Here’s a summary of activity for the month of August, 2019.

I don’t know where time has flown! It’s already been a month since my last summary, and it’s already September!

I think I mentioned that I’ve been having some contractors at the library working, and that’s been going on for several months. Well, things got worse over the last month. It’s really a cliché, but too true, that it’s been a bit of contractor-from-hell around here. It’s been really difficult to focus on anything else whilst this has been going on. Unfortunately, it’s not over. It has just entered a new phase.

Meanwhile, as difficult as it has been, I’ve been managing to keep working on the library site, even still. And, posting quotes I highlighted from books I’ve read, along with book reviews, and keeping social media posts going.

I’ve been getting submissions for the next anthology as well! That’s showing progress. Most of the submissions tend to come in at the last minute, so that’s on pace; but I always have high hopes that things will work out. The deadline for submissions is the end of the month, and I’ll know more when I get there; but, I am still, of course, seeking new and returning artists that want to participate, as well as still looking for a cover artist for this year.

But, guess what?! This month marks the 10th anniversary of when I took over Hermetic Library. Back in September 2009, after the site had been dormant for many years, Al Billings transferred the site to me. I’ve been working on it ever since. Looking back, so much has happened! I’ve put so much time and effort into the site, and, yet, there’s still so much to do. It really has turned out to be an ongoing passion project for me. I’ve been extremely lucky to have the support of many people, especially ongoing Patrons, who have helped make my work possible and kept the library going and growing.

Will you join me in celebrating this milestone?

When you think back, so many sites that were around and active 10 years ago aren’t there anymore, or have gone silent. I know I can think of quite a few! The library has gone through changes too, but I’m still at it, making improvements, adding materials, and trying new things.

Sure, there’s been setbacks, and disappointments along the way. It’s been a struggle to keep going, to be honest. But there’s also been so much to celebrate and I’m thankful to each ongoing supporter and every guest of the site for the honor and privilege of keeping the site alive and growing.

What an amazing, engaging, ongoing adventure! Huzzah!

Don’t forget! I’ve posted the call for submissions to Magick, Music and Ritual 15, the anthology for 2019.

I’m obviously looking for audio tracks, but also cover artwork, and other bonus downloads! Will you participate this year? Know someone who might want to participate? Let them know about it and have them get in touch with me!

Still looking for help and others to join me in a working community around the library, of course.

Lots of new pages and work on old pages on the site, which is pretty much every week, really. You can always check the front page of the site which shows the most recent changes and new pages, or check out the Recent Changes special page for a full list.

Want to join me on this blog and create new art or writing for Hermetic Library? Pitch your Idea.

Help get some conversations started over on the BBS.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and subscribe on Bandcamp or become a Patron.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from the last month

• Gnosis — Review
• The one sure road to trouble, she’d say, is to get mixed up in the middle of a fairy quarrel. — Quote
• The Grand Design — Review
• There’s a city ordinance against eating an elected official without a permit. May I see your permit …? — Quote
• Conan the Raider — Review
• As for Sirius, he is truly the pearl of the cosmos. — Quote
• Romantic Image — Review
• So much of what magicians have taken for granted this century stems from the work of the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley. Much of what will constitute standard magical theory and practice in the next century will derive from the state-of-the-art ideas and techniques currently under development in Chaos Magic. — Quote
• The Devil’s Footsteps — Review
• “Vile, depraved souls!” he shouted, trying to remember where he’d left off. “Fools and harlots!” But it was no use. His diatribe had devolved from insulting to incoherent. — Quote
• Does the New Testament Imitate Homer? — Review
• He said nothing: seldom do those who are silent make mistakes. — Quote
• A Princess of Roumania — Review
• This is my fault for being the departmental computer guy: when the machines break, I wave my dead chicken and write voodoo words on their keyboards until they work again. — Quote
• He knew then there was no going back. All paths were closed to him except the plain horror of the present. — Quote
• And then she took her wishes with her into sleep. — Quote
• The Rune Oracle — Review
• Your entire life, your very being, your physical body, indeed, every ongoing living process must be a talisman of the nature of your Angel. — Quote
• The Rosicrucian Enlightenment — Review
• “Is Jane magic?” Martha whispered to Katharine. “I don’t know. I think so,” Katharine whispered back. Jane glared at them. They went for two blocks in silence. “Are we magic, too?” “I don’t know. I’m scared to find out.” — Quote
• The Rites of Odin — Review
• So what is the nature of this library? What function does it serve other than being a filing system for books? What, to use the phrase beloved of cultural criticism, does it say about me, and to whom is it addressing this message? — Quote
• The R’lyeh Text — Review
• I poured out another glass of exercise wine and set my mind to it. — Quote
• The R’lyeh Text — Review
• Much of my rebelliousness starts with indifference to what is urgently important to others. — Quote
• The Prophet — Review
• “Oh, my,” she said, her heart racing. “You are a bad little kitty.” — Quote
• The Pathworkings of Aleister Crowley — Review
• “No, we’re going to provide them with a valuable life lesson.” “Don’t trust strangers?” I suggested. — Quote
• Omnium Gatherum: July 31, 2019
• The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles — Review
• He had a special feeling for what he called the “correct miscalculation,” for he believed that mistakes were often as revealing as the right answers. This gave us confidence even when our best efforts came to nothing. — Quote

