Tag Archives: book review

July 13, 2021 · 4:18 pm

Review: “The Divinatory Arts” by Papus

The Divinatory Arts by Papus

Papus (Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse, 1865 – 1916), was a leading figure of the French Occult scene at the turn of the 20th century. He authored “Tarot of the Bohemians,” and founded or co-founded the Martinist Order and the Order Kabbalistique de la Rose-Croix. He was also a leading figure in Memphis Misraim and the Gnostic Catholic Church. He was even a member of the OTO, before Crowley got his mits on it.

He was also very briefly a member of the Golden Dawn, i.e. he only ever attended one meeting, and didn’t stay for the whole thing at that.

Despite being the very essence of “Occult,” Papus at one stage went mainstream by penning a series of articles published in Le Figaro, which is now France’s biggest newspaper, although back in 1895 when the articles were written, it had a more populist stance. Still, that would be like if you were to imagine me, Alex Sumner, being employed at a generous salary by The Daily Telegraph to write for it.

Hence, Papus ended up writing about Graphology, Palmistry, Physiognomy, as well as astrology. The content of these articles was necessarily only a brief introduction to the subject matter – understandable as they were intended for publication in a newspaper. This book, is the first time that these articles have been translated into English.

Although this is an interesting reference for someone researching Papus’ life, Papus’ own writing here is far from being the most interesting thing that Papus had ever done, given that he had lived such rich and full life. In that sense, the Translator’s own introduction is actually more interesting from an esoteric point of view. Nevertheless, I did find some merit in reading about palmistry and graphology, which were subjects I had never really touched upon.

I had to laugh at one point at Papus’ blatant chauvinism – he assumes, for example that the only reason a man would study Physiognomy is so that he can dominate any woman irrespective of her temperament. Nevertheless, the book as a whole is a curious piece in the larger jig-saw puzzle of the life of an otherwise great occultist.

The Divinatory Arts by Papus; translated into by “The Three Luminaries” © 2020, ISBN-13: 9798684181795. Available from Amazon.

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May 27, 2021 · 12:16 pm

Review: 44 Letters to Gustav Meyrink, by Alois Mailänder

44 Letters to Gustav Meyrink, by Alois Mailänder.

Gustav Meyrink (1862-1932) is most famous as the writer of The Golem, as well as other occult novels. What is perhaps less well-known is the extent to which he was involved in real-life occultism. That he was in contact with leading Theosophists and other occultists, such as the founders of the Golden Dawn, is almost common knowledge. He was also rumoured to have been involved with organisations even more mysterious, including a branch of the Gold Und Rosenkreuzers, who were supposed to have gone dormant over a century before. The legendary “Meyrink Line” is still spoken of in hushed tones of awe and mystery in the pubs of north London (or at least was before the lockdown).

Fortunately, one occult connection which is now seeing the light of day is that to Alois Mailänder (1843 – 1905), a German mystic who has been much lionized on the website Pansophers.com. Mailänder forbid his disciples from revealing his identity to the public during his lifetime, although Franz Hartmann and Meyrink himself both referred to him anonymously. In any event, those that knew him, praised him enormously, describing him as a “real Rosicrucian.” Apparently, Mailänder’s teachings owed a lot to Jakob Boehme, as well as Boehme’s protegés John Pordage and Jane Leade, as well as J B Kerning, and he managed to gather a large number of students from the German and Austrian occult scene in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

As it happened, Meyrink did not get much out of his association with Mailänder at the time: it was only towards the end of his life that he fully acknowledged his appreciation of him.

Anywho – this book: this contains a scholarly introduction to both Mailänder and Meyrink’s life; a helpful epilogue in which the editors further explain the context of Mailänder’s teachings, and how Meyrink viewed him through his writings; and the central section – the book’s USP, as it were – 44 letters which Mailänder wrote to Meyrink, which had been available in German, but are here now translated into English for the first time. In addition there are letters written by the former’s amanuensis and companion to both Meyrink himself and his (ex-)wife.

