Tag Archives: Starfire Publishing

Nightside of Eden

Nightside of Eden by Kenneth Grant is being republished by Starfire Publishing, and is scheduled for release in March, 2014. It is currently on pre-order in both a standard edition, available directly and, for US and CA, from J D Holmes, and in a deluxe edition available directly.

“The republishing of the Typhonian Trilogies continues with the release in March 2014 of the fourth volume in the series, Nightside of Eden, which opens the second of the three trilogies. Originally published by Muller in 1977, it was subsequently reissued by Skoob Publishing in 1994. This new edition of 1500 copies is freshly typeset in an octavo format of 316 pages. Sewnbound hardback, with a frontispiece, a twenty-page section of plates, illustrated endpapers and a full-colour dustjacket, this republication integrates the errata from the Skoob edition within the text, and incorporates further corrections noted subsequently in Kenneth Grant’s personal copy of the book. Many of the plates have been rephotographed, and some are printed in colour.” [via]

“There exists a map of consciousness, with its light and dark byways, in the form of a qabalistic glyph known as the Tree of Life. It has its roots in the primal earth of Eden, but its branches extend into extra-terrestrial dimensions. This Tree, which is a familiar concept to mystics and magicians alike, has another side, a nightside which receives but passing mention in contemporary manuals of occultism; as if the ancient writings of the Arabs and Jews contained allusions to mere figures of speech and monstrous fancies.

Nightside of Eden interprets the symbolism of the Tree of Death, the ‘other’ side of the Tree of Life which forms the basis of the Western Occult Tradition. Kenneth Grant, whose Typhonian Trilogies have infused new life and meaning into ancient and forgotten mysteries, here provides an exhaustive survey of the other side of the Tree, haunted by dark forces that are today seeping insidiously into human consciousness and threatening it with violent disruption. The creative magical current represented by Aleister Crowley, Charles Stansfeld Jones, Austin Osman Spare, and in our day by Michael Bertiaux, Margaret Cook, and others, is here traced to its source in the formless voids beyond the threshold of mentation.

Nightside of Eden is an explication of the Cult of Choronzon and an initiated exposition of the Mysteries of the Left-Hand Path in relation to Western Occultism. Here, for the first time, the head of a genuine Magical Organization reveals the esoteric doctrines of the ‘black’ magic of the Left-Hand Path, as well as the practical application of psycho-sexual formulae of which very little is generally known.

The book is illustrated not only with the demonic sigils of the ‘other side’, which make of it a grimoire of the Dark Doctrine, but also by curious works of siderealism, or stellar art, sprung from the New Aeon consciousness which permeates those occult Orders working in harmony with the Typhonian Tradition.” [via]

The Magical Revival

The Magical Revival [also, also] by Kenneth Grant, the 2010 standard edition hardcover from Starfire Publishing, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

“When the original manuscript of this book was submitted for publication the author was told he had provided ‘too much material for one book’. This proved to be correct. The work here presented—in an enhanced edition—became the first volume of three Trilogies. They deal with a detailed analysis of certain occult traditions which existed long before the Christian epoch, survived its persecutions and anathemas, and reappeared in recent times with renewed vigour.

The continuity of this magical current as reflected in the work of Aleister Crowley, Austin Osman Spare, Dion Fortune and others is here traced through the Tantrik Tradition of the Far East, the Sumerian Cult of Shaitan and the Draconian, Sabian, or Typhonian rites of the ‘dark’ dynasties of ancient Egypt.

Sexual magick and mysterious rites have always been practiced; drugs and other substances have constantly been used to induce ecstasy, to produce visions and to facilitate traffic with the denizens of other worlds or planes of consciousness; but an initiated rationale of the process such as presented here has been rarely forthcoming.

The genuine magical tradition as revived by Adepts like Crowley is here related to its ancient sources and brought into line with phases of contemporary occultism that are evolving a New Gnosis to supercede the sterile superstitions bred of an aeon-long misunderstanding of the old.