Here’s a summary of activity for the month of June, 2018, and a few days on either side.

Huzzah! Time to come back from my June hiatus whilst I moved across country, and here’s what’s gone on since I last posted a summary.

I made it. I survived the move. I’m in the new place. However, I’m still not unpacked and I’m still getting back into the swing of things as all the dust has started to settle.

First off, just as I was going on hiatus, I announced the call for submissions to Hermetic Library’s anthology album for 2018, Magick, Music and Ritual 14!

Next up, I’ve got the next Postal Exchange and Publication Subscription perks lined up for ongoing Patrons of the library over on Patreon. I’ll be getting those in the mail in the next week or so! Also, I’ve got others after that in the works, and should start to have those each ready shortly thereafter, getting into the groove of doing them regularly like I’ve been meaning to do.

And, I’ve gotten permission to mirror J S Kupperman’s Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition.

I’ll be getting those up on the site as I am able, but the first issue is ready, so check it out: No. 0. (Vernal Equinox 2001) Introduction to the Western Mystery Tradition.

Okay, that’s a whole lot of stuff that happened whilst I was away on hiatus, huh?! I’m sure I’ve forgotten some other stuff that’s happened. But, I should be back to doing weekly activity summaries now!

Still looking for help and others to join me in a working community around the library, of course.

Lots of new pages and work on old pages on the site, which is pretty much every week, really. You can always check the front page of the site which shows the most recent changes and new pages, or check out the Recent Changes special page for a full list.

Want to join me on this blog and create new art or writing for Hermetic Library? Pitch your Idea.

Help get some conversations started over on the BBS and Chat.

Be sure to check out the actual Hermetic Library, and drop a buck in the tip jar or become a Patron.

Consider also checking out what I’m up to on my personal blog and at Odd Order.

Here’s a summary of posts on the blog from the last month

• “the key to human development is building on who you already are” — Quote
• “a hierarchy of competence with respect to human consciousness—will never be settled to everyone’s satisfaction” — Quote
• Feast of Simon Magus 2018 — Calendar
• “Given a fulcrum, a long-enough lever, and a place to stand, I could topple this son of a bitch.” — Quote
• “The shimmer of it took after the moon itself, hard and without poetry, stuck in the orbit of the thoughtless earth like a California pearl.” — Quote
• Greater Feast of Johannes Valentinus Andreae — Calendar
• Greater Feast of Marie Anne Lenormand — Calendar
• Feast of John the Baptist 2018 — Calendar
• Greater Feast of Marjorie Cameron — Calendar
• Summer Solstice 2018 — Calendar
• Greater Feast of Jack Parsons — Calendar
• Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art — Review
• Ship of Dreams — Review
• Greater Feast of Ludovicus Rex Bavariae — Calendar
• Master of the Temple — Review
• The X-Rated Bible — Review
• The Second Sin — Review
• False Gods — Review
• Feast of Basilides 2018 — Calendar
• The Arcana of Freemasonry — Review
• The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe — Review
• Greater Feast of Muhammad — Calendar
• The Phallic Quest — Review
• Greater Feast of Carl Kellner — Calendar
• The History of the Nude in Photography — Review
• The Double Vision — Review
• The Green Face — Review
• Eros on the Nile — Review
• Mathematical Magic — Review
• The Further Chronicles of Conan — Review
• Hermetic Library album call for 2018 submissions
• “Sexuality alters the flow of that energy in profound ways. Consciously understanding that process, accepting it, and controlling it turns sex into magick.” — Quote
• Greater Feast of Marguerite Porete — Calendar
• Greater Feast of Timothy Leary — Calendar
• Greater Feast of Alphonse Louis Constant — Calendar
• “this ain’t that kind of movie, and I’m no Arnold Schwarzenegger.” — Quote
• Greater Feast of Joan of Arc — Calendar
• “Before the beginning there was nothing” — Quote
• “it possessed such a sublime mixture of arcane dogma and abject rudeness that listeners were never sure whether to be bored or offended” — Quote
• “Aleister Crowley added a battery of gnostic power techniques culled from diverse cultural sources” — Quote