Ironically – the text of the letters is the least useful part of the whole book! They reveal only a small fragment of Mailänder’s teachings and practices (i.e. he would periodically give each pupil a phrase or mantra upon which to meditate, which he often changed according to how he judged the pupil’s progress). They do however reveal some of his character, that apart from being a spiritual teacher he managed to live a fairly normal life as a family man and a textile worker in Southern Germany.

On the very last page, however, the editors reveal that they are currently at work on a second volume – a translation of “Lectures on the Soul” – a book of Mailänder’s teachings which he gave out to members of his personal circle. This at least would be something to which to look forward.

44 Letters to Gustav Meyrink: English Translation (Writings by and about Alois Mailänder Book 1), by Alois Mailänder. Edited by Erik Dillo-Heidger and Chris Allen. ISBN: 3751997857. Books On Demand, 2021. Available on Amazon.

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December 31, 2020 · 3:35 pm

Review: When Magic Works – edited by Mike Crowson

When Magic Works, edited by Mike Crowson

This is a story of a number of people who are now Adepts, each discovering evidence of the paranormal for the first time, and from that, extrapolating a belief in the reality of Magic. It is a story of the trials and tribulations which initiates go through when progressing through the grades of the outer order. It is a record of the nitty gritty of what is really involved in summoning ones inner resources to put into a Portal thesis, when one attempts to practice Clairvoyance, of astonishing oneself when one succeeds in consecrating a talisman and making it work. It is in short a portrait of everyday life as a member of a magical order, with the qualification that – viewed by an outsider – nothing in this book is in fact “everyday.”

My favourite parts of the book are a guided meditation for Rising on the Planes, intended to demonstrate the work of a typical inner-order member, and which can be utilised as a practical exercise for oneself. Furthermore, there is a curious mention of what happened when a number of initiates used their powers of astral projection to form a side-project of people dealing with occult forces gone bad. I must confess here that I have spoken to the editor who has privately informed me that he deliberately held back on publishing the details of some of the more terrifying incidents in which this group got involved, which is a shame as from the sound of it their exploits would provide inspiration for a score of decent horror movies!

When Magic Works: The Inner Experiences of the Adepts of the UK Temples of the Golden Dawn 2003 – 2018. Edited by Mike Crowson. ISBN 978-1716408069. Available on Amazon and other book stores now.

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August 21, 2020 · 7:08 pm

Review: “Meditations for Every Week,” by Paul Sédir

“Meditations for Every Week,” by Paul Sédir.

At first reading, this appears to be a book of fifty-two meditations which follow a fairly conventional path of Christian devotion. On closer inspection, one notes some curious departures from orthodox Christianity. Why, for example, does the author talk about having past incarnations (Chapter LI, “Insubordination”)? Why does he attach so much importance to St John the Baptist (Chapter V, “The Precursor”)? Why, even do we get this curious comment:

“Esotericism studies, among other problems, the means of producing natural miracles. … We will only have the legitimate right to command Nature when she sees that we are masters of ourselves, when we have followed the school of the Gospel to the end… Before any action, ask the Father for His consent.”
Chapter XXIX, “The Miracles of Jesus.”

Thankfully, one can readily discern the answer in the biographical note, helpfully provided by the translator. Paul Sédir (born Yvon Leloup, 1871) as a young man in his late teens / early twenties became an enthusiastic member of just about every occult society going in Paris in the fin-de-siècle period, falling in with the likes of Papus, Jules Doinel, etc. As such he would have been familiar with Martinism, Gnosticism, the Order Kabbalistique de la Rose Croix and various shades of Rosicrucianism, Egyptian Rite Masonry, etc, etc etc. However in 1897 he met Maitre Phillipe of Lyon, who appears to have had a sobering effect on young Sédir, as he resigned from every order of which he was a member, and devoted the rest of his life to Christian mysticism.

