Michael Wynn's Occult Reference Library
SUPERNATURAL

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18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

emina, saxo gram. 121. a''aldamarr konungr atti mosur miok gamla ok orvasa, sva at hun la i rekkju, en ]70 var hun framsyn af fitons anda, sem margir heisnir menn (king v. had a mother very old and feeble, so that she lay in bed, and there was she seized by a spirit of python, like many heathen folk, fornm. sog. 1, 76. of like import seems to be a term whicli borders on the notion of a higher and supernatural being, as in the case of veleda; and that is dis (nympha, numen. it may be not accidental, that the spakona in several instances bears the proper name tliordis (vatnsd. p. 186 seq. fornm. sog. 1, 2.55. islend. sog. 1, 140. kormakkss. p. 204 seq; dis however, a very early word, which i at one time connected with the gothic filudeisei (astutia, dolus, appears to be no other than our ohg

ich she resembles nerthus. mortals, to reach her dwelling, pass through the well; conf. the name wazzerholde? another point of resemblance is, that she drives about in a waggon. she had a linchpin put in it by a peasant whom she met; when he picked up the chips, they were gold* her annual progress, wdiich, like those of herke and berhta, is made to fall between christmas and twelfth-day, when the supernatural has sway^ and wild beasts like the wolf are not mentioned by their names, brings fertility to the land. not otherwise does' derk with the boar' that freyrof the netherlands (p. 214, appear to go his rounds and look after the ploughs. at the same time holda, like wuotau, can also ride on the winds, clothed in terror, and she, like the god, belongs to the' wiitende heer. from this arose

made of old rags in the window; she is black and ugly, and brings presents. some say, she is, herod's daughter; eanke's hist, zeitschr. 1,717' la befania' pulei's morg. 5, 42. berni says' il di di befania vo porla per befana alia fenestra, perche qualcun le dia d' una ballestra' it would be astonishing, if twice over, in two different nations, a name in the calendar had caused the invention of a supernatural being; it is more likely that, both in italy, and among us, older traditions of the people have sought to blend themselves with the christian name of the day. 1 franc. berni, rime 105. crxisca sub v. befana. herodias, diana, abundia. 283 g (herodias. diana. abundia. hcrodias, of whom we have just been reminded by befana, will illustrate this even better. the story of herod's daugliter

join the heroes, to render them assistance; and that is how animal figures in the scutcheons and helmet-insignia of heroes are in many cases to be accounted for, though they may arise from other causes too, e.g, the ability of certain heroes to transform themselves at will into wolf or swan. 1 fils de truie; garin 2, 229. nursed by animals. 301 the swan's winy, tlie swan's coat, betokens another supernatural quality which heroes share with the gods (p. 326, the power of flying. as wieland ties on his swan-wings, the greek perseus has ivingcd shoes, talaria, ov. met; 4, 6g7. 729, and the servian eelia is called krik'it (winged, being in possession of krilo and okrilie (wing and wing-cover, vuk 2, 88. 90. 100. a piece of the wing remaining, or in women a swan's foot, will at times betray th

to mortal men; and we have seen that the popular faith retained longest its connexion with fighting and victory. their own being itself, like that of the heroes, rests on human nature, they seem for the most part to have sprung from kingly and heroic families, and probably an admixture of divine ancestors is to be presumed in their case too. but to perform their office, they must have wisdom and supernatural powers at their command: their wisdom spies out, nay, guides and arranges complications in our destiny, warns of danger, advises in difficulty. at the birth of man they shew themselves predicting and endowing, in perils of war giving help and granting victory. therefore they are called wise toomcn, on. spdkonor (conf. spakr, ohg. spahi, prudens, scot, spae wife, mhg. loisiu wip, nib

