitherto misreported and ill-understood nexus of modern magical history. It also shares tales of a mythical moment in American life as seen through the eyes of an enthusiastic participant in the hip culture of the day.”
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.
Hermetic Library Anthology Album Mega Pack – The Complete Music Collection 2011-2013
I am announcing a special offer on the complete 2011-2013 music collection from the Hermetic Library Anthology Project which includes download codes for 9 complete Magick, Music and Ritual digital albums.
The first 8 download codes are available immediately, everything that has been released so far from the very first Yule 2011 issue through the newest for Summer 2013. The 9th is a pre-order that will be sent to you once the Fall 2013 album is released, and completes the 2nd full year of albums, around early November, to coincide with astronomical Samhain, at 15º Scorpio.
These anthology albums offer the work of over 70 amazing musicians who are inspired by or incorporate the Western Esoteric Tradition into their work, and who have contributed their work to this benefit anthology album project. The entire 2011-2013 collection contains over 12 hours of music. Each album is a carefully created playlist that also combines with all the others into one enormous playlist as well.
The full list of musicians, artists, tracks and more can be found on the Hermetic Library’s Anthology Project Pages.
Downloads are available in your choice of high-quality MP3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. And, each download code can be used individually, or given out as gifts to friends and family.
Grab the entire collection today in order to help support the continuing work of the Hermetic Library, help cover hosting costs and other expenses like materials acquisitions, and support new efforts and growth in the years to come!