Some top pages at the library

• Rituals and Spell Objectives and Design in Eight Magics — Chaos Magick
• A Synopsis of the Method of Invoking the Enochian Seniors — David Richard Jones
• Basic Techniques for Performing Sexual Alchemy — Gerald del Campo
• The Nature, Structure, and Role of the Soul In the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn — Golden Dawn
• The Book of the Antichrist — Jack Parsons
• Devil of the Astral Light: Eliphas Levi’s Baphomet — Michael Osiris Snuffin
• The Body of Light in the Western Esoteric Tradition — Mark Stavish
• Chapter I: What is Magick? — Aleister Crowley
• The “Mithras” Liturgy — Papyri Graecae Magicae
• A Short Course in Scrying — Norton’s Imperium

Some top posts on social media

• Greater Feast of Alphonse Louis Constant, Éliphas Lévi, died May 31, 1875 at Paris, France — Facebook
• Happy #LGBTPrideMonth from Hermetic Library! Love Is the Law!
• Greater Feast of Timothy Leary, died May 31, 1996 at Beverly Hills, California — Facebook
• Greater Feast of Alphonse Louis Constant, Éliphas Lévi, died May 31, 1875 at Paris, France — Instagram
• Greater Feast of Timothy Leary, died May 31, 1996 at Beverly Hills, California — Instagram
• Chapter XXII: How to Learn the Practice of Astrology – Magick Without Tears – The Libri of Aleister Crowley – Hermetic Library
• Ars Memorativa – Articles – Caduceus: The Hermetic Quarterly – Hermetic Library
• The Angelic Alphabet – Norton’s Imperium – Hermetic Library
• Worms of the Earth – Profiles – Anthology – Hermetic Library
• Chapter XVII: Astral Journey: Example, How to do it, How to Verify your Experience – Magick Without Tears – The Libri of Aleister Crowley – Hermetic Library
• Feast of Basilides, June 10
• Hermetic Library album call for 2018 submissions — Instagram
• “and the salutations of Our Lady the Moon” – Chapter XVIII: The Importance of our Conventional Greetings, etc. – Libri of Aleister Crowley – Metadata – Hermetic Library
• Empty Room (Part V), by Machabray
• Hermetic Library album call for 2018 submissions — Twitter
• Greater Feast of John Whiteside “Jack” Parsons, died June 17, 1952 at Pasadena, California — Instagram
• Jack Parsons – Hermetic Library
• Greater Feast of John Whiteside “Jack” Parsons, died June 17, 1952 at Pasadena, California — Twitter
• New period desk for the Reading Room, and four doors (not shown), arrived this morning at the Magic City Bachelor Bungalow, aka the new Hermetic Library World HQ
• Summer Solstice, in the Northern Hemisphere, and Winter Solstice, in the Southern Hemisphere, June 21, 2018 at 10:07 UTC
• The Rite of Mars – Welcome to the Original Leila Waddell Memorial Web Site – Hermetic Library
• ΘΕΛΗΜΑ Thelema – Hermetic Library
• Greater Feast of Marjorie Cameron, died June 24, 1995
• Feast of Simon Magus, June 29 — Instagram
• Feast of Simon Magus, June 29 — Twitter

Here’s a summary of activity for the month of April, 2014, with a few extra days from the end of March and the beginning of May.