ABRAMELIN1

er him from searching further for the true and certain foundation of this great science. at argentine i found a christian called james, who was reputed as a learned and very skilful man; but his art was the art of the juggler, or cup and balls player; and not that of the magician. in the town of prague i found a wicked man named antony, aged twenty-five years, who in truth showed me wonderful and supernatural things, but may god preserve us from falling into so great an error, for the infamous wretch avowed to me that he had made a pact with the demon, and had given himself over to him in body and in soul, and that he had renounced god and all the saints; while, on the other hand, the deceitful leviathan had promised him forty years of life to do his pleasure. he made every effort, as he w

ABRAMELIN2

e, either alone, or mingled with other things which be in no way from the qabalah; and he who seeketh to exercise himself in performing operations with these arts; is alike liable to be deceived by the demon; seeing that of themselves they possess no other virtue than a natural property; and they can produce no other thing than probable4 effects, and they have absolutely no power in spiritual and supernatural things; but if, however, on certain occasions they5 cause you to behold any extraordinary effect, such is only produced by impious and diabolical pacts and conjurations, the which form of science ought to be called sorcery. finally, let us conclude that from the divine mystery are derived these three kinds of qabalah, viz: the mixed qabalah, and the true wisdom, and the (true) magic

ed with god, and purer than at another period; and this being an essential point ye ought well to consider the same. it is, however, quite true that the elements and the constellations do perform of themselves certain operations22 but this is to be understood of natural things, as it happeneth that one day is different unto another; but such a difference hath not operation in things spiritual and supernatural, being thus useless for (higher) magical operations. the election of days is still more useless, the election of hours and minutes whereof the ignorant make so much, is further a very great error. wherefore i have resolved to write this particular chapter, in order that this error might appear more plainly evident unto him who readeth it, and that he may draw profit therefrom so as to

sixth chapter. concerning the planetary hours and other errors of the astrologers. t is true that the wise in astrology do write of the stars and of their movements, and that these attaining thereto do produce divers effects in inferior and elemental things; and such are, as we have already said, natural operations of the elements; but that they should have power over the spirits, or force in all supernatural things, that is not, neither can ever be. but it will instead be found that by the permission of the great god it is the spirits who govern the firmament. what foolishness then would it be to implore the favour of the sun, of the moon, and of the stars, when the object would be to have converse with angels and with spirits. would it not be an extravagant idea to demand from the wild b

mself upon his knees before the altar; following in all things and throughout the instructions which i have given unto you in the last chapter of the first book, to which i am here referring.60 humiliate yourself before god and his celestial court, and commence your prayer with fervour, for then it is that you will begin to enflame yourself in praying, and you will see appear an extraordinary and supernatural splendour which will fill the whole apartment, and will surround you with an inexpressible odour, and this alone will console you and comfort your heart so that you shall call for ever happy the day of the lord. also the child61 will experience an admirable feeling of contentment in the presence of the angel. and you shall continue always your prayer redoubling your ardour and fervour

ALEISTER CROWLEY AD MEIORUM CTHULHI GLORIAM

ee major individuals who must share the credit for the astonishingly good reception the necronomicon has enjoyed over the last two years since its publication. l.k. barnes was lured into the magickal childe bookstore in manhattan one day by an incarnated thoughtform we may only refer to by his initials, b.a.k. both were in search of some casual amusement from the slightly distorted version of the supernatural intelligence-dissemination that usually took place on those premises. l.k. barnes, publisher of this tome, has probably come to regret ever setting foot or tentacle inside those clammy precincts, for the crazed proprietor of that institution commenced to wave before him the manuscript copy of this book, thereby securing his soul forever in the service of the elder gods. needless to sa

ee major individuals who must share the credit for the astonishingly good reception the necronomicon has enjoyed over the last two years since its publication. l.k. barnes was lured into the magickal childe bookstore in manhattan one day by an incarnated thoughtform we may only refer to by his initials, b.a.k. both were in search of some casual amusement from the slightly distorted version of the supernatural intelligence-dissemination that usually took place on those premises. l.k. barnes, publisher of this tome, has probably come to regret ever setting foot or tentacle inside those clammy precincts, for the crazed proprietor of that institution commenced to wave before him the manuscript copy of this book, thereby securing his soul forever in the service of the elder gods. needless to sa