As an aside: Sédir would have been coming up to his first Saturn return when he took the decision to step back from the esoteric societies of which he had been a member, and as such he would naturally felt a desire to re-evaluate his life as he said goodbye to the follies of youth and entered adulthood-proper. Coincidentally, Maitre Phillipe seems to have had a similar effect on Papus himself when the latter first met him: Papus had taken umbrage at Phillipe for some reason, and was about to work some supposedly fearsome black magic on him, when the Maitre “pulled a Plotinus” on him, causing him to drop his magic sword – both literally and metaphorically. Assuming that Maitre Phillipe’s effect on him was similar to that on Sédir, it says a lot about Papus that Martinism was to his former sorcery what Christian Mysticism was to Sédir’s Martinism!

Anywho, the present book – “Meditations for Every Week” – may be summed up as mostly Christian in character, but displaying the vestiges of memories of esotericism – which sums up Sédir’s life-path. From the rather obvious pentacle on the front cover, it appears that the translator intends the book to be most useful to students of Martinism, even though Sédir had resigned from office in Papus’ order. Or in other words: “You can take the man out of Martinism, but you can’t take Martinism out of the man.”

“Meditations for Every Week,” by Paul Sédir. ISBN-13 9798643208631. Available from Amazon.

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March 14, 2020 · 1:09 pm

Review: The Hermetic Science of Transmutation, by Giuliano Kremmerz

The Hermetic Science of Transformation: The Initiatic Path of Natural & Divine Magic, by Giuliano Kremmerz

Giuliano Kremmerz (born Ciro Formisano, 1861; died (at least physically) 1930) was one of the most influential Italian Occultists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His writings have been translated into French and Spanish, but he remained largely unknown amongst Anglophone magicians as they were never translated into English – until now.

Giuliano Kremmerz, 1861 – 1930

“The Hermetic Science of Transformation: The Initiatic Path of Natural & Divine Magic,” was first written by Kremmerz in 1896, apparently in the hope that acquainting Italian readers with the power of the occult would lead to a new Renaissance of the mind. His reaction to the events of the subsequent twenty years betrays his bitterness that this did not happen. Anywho, the main points that Kremmerz makes, as I understand them, may be summarized thus:

  • The goal of the Magician is to Transform oneself into a God. But this is not the “become a living god” rhetoric that has blighted the credibility of modern occultism, for Kremmerz also stresses that the first duty of a magician after acquiring god-like power is to use it for the good of humanity in general, or one’s neighbour in particular.
  • Likewise, Kremmerz stresses continually that only Magicians who are pure in heart and intention can participate in the Divine Magic. Kremmerz’ morality is thus almost Christian in outlook, and he himself professes great admiration for the figure of Christ. But not so much for the Church, which he criticises for having lost the keys to magic, whilst yet clinging to meaningless dogma.
  • The key to this apotheosing is the Transmutation of the Sexual Force. However, far from entailing wild and reckless orgies, this actually entails careful conservation of the sex-force – even to the point where Kremmerz says that only absolute chastity can enable a participation in the Divine Magic. This results in Kremmerz’ sexual alchemy coming across as prudish compared to the smut of later authors such as Crowley, etc.
  • A consequence of actively attempting to make of oneself a God is that the Magician acquires the ability to perform works of Thaumaturgy.

Now that we have an actual work of Kremmerz in our hands, it is interesting to compare it with some of the lurid, and quite frankly disgusting, writings attributed to him which have been circulating on the internet and other places for several years (mostly in Italian), referred to variously as the Dossier Segreti or Corpus Totius Magiae.

In this “Hermetic Science…” book, Kremmerz speaks of his Myriam Fraternity, the aim of which is to perform works of Healing and purification.

Kremmerz does not however mention or even hint at the existence of the “Egyptian Order of Osiris,” which is the subject of the purported Corpus Totius Magiae.