As a contribution to occult lore, The Magical Revival and its companion volumes have become standard source-books in their special field.” — flap copy

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 Primal Grimoire

The Primal Grimoire is a new web-based forum organized around the work and legacy of Kenneth Grant and the Typhonian Mysteries, and so may be of interest.

“The discussion site ‘The Primal Grimoire’, focusing on the work of Kenneth Grant and the Typhonian Tradition, is now open for access and participation. The site guidelines are at present informal and common-sense: be courteous, remain on-topic, and do not post copyright-infringing material. Posts will be moderated where such simple criteria are not understood.

There are at present three boards. The first concentrates on Grant’s magical and mystical development, with a number of sub-forums each covering a phase of development. The second covers Grant’s published work, with sub-forums for such categories as the Typhonian Trilogies, the Nightside Narratives, the Carfax Monographs. The third board focuses on Grant’s legacy and how it might develop.” [via]

Artwork for sale by Kyle Fite

Artwork for sale by Kyle Fite, over at Starfire Publishing, may be of interest. There’s quite a few pieces of art available, with esoteric and occult themes, and a gallery of previously sold artwork to gander through as well.

La Sirene — “The Mermother and Maiden of the Deep as Maga of Oceanic Gnosis”

The Emperor (Tzaddi is not the Star) — “An interpretation of the Tarot Card of the same name.”

Master Beyond Time — “A Vision and Icon of the Cosmic Christ.”

Gamaliel & Dance, Doll, Dance!

Gamaliel: The Diary of a Vampire & Dance, Doll, Dance by Kenneth Grant, the 2003 hardcover edition from Starfire Publishing, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

“The series of Nightside Narratives by Kenneth Grant continues with a further two tales. The first, Gamaliel: The Diary of a Vampire, presents the history of a woman, Vilma, who attempts to invoke unseen Intelligences but takes a wrong turn. She loses her way in the Gamaliel, the Qliphoth of Yesod, and eventually succumbs to vampiric possession. Her story unfolds as extracts from her Magical Diary, the editor of which makes a horrifying discovery as the Diary closes.

Dance, Doll, Dance! is an account of Tantric Sorcery. It centres upon the fatal emanations of an idol, bequeathed to the narrator of the tale. It becomes clear from a sinister pattern of events that the idol thrives on blood and sexual rites. The narrator is enmeshed in a nefarious web of intrigue and allure and his energies are vampirised, culminating in a cataclysmic sexual rite based on the Dakshina Kalika Yantra.

These two tales, like the others in this series, illumine the darkly obsessive forces that are erupting in our midst with all the violence of profound and massive psychoses. But, as demonstrated by these disturbing documents, it is possible to control such influences and to direct them towards the exploration of little-known and creatively fertile regions of consciousness.”

Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God

Starfire Publishing is soon releasing a new re-issue of Kenneth Grant’s Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God. The standard edition hardcover of 1500 copies will be available in the new year directly from Starfire in the UK and Europe or J D Holmes in the US and Canada, and there will be two editions. The deluxe edition limited to 111 copies is available directly from Starfire, “bound in hand-made paper, with an additional leather quarter-binding across the spine. The book will be slip-cased, with full-colour dust-jacket, and come with black and white custom printed endpapers, and with top and tail bands to the binding. Each copy will be hand-numbered, and signed by Steffi Grant.”

“The republishing of the Typhonian Trilogies continues with the second volume in the series, Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God, first published by Muller in 1973 and subsequently reissued by Skoob Publishing in 1992. This new edition of 1500 copies is freshly typeset in an octavo format of 246 pages. Sewnbound hardback, with a sixteen-page section of plates, illustrated endpapers and a full-colour dustjacket, this republication integrates the errata from the Skoob edition within the text, and incorporates further corrections noted subsequently in Kenneth Grant’s personal copy of the book. Where possible, plates have been rephotographed, and some are presented in colour. There are also some new plates included by Steffi Grant.” [via]

“Aleister Crowley vowed to free man from bondage by showing him how to invoke his latent genius ─ the Hidden God. It is characteristic of Crowley that to this end he utilised the mysterious energies of sex: the most potent, most obsessive of man’s illusions which, if used unintelligently, strengthens the false sense of individual existence that divorces him from the fullness of cosmic consciousness.

Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God is an exhaustive and critical study of Crowley’s system of sexual magick and the strange rites which he practised and advocated for the purpose of promoting the Law of Freedom with its formula of “Love under Will”. The book reveals the occult workings of the Fire Snake or Kundalini-Goddess, the cosmic power in man which, when awakened by magical means, assumes an external form identified by Crowley as the Scarlet Woman, she who influences the secret power-zones in the body of man and invokes the Hidden God.

Here Kenneth Grant also describes a method of dream control involving the use of the Ophidian Current transmitted by Crowley, Spare, Fortune, Grosche, and others. Its object is to establish contact with extra-terrestrial and non-human beings with the ultimate purpose of transcending the limitations of personality and of realising cosmic consciousness, thus fulfilling the magical formula of the New Aeon.

Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God is here republished in an enhanced edition. Freshly typeset, it incorporates the errata from the Skoob reissue as well as correcting anomalies on the basis of annotations in Kenneth Grant’s personal copy. Some of the existing plates will be present in colour; and there will be some new plates by Steffi Grant as well, one of which is here illustrated at the right. Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God is issued in both a standard and a limited, numbered and signed edition.” [via]

Beelzebub and the Beast

Beelzebub and the Beast [also] by David Hall is a “an engrossing comparative study of two of the Twentieth Century’s most colourful gurus, George Gurdjieff and Aleister Crowley.” The title is due to be available in October from Starfire Publishing with a deluxe edition available in November. Pre-orders are available in the US and Canada through J D Holmes and elsewhere directly from the publisher.

“David Hall, who died in 2007, will be a familiar name to many as one of the founders and editors of SOTHiS, the substantial and diverse Thelemic magazine which was published from the United Kingdom in the 1970s. David was passionately interested in the work of Gurdjieff as well as that of Crowley, and in the early to mid 1970s he wrote this penetrating study comparing the work of both men. Unfortunately it failed to find a publisher at the time, although publication was referenced as forthcoming in Kenneth Grant’s Nightside of Eden. (Muller, 1977)

Crowley took an interest in the work of the Greek-Armenian occultist G. I. Gurdjieff, and visited Gurdjieff’s Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in Fontainebleau in 1924 and 1926. There have been other comparative studies of the work of the two men, the most recent being The Three Dangerous Magi by P. T. Mistlberger (O Books, 2010).

Examining in turn the life and work of the two men at various levels, the author discerns a common source. Commenting circa 1919 on the first chapter of The Book of the Law, Crowley wrote ‘Aiwaz is not as I had supposed a mere formula, like many angelic names, but is the true most ancient name of the God of the Yezidis, and thus returns to the highest Antiquity. Our work is therefore historically authentic, the rediscovery of the Sumerian Tradition’. Similarly, the author here shows that the roots of Gurdjieff’s work can be traced to the same source.

With a full-colour wrap-around dustjacket, a substantial Foreword by Alistair Coombs, plates, tables and line-drawings throughout the text, a Bibliography, a comprehensive Index, and an Afterword about the author, this book will be of considerable interest to many.” [via]

“Limited Edition of 750 copies only. A Fine Hardcover Volume, illustrated end papers, and in a custom full color dust jacket based on the painting, MELEK TAUS by Stuart Littlejohn, which features the Peacock Angel emerging from a Yezidi arch, plus a substantial Foreword by Alistair Coombs, with plates, tables and line drawings throughout the text. Michael Staley has constructed a comprehensive index and bibliography, and has also written an Afterword about the author. 350 pages. Octavo.” [via]

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