ly run down only moments ago, i came across yet another of the dark priests, in identical condition to the first. i kept walking, passing more of the robes as i went, not venturing to overturn them any longer. then, i finally came upon the grey stone monument that had risen unnaturally into the air at the command of the priests. it now upon the ground once more, but the carvings still glowed with supernatural light. the serpents, or what i had then though of as serpents, had disappeared. but in the dead embers of the fire, now cold and black, was a shining metal plate. i picked it up and saw that it also was carved, as the stone, but very intricately, after a fashion i could not understand. i did not bear the same markings as the stone, but i had the feeling i could almost read the charact

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

aks himself in fire-water; the bewhiskered philanthropist in broadcloth who swindles his customers and sweats his employees: these men must not be regarded as single-minded scoundrels, whose use of religion and respectability to cloke their villainies is a deliberate disguise dictated by their criminal cunning. far from it, they are only too sincere in their "virtues; their terror of death and of supernatural vengeance is genuine; it proceeds from a section of themselves which is in irreconcilable conflict with their rascality. neither side can conciliate, suppress, or ignore the other; yet each is so craven as to endure its enemy's presence. such men are therefore without pure principles; they excuse themselves for every dirty trick that turns to their apparent advantage. the first step o

pon it. it is just as when an englishman cross-examines a hindu, the ultimate answer will be what the hindu imagines will best please the inquirer. the same difficulty appears in a grosser form when one receives a perfectly true reply, but insists on interpreting it so as to suit one's desires. the vast majority of people who go to "fortunetellers" have nothing else in mind but the wish to obtain supernatural sanction for their follies. apart from occultism altogether, every one knows that when people ask for advice, they only want to be told how wise they are. hardly any one acts on the most obviously commonsense counsel if it happens to clash with his previous intentions. indeed, who would take counsel unless he were warned by some little whisper in his heart that he was about to make a

ALEISTER CROWLEY MEDITATION

illusion to his having been "caught up into heaven, and seen and heard things of which it was not lawful to speak" mohammed speaks crudely of his having been "visited by the angel gabriel" who communicated things from "god" moses says that he "beheld god" diverse as these statements are at first sight, all agree in announcing an experience of the class which fifty years ago would have been called supernatural, to-day may be called spiritual, and fifty years hence will have a proper name based on an understanding of the phenomenon which occurred. theorists have not been at a loss to explain; but they differ. the mohammedan insists that god is, and did really send gabriel with messages for mohammed: but all others contradict him. and from the nature of the case proof is impossible. the lack

abyss between the least of them and the greatest of all the phenomena of normal consciousness "to sum up" we assert a secret source of energy which explains the phenomenon of genius<religious genius. other kinds are subject to the same remarks, but the limits of our space forbid discussion of these> we do not believe in any supernatural explanations, but insist that this source may be reached by the following out of definite rules, the degree of success depending upon the capacity of the seeker, and not upon the favour of any divine being. we assert that the critical phenomenon which determines success is an occurrence in the brain characterized essentially by the uniting of subject and object. we propose to discuss

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OLD AND NEW COMMENTARIES TO LIBER AL

ced thinkers as the hon. bertrand russell have found themselves obliged to refer mathematical laws to logic; it seems to have escaped them that the laws of logic are no more than the statement of the limitations of their own intelligence. i quote the book of lies, kappa-epsilon-phi-alpha-lambda-eta mue-epsilon "chinese music "explain this happening "it must have a 'natural' cause "it must have a 'supernatural' cause) let these two asses be set to grind corn. may, might, must, should, probably, may be, we may safely assume, ought, it is hardly questionable, almost certainly- poor hacks! let them be turned out to grass! proof is only possible in mathematics, and mathematics is only a matter of arbitrary conventions. and yet doubt is a good servant but a bad master; a perfect mistress, but a

