Tag Archives: Gordan Djurdjevic

Clavis Journal, Vol 3: Cipher and Stone

Clavis Journal, Vol 3: Cipher and Stone from Ouroboros Press and Three Hands Press, due in September, but available for pre-order, in standard and deluxe editions, may be of interest.

Clavis Journal 3

“At 216 pages, the new volume of Clavis features an outstanding grouping of authors and image-makers. Articles in this issue include ‘Our Lady Babalon and Her Cup of Fornications” by Gordan Djurdjevic, and esoteric astrologer Austin Coppock’s paean to dark and baneful starlight, “Death From Above”. Three adepts of the German magical order Fraternitas Saturni give voice to the magisterial arcanum of Saturn in the article ‘Listening to the Voice of Silence’. We are pleased to include ‘Rite of the Graal Evolute’, a previously unpublished ritual and art by the late English magus and scholar Andrew D. Chumbley. Gemma Gary invokes Bucca, the Cornish Witch-God in image, rite and magical exposition; Robert Hull examines the Qabalah of Quantum Physics in ‘Unity and Division’. Michael Howard explores the role of the first artificer of metal in ‘Masonic Mysteries of Tubal-Cain’, and Henrik Bogdan considers the esoteric role of Secrecy, the very flower of the Occult itself, in occult orders. In addition, we are also pleased to include rare occult texts relating to cheiromancy, witchcraft and the lore and magic of Mandragora – the Shrieking Root of the sorcerers.

CLAVIS 2 journal features haunting and provocative visuals from many contemporary artists imaging the esoteric: by Benjamin Vierling, Madeline von Foerster, Richard Kirk, Carolyn Hamilton-Giles, Tom Allen, Hagen von Tulien, Jamie Sweetman, Billy Davis, John Kleckner, Carlos Melgoza, Joseph Uccello, Raven Ebner, Brigid Marlin, Timo Ketola, Ilyas Phaizulline‏, José Luis Rodríguez Guerra, and many more.”

Unheard-of Curiosities at Alexander Library, Rutgers through July 3rd, 2014

Unheard-of Curiosities: An Exhibition of Rare Books on the Occult and Esoteric Sciences is an exhibition at Alexander Library, Rutgers University, through July 3rd, 2014 and may be of interest, especially as it includes two of Hermetic Library figure J F C Fuller‘s paintings.

“The Rutgers University Libraries invite members of the Rutgers community and the general public to view “Unheard-of Curiosities”: An Exhibition of Rare Books on the Occult and Esoteric Sciences, the new exhibition in Alexander Library. The exhibition will showcase rare books from Special Collections and University Archives that illuminate the enduring popular interest in a diverse constellation of “occult” topics from the sixteenth century to the present day.

Many of the books in the exhibition were collected by the late Rutgers Professor of English, Clement W. Fairweather, Jr and predominantly focus on astrology and early astronomy from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries including works ranging from Arati Solensis Phaenomena et Prognostica (1569) to William Lilly’s Starry Messenger (1645) to the colorful Astrologer of the 19th Century and intriguing Raphael’s Witch!! Other titles featured explore topics such as prediction and prophecy, demons and the devil, witchcraft and magic, and the mysteries of ancient Egypt. The exhibition also highlights the exquisite illustrations of the tablet of Isis in the Mensa Isaica (1671), the whimsical The Magic Mirror of Nostradamus, and Book Four (1911), the work of the infamous Aleister Crowley.”

Apparently there was also a colloquium, on Jun 23rd, on “The Soldier and the Seer: J.F.C. Fuller, Aleister Crowley, and the British Occult Revival” with Henrik Bogdan, Christian Guidice, Gordan Djurdjevic, Richard Kaczynski and Robert Stein; and that probably would have been of great interest, as it relates to both J F C Fuller and Hermetic Library figure Aleister Crowley and their interrelationship, if I’d been able to post about it before it was too late to attend.

Fifth International Conference of the ASE on Jun 19-22nd, 2014 at Colgate University

The Fifth International Conference of the Association for the Study of Esotericism on June 19th–22nd, 2014 at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. The conference schedule has recently been posted and you will find quite a few presenters and presentations of interest including a couple by Hermetic library fellows:

· Mark Stavish, Israel Regardie and the Theory and Practice of the Middle Pillar Exercise
· Joscelyn Godwin, Esotericism in a Murky Mirror: Strange Practices in Central New York.