This Unicursal WORK Poster is another piece of helpful propaganda from the Ministry of Information, a take on the original trilogy of British posters from WWII combined with a quote from Chapter XLV: “Unserious” Conduct of a Pupil in Aleister Crowley’s Magick Without Tears.

If you enjoy the Hermetic Library site, and any of the blogs, tumblogs and social media related to the library, then please consider supporting the Patreon campaign for the Hermetic Library. Of course, there are a variety of ways you can help support and participate at the library, but adding your voice as a Patron of the ongoing work and expansion of the library will be very much appreciated.

We’re currently 1/3 of the way to being able to announce Magick, Music and Ritual 10, and with your help as a Patron we’d be even closer to reaching that milestone!

Here is a summary of Hermetic Library blog posts:

Reading Room →

The Hebrew Goddess by Raphael Patai, foreword by Merlin Stone, from Wayne State University Press
A Terrible Love of War by James Hillman, reviewed by T Polyphilus
Blake, Jung, and the Collective Unconscious: The Conflict Between Reason and Imagination by June Singer, introduced by M Esther Harding, from Nicholas-Hays
The House of the Octopus: Essays on the Real-Life ‘Cthulhu Cult’ of the Pacific edited by Jason Colavito, reviewed by T Polyphilus
Golgonooza: City of Imagination: Last Studies in William Blake by Kathleen Raine, from Lindisfarne Press
Arkham Horror: Dance of the Damned by Alan Bligh, reviewed by T Polyphilus
Of Prophets and Prophesy: Visionaries or Voices for Definitive Political Policy by Walter C Cambra, a monograph, arrived courtesy of the author
Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales by Marie-Louise von Franz, from Shambhala Publications
Doctor Strange 4 by Roy Thomas, Stan Lee, et al., part of the Marvel Masterworks series, reviewed by T Polyphilus
The Outsider by Colin Wilson
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald, reviewed by T Polyphilus
The Mind Parasites by Colin Wilson, from Oneiric Press
The Lies of Solace by John French, reviewed by T Polyphilus
From Atlantis to the Sphinx: Recovering the Lost Wisdom of the Ancient World by Colin Wilson
In the Wake of Chaos: Unpredictable Order in Dynamical Systems by Stephen H Kellert, reviewed by T Polyphilus

Anthology Project →

Postal Potlatch →

Visual Pool →

Token for Arnar added by John Griogair Bell
BZTRNOP 418 added by Daniel Denta
Mark of the Magician added by Sliabh Na Cailleach
My Thursian Altar added by Old Hag

Audio Pool →

Where No One Goes added by rfcl
Laberinth added by deuslunus
Aqua added by deuslunus
Io Pan, an uncertain track, added by blackantlers
Forced Position No. 13 added by Troy Schafer
Session 1 added by Eggregora
Niantiel added by y3mk
Dancing With The Devil added by Hollywood Playboii
Ripe added by Hollywood Playboii
Fly Away added by Hollywood Playboii
Heightened Intimacy, a colaboration with Mukti, added by Anantakara
φλόξ added by Pytchblend
The Bliss of Poison added by dr guilty
Inside of You addded by The Wendigo
Abbé Boullan, an Agrippa track added by TFC UK

Video Pool →

The Light: AFTERLife by David V Barron

Arts and Letters Pool →

The Goddess of Masonry by Charles F Forshaw
Freemason’s March from 1730
The Model Mason by Robert Morris

Goods and Services →

Epoch by Peter J Carroll and Matt Kaybryn, from Arcanorium Press
Magickal Alphabets with François Cartier on May 4th, 2014 from Thelesis Aura Academy
Early English Books on Witchcraft and Demonology, Weiser Antiquarian Books Catalogue #119
Witchcraft, Weiser Antiquarian Books Catalogue #120

Miscellaneous

In conversation with JJ Brine about Vector Gallery, an interview by John Griogair Bell
First Day, Three Days of the Writing of the Book of the Law, Anno V0
Second Day, Three Days of the Writing of the Book of the Law, Anno V0
Third Day, Three Days of the Writing of the Book of the Law, Anno V0
As Above, So Below, coming in August from Legendary
Sleep, a short animated film by Tony Unser

Do you have comments, questions, corrections or suggestions? Contact the librarian.