I am reliably informed – by several different people – that the Corpus Totius Magiae is a hoax insofar as it claims to represent Kremmerz’ practices.[1] The present book, “Hermetic Science…” does however give an accurate flavour of the philosophy underpinning the Myriam work, without obviously giving away any of its secret rituals. Reading it myself, the difference in tone between “Hermetic Science…” and the Corpus Totius Magiae becomes one of sharp relief – as if no-one could believe they belong to the same organisation without epitomising the essence of DoubleThink. And yet, the most widely cited academic source, Hans Thomas Hakl in Hidden Eros,[2] seems to conflate Kremmerz’ own writings with the contents of the Corpus Totius Magiae uncritically.

(As an aside, it is within my personal knowledge that at least one Big-Name-Occultist has been duped by some passing salesman of magical charters into buying the Corpus Totius Magiae as The Ultimate Secrets of Magic. What bewildered me was not that he necessarily believed this to be the case, but that he paid good money for a document that had been floating around for free for several years on the internet. The moral of the story is – first learn to speak Italian, before buying something written in Italian).

In short, I would recommend this book purely on the basis that it forms a key link in our understanding the History of continental Occultism, and I look forward to more works by Kremmerz becoming available in English in the future.

Notes

[1] Whether or not the practices described therein are genuine at all, however, is another matter entirely.

[2] Hakl H T, Hanegraaf W J (ed.), Kripal JJ (ed.), 2008, “The Theory and Practice of Sexual Magic, Exemplified byFour Magical Groups in the Early Twentieth Century,” from “Hidden Intercourse: Eros and Sexuality in the History of Western Esotericism,” Brill, Leiden / Boston.

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November 19, 2019 · 3:35 pm

Review: Mystical Words of Power by Damon Brand

Mystical Words of Power, by Damon Brand

This is the first of two books from the Gallery of Magick which I have read recently which I am going to review. Previous releases from the Gallery of Magick have been concerned with “low magick” – which despite appearances is not intended in a snobby way, but in the sense of mundane, everyday, material needs. I was therefore intrigued by the title of this book: Mystical Words of Power. Could high spiritual theurgy be seriously packaged in a book meant for mass consumption?

The blurb for “Mystical Words of Power” says:

Imagine using magick without any aim, desire or hope, without trying to solve problems, and seeking no gain. Imagine if this magick started to bring you all the things you want, and solved your problems.

This had me confused, as I first thought that magick without aim would not have a point to it. This turned out to be slightly misleading: it does have an aim – the aim is to improve one’s personal qualities – mental, intuitive, psychic or spiritual even – with the idea that good fortune will occur as a side-effect, or as an indirect result. The primary method by which it aims to achieve this is a series of recondite (from my point of view) techniques drawn from the Kabbalah.

Researching the derivation of these particular Kabbalistic techniques is a fascinating subject in itself, and has led me to adopt a new working hypothesis of the Kabbalah which could change the history of the Western Mystery Tradition. The previous or current paradigm is that the adoption of the Hermetic Qabalah is a legitimate and logical development from older versions of the Qabalah, which seems to be taken for granted by the pioneers of the late Victorian occult revival and traditions which derive therefrom. However, the new paradigm I propose is this:

From the time that the Kabbalah first became known amongst Gentiles – e.g. from the time of Pico Della Mirandola or earlier – it occurred to a number of Christians to attempt to Christianize it and hence weaponise it as a tool for the forcible conversion of Jews. Jewish Kabbalists, however, soon cottoned on to what was happening, and became deeply offended: they therefore decided – either by tacit agreement or just coincidence – to cease co-operation with Gentiles attempting to learn about the Kabbalah, and claim that everything about the Kabbalah had already been published – carefully denying the existence of any other Kabbalistic teachings. However, as time went on, Gentile occultists that gaps appeared when trying to use the Kabbalah as a workable system of ceremonial magick. Receiving no help from Jewish Kabbalists, they took the liberty of interpolating Hermetic teachings to fill the lacunae. Thus was born the Hermetic Qabalah. This state of affairs continued through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with people like MacGregor Mathers, Aleister Crowley, Paul Foster Case, Dion Fortune, etc all being none the wiser. In fact, many proponents of Hermetic Qabalah, instead of realising that the Hermetic elements were only late additions to the science, persisted in believing that they derived from ancient times, e.g. to Egypt or even to Atlantis.