Do check out the whole schedule, but a selection of the other presentations, that catch my eye, includes:

· John L Crow (Thelema Coast to Coast), The Theosophical Shift to the Visual: Graphical Representations of the Human Body in the Literature of Second and Third Generation Leadership in the Theosophical Society
· Simon Magus, The fin de siècle magical aesthetic of Austin Osman Spare: Siderealism, Atavism, Automatism, Occultism
· David Pecotic, Building Subtle Bodies — Gurdjieff’s esoteric practice of conditional immortality in the light of Poortman’s concept of hylic pluralism in the history of religions
· Richard Kaczynski, Inventing Tradition: The Construction of History, Lineage and Authority in Secret Societies
· Wouter Hanegraaff, The Transformation of Desire in Machen’s & Waite’s House of the Hidden Light
· Sarah Veale, Disenchantment of the Vampire: Balkan Folklore’s Deadly Encounter with Modernity
· Gordan Djurdjevic, “In Poison there is Physic”: On Poisons and Cures in Some Strands of Esoteric Theory and Practice.

Clavis Journal, Vol 2: The Cloister Perilous

The Cloister Perilous is volume 2 of Clavis: Journal of Occult Arts, Letters and Experience which is a collaboration between Ouroboros Press and Three Hands Press. This issue, due in October, is available for pre-order and will come in a standard as well as a limited to 125 copies deluxe edition, which last is bound in burgundy goat and comes with a lithograph by Carolyn Hamilton-Giles.

Ouroboros Press Three Hands Press Clavis Journal No 2

“CLAVIS Editions announces the second volume of Clavis: A Journal of Occult Arts, Letters, and Experience. Featuring an outstanding grouping of authors and image-makers, its nominative adumbration ‘The Cloister Perilous’ follows the apocryphal eponym ‘Of Keys, Locks, and Doors’ attributed to Volume 1.

Articles in this issue include ‘Our Lady Babalon and Her Cup of Fornications’ by Gordan Djurdjevic, and esoteric astrologer Austin Coppock’s paean to dark and baneful stellar emanation, ‘Death From Above’. Three adepts of the German magical order Fraternitas Saturni bring forth Gold from Lead, giving voice to the magisterial arcanum of Saturn in the article ‘Listening to the Voice of Silence’, accompanied by the artwork of Albin Grau and Hagen von Tulien. We are also pleased to include ‘Rite of the Graal Evolute’, a previously unpublished ritual and art by the late English magus and scholar Andrew D. Chumbley. Traditional witch Gemma Gary invokes Bwcca, the Cornish Witch-God, in arresting image, rite and magical exposition. Esoteric scholar Henrik Bogdan considers the esoteric role of Secrecy, the very flower of the Occult itself, as it relates to secret societies. Lloyd Graham writes of the magical talismans of Arabian magic, and Aaron Picirillo examines magical self-fashioning. Robert Hull examines the Qabalah of Quantum Physics in ‘Unity and Division’. Michael Howard’s essay ‘Masonic Mysteries of Tubal-Cain’ explores the role of the first artificer of metal in several occult orders. In addition, volume 2 includes several rare occult texts relating to cheiromancy, natural magic, witchcraft and the lore and magic of the Mandragora — the Shrieking Root of the sorcerers.

At 216 pages, CLAVIS Journal 2 features haunting and provocative visuals from many contemporary artists imaging the esoteric: by Madeline von Foerster, Richard Kirk, Carolyn Hamilton-Giles, Tom Allen, Jamie Sweetman, Billy Davis, John Kleckner, Carlos Melgoza, Joseph Uccello, Raven Ebner, Brigid Marlin, Timo Ketola, Ilyas Phaizulline, José Luis Rodríguez Guerra, and many more.” [via]

Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism, Part 1 of 3

Hermetic Library fellow T Polyphilus posts the first part of a response to Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism, ed. Henrik Bogdan and Martin P Starr, from Oxford University Press, over on his blog at “Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism, Part 1 of 3” which speaks to essays by Alex Owen, Marco Pasi, Henrik Bogdan, Gordan Djurdjevic, and Richard Kaczynski.