The evidence which is now coming to light is that the knowledge required to fill the “gaps” had been in the unpublished and untranslated Kabbalah all along! However, because luminaries of the Western Mystery Tradition hadn’t heard of it, they had no idea it even existed! By “evidence” I am referring to books which have not been translated from Hebrew into English and published until comparatively recently, such as Shorshei Ha Shemot and Brit Menucha. (NB: although published these books are still very expensive to get hold of, so their full secrets may not be revealed for a few years yet).

Anyway, I digress. Back to “Mystical Words of Power.” I had a go at the rituals contained in this book, and I can confirm that when combined with meditation, they can indeed one into a deep spiritual state of consciousness. They gave me some insights which I personally found useful, although because they are subjective they wander into the territory of Unverifed Personal Gnosis, so I shall not say too much about them.

Mystical Words of Power: The Magick of The Heart, The Soul, and The Empowered Mind by Damon Brand. ISBN 1795382848 / 978-1795382847. Available in Paperback or on Kindle.

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June 13, 2019 · 2:04 pm

Review: “Golden Dawn Magic: A Complete Guide to the High Magical Arts” by Chic & Tabatha Cicero

Golden Dawn Magic: A Complete Guide to the High Magical Arts

The new book by Chic & Tabatha Cicero, “Golden Dawn Magic: A Complete Guide to the High Magical Arts,” is an introduction to the practices of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: its unique selling point is that it goes into slightly more depth than other such introductory guides. So for example, it does not simply describe the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, or the Middle Pillar Ritual, but outlines preliminary exercises of which a practioner could make use in order to get used to those rituals beforehand.

Moreover, advanced techniques such as god-form assumption, tarot divination, etc are mentioned, and the results are combined to show a Golden Dawn magician would formulate a complete “Z2” Magic of Light Ritual.

It is probably most helpful to think of this as a companion volume to the Ciceros’ “The Essential Golden Dawn,” the difference being that the former book outlines the theory, whilst the latter the practice. Nevertheless, it is at the end of the day only an introduction, and as such the authors continually refer to their other publications as shedding more light on the subject, for example: Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn; Tarot Talismans; as well as Israel Regardie’s The Golden Dawn itself.

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December 29, 2018 · 7:41 pm

Review: “High Magick” by Damien Echols

“High Magick: A Guide to the Spiritual Practices that saved my Life on Death Row,” by Damien Echols.

Damien Echols has forcibly wrested the kind of superstardom of which most occult writers dream but never see. But then – has has paid a far higher price that any other magician – myself included – would ever want to pay, i.e. spending eighteen years on death row for a crime he did not commit.

Whereas most would-be occultists might want to cast spells for money, sex, power, and all the rest, Damien has been using his magickal skills for the considerably less frivolous ends of avoiding being executed; preserving his life, health and sanity; winning his eventual freedom; and coping with severe PTSD after having been released.

The blurb of this book describes Damien as having been initiated into a lineage of Zen Buddhism whilst incarcerated: however, almost none of this comes across in the present book. Instead, what we have is a number of Hermetic techniques, mostly drawn from the Golden Dawn, with a smattering of Franz Bardon thrown in for good measure.

Thus, what we get is: a number of Chi-techniques (thus placing Damien squarely within the Energy Model of magick). This at least shows original thought not present other books on magick. He goes on to give his own take on some well-known techniques of magick such as the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (sophisticated by the addition of Metatron and Sandalphon in “the column”), as well as the Middle Pillar Ritual. He proposes the Lesser Invoking Ritual as a replacement for the Golden Dawn’s Supreme Ritual, whilst describing practical techniques of creating thoughtforms, charging amulets and talismans, the magick use of tattoos, and intriguing thoughts on urban shamanism.

Most of the practical techniques function at the same level as “Neophyte” in the Golden Dawn. Hence a complete beginner to magick might profit from reading this book.

HOWEVER – and this is the biggest fault of the book – it lacks any kind of Bibliography or suggested reading list. So if complete beginners are indeed the book’s intended target audience, and they wanted to know where to go to find out more (as one naturally would), they would not find such information here. This is especially frustrating as Damien constantly mentions advanced concepts such as the Qabalah, the Holy Guardian Angel, Evocation, etc without giving further explanation. (A book such as Donald Michael Kraig’s Modern Magick, or John Michael Greer’s Circles of Power would serve better in this respect.)

High Magick: A Guide to the Spiritual Practices That Save My Life on Death Row by Damien Echols is available from Amazon in Hardback or on Kindle.

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December 23, 2017 · 5:14 pm

Review: The Sworn Book of Honorius (Liber Iuratus Honorii) – by Joseph H Peterson

The Sworn Book of Honorius / Joseph Peterson

(First published on Amazon):

Joseph H Peterson always produces high quality versions of classic grimoires so I was very pleased to be able to get hold of this, which I did with the aid of a gift voucher I manifested from the universe (there’s magic for you! 😉 ). Anyway, so here is my analysis of “The Sworn Book of Honorius” which I will hereinafter abbreviate as TSBOH:

TSBOH dates from the 14th century (i.e. 1300s). Now at that time in Europe there were only two types of men – and unfortunately they were men, not women – who could get an education and hence be able to read a grimoire: Religious (monks and priests); and the sons of Royalty and Nobility. Correspondingly, if you survey the various grimoires dating from the pre-Renaissance era, you will find that they fall into one of two types, which I term Sacerdotal and Royal – reflecting the assumptions that the grimoire-writer makes about his intended audience.

TSBOH is a -Sacerdotal- grimoire – it not only assumes that the operator has the willing assistance of a Christian priest, but that he will also lead a life identical to that of a cloistered monk and be familiar with the daily office as a man in monastic orders would be. (Another example of a Sacerdotal grimoire would be the Heptameron of Peter Abano – but TSBOH is *far* more intense in the preparation it prescribes, and far more ambitious in what it sets out to achieve). Examples of what I would term “Royal” grimoires would include the Keys of Solomon both Lesser and Greater, which do not seem to require such a dependence on priests, but do promise to confer magical powers especially useful to princes and noblemen.

Like other pre-renaissance grimoires such as the Heptameron and Greater Key of Solomon, TSBOH assumes that the spirits manifest to visible appearance in the air before the circle, without the aid of a particular skrying medium.

The actual structure of TSBOH is as follows: first, the Operator should consecrate the “Seal of God” (actually the prototype of the Sigillum Dei Aemeth) and complete a forty-day operation to attain the Beatific Vision. In this sense it is akin to a shortened version of Abramelin, except that the required prayers are more sophisticated. This being achieved, the Operator can then progress on to an elaborate series of conjurations of Planetary and Elemental Spirits of both an Angelic and Demonic nature – for achieving more conventional “low-magic” goals.

Regarding Peterson’s edition itself, this contains both the Latin and English editions (newly translated) as well as the relevant diagrams, and a scholarly introduction which makes the point that many of the barbarous words of evocation which crop up in later well-known grimoires come from Byzantine sources, which I personally find fascinating. Peterson’s text does a good job of making clear that TSBOH directly inspired several Solomonic grimoires such as the Greater Key and multiple parts of the Lesser Key (Goetia, Ars Notoria) as well.

IMHO, there are two main difficulties to turning TSBOH into a working grimoire for the modern grimoire magician. Firstly, the number and complexity of the various prayers and invocations, and their need to be compiled and collated before use (but – thanks to Peterson’s edition – at least this can now be done!). Secondly and more unfortunately is the need for a monastic lifestyle, and more specifically a Christian monastic lifestyle – the operations in TSBOH are closely connected with the theology of the Christian religion to separate them.

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