“Last year, Oxford University Press published a groundbreaking collection of academic studies concerning Aleister Crowley and his place in modern intellectual and religious history. The component chapters of Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism had been written at various points in the last twenty years, and taken together they demonstrate the considerable breadth of relevant subject matter. I am in the process of reading the chapters that I hadn’t yet gotten around to exploring, and I’ll be registering my reactions to all of the book’s contents in a short series of posts here.” [via]

Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism

You may be interested in Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism (and via Amazon), edited by Henrik Bogdan and Martin P. Starr, and scheduled for August 2012 from Oxford University Press and September via other retailers like Amazon. The hardcover is listed at a steep $99, but there’s a $35 paperback due in Sept (and via Amazon).

“Henrik Bogdan and Martin P. Starr offer the first comprehensive examination of one of the twentieth century’s most distinctive occult iconoclasts. Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was a study in contradictions. He was born into a Fundamentalist Christian family, then educated at Cambridge where he experienced both an intellectual liberation from his religious upbringing and a psychic awakening that led him into the study of magic. He was a stock figure in the tabloid press of his day, vilified during his life as a traitor, drug addict and debaucher; yet he became known as the perhaps most influential thinker in contemporary esotericism.

The practice of the occult arts was understood in the light of contemporary developments in psychology, and its advocates, such as William Butler Yeats, were among the intellectual avant-garde of the modernist project. Crowley took a more drastic step and declared himself the revelator of a new age of individualism. Crowley’s occult bricolage, Magick, was a thoroughly eclectic combination of spiritual exercises drawing from Western European ceremonial magical traditions as practiced in the nineteenth-century Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Crowley also pioneered in his inclusion of Indic sources for the parallel disciplines of meditation and yoga. The summa of this journey of self-liberation was harnessing the power of sexuality as a magical discipline, an instance of the “sacrilization of the self” as practiced in his co-masonic magical group, the Ordo Templi Orientis. The religion Crowley created, Thelema, legitimated his role as a charismatic revelator and herald of a new age of freedom under the law of “Do what thou wilt.”

The influence of Aleister Crowley is not only to be found in contemporary esotericism-he was, for instance, a major influence on Gerald Gardner and the modern witchcraft movement-but can also be seen in the counter-culture movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and in many forms of alternative spirituality and popular culture. This anthology, which features essays by leading scholars of Western esotericism across a wide array of disciplines, provides much-needed insight into Crowley’s critical role in the study of western esotericism, new religious movements, and sexuality.” [via]

“Foreword – Wouter J. Hanegraaff
1. Introduction – Henrik Bogdan and Martin P. Starr
2. The Sorcerer and His Apprentice: Aleister Crowley and the Magical Exploration of Edwardian Subjectivity – Alex Owen
3. Varieties of Magical Experience: Aleister Crowley’s Views on Occult Practice – Marco Pasi
4. Envisioning the Birth of a New Aeon: Dispensationalism and Millenarianism in the Thelemic Tradition – Henrik Bogdan
5. The Great Beast as a Tantric hero: The Role of Yoga and Tantra in Aleister Crowley’s Magick – Gordan Djurdjevic
6. Continuing Knowledge from Generation unto Generation: The Social and Literary Background of Aleister Crowley’s Magick – Richard Kaczynski
7. Aleister Crowley and the Yezidis – Tobias Churton
8. The Frenzied Beast: The Phaedran Furores in the Rites and Writings of Aleister Crowley – Matthew D. Rogers
9. Aleister Crowley: Freemason! – Martin P. Starr
10. “The One Thought that was not Untrue”: Aleister Crowley and A. E. Waite – Robert R. Gilbert
11. The Beast and the Prophet: Aleister Crowley’s Fascination with Joseph Smith – Massimo Introvigne
12. Crowley and Wicca – Ronald Hutton
13. Through the Witch’s Looking Glass: The Magick of Aleister Crowley and the Witchcraft of Rosaleen Norton – Keith Richmond
14. The Occult Roots of Scientology? L. Ron Hubbard, Aleister Crowley and the Origins of the World’s Most Controversial New Religion – Hugh Urban
15. Satan and the Beast. The Influence of Aleister Crowley on Modern Satanism – Asbjorn Dyrendal” [via]