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE SWORD OF SONG

ed to chapel. future plans of poet. jesus dismissed with a jest. the jest. that worthy yankee millionaire, and wealthy nephews, young and fair, 745 the pleasing crawfords! lost! lost! lost !78 the holy spirit, friend! beware! ah! ten days yet to pentecost! come that, i promise you but stay! at present tis ascension day! 750 at least your faith should be content. i quarrel not with this event. the supernatural element? i deny nothing at the term it is just nothing i affirm. 755 the fool (with whom is wisdom, deem the scriptures rightly) in his heart saith (silent, to himself, apart) this secret \yhla ya 79 see the good psalm! and thus, my friend! 760 my diatribes approach the end and find us hardly quarelling. and yet you seem not satisfied? the literal mistranslated thing must not by sinne

ic mind, no fears, no hopes, devotions blind to hamper, soberly we ll state the problem, and investigate in purely scientific mood 200 the sheer ananke of the mind, a temper for our steel to find whereby those brazen nails subdued against our door-post may in vain ring. we ll examine, to be plain, 205 by logic s intellectual prism the spiritual syllogism. we know what fools (only) call divine and supernatural and what they name material 210 are really one, not two, the line by which divide they and define being a shadowy sort of test; a verbal lusus at the best, at worst a wicked lie devised 215 to bind men s thoughts; but we must work with our own instruments, nor shirk discarding what we erstwhile prized; should we perceive it disagree with the first-born necessity. 220 i come to tell yo

all time? then we must believe that gloucester was right, and that eclipses caused the fall of lear! observe that before this shakespeare has had a sly dig or two at magic. in king john, my lord, they say five moons were seen to-night but there is no eyewitness. so in macbeth. in a host of spiritual suggestion there is always the rational sober explanation alongside to discredit the folly of the supernatural. shakespeare is like his own touchstone; he uses his folly as a stalking-horse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit. here, however, the mask is thrown off for any but the utterly besotted; edmund s speech stands up in the face of all time as truth; it challenges the acclamation of the centuries. edmund is then the hero; more, he is shakespeare s own portrait of himsel

found by going to particular places or reading particular books or joining particular socieites is to make for the thousandth time the mistake that is at once materialism and superstition. if mr. crowley and the new mystics think for one moment that an egyptian desert is more mystic than an english meadow, that a palm tree is more poetic than a sussex beech, that a broken temple of osiris is more supernatural than a baptist chapel in brixton, then they the sword of song 64 are sectarians, and only sectarians of no more value to humanity than those who think that the english soil is the only soil worth defending, and the baptist chapel the only chapel worth of worship (sic. but mr. crowley is a strong and genuine poet, and we have little doubt that he will work up from his appreciation of t

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 1

bliss quite unimaginable to all who have not as yet experienced it. st. john of the cross, writing of the "intuitions" by which god reaches the soul, says: 147 "they enrich us marvellously. a single one of them may be sufficient to abolish at a stroke certain imperfections of which the soul during its whole life has vainly tried to rid itself, and to leave it adorned with virtues and loaded with supernatural gifts. a single one of the intoxicating consolations may reward it for all the labours undergone in its life- even were they numberless. invested with an invincible courage, filled with an impassioned desire to suffer for its god, the soul then is seized with a strange torment- that of not being allowed to suffer enough."2 2 "oeuvres" ii. 320. prof. william james writes "the great spa

strial arts it never occurs to any one to try to refute opinions by showing up their author's neurotic constitution. opinions here are invariably tested by logic and by experiment, no matter what may be their author's neurological type. it should be no otherwise with religious opinions "the varieties of religious experience" pp. 17, 18. 4 "dr. maudsley is perhaps the cleverest of the rebutters of supernatural religion on grounds of origin. yet he finds himself forced to write('natural causes and supernatural seemings' 1886, pp. 256, 257"'what right have we to believe nature under any obligation to do her work by means of complete minds only? she may find an incomplete mind a more suitable instrument for a particular purpose. it is the work that is done, and the quality in the worker by whi

terer, eccentric, or lunatic. home we come again, then, to the old and last resort of certitude- namely the common assent of mankind, or of the competent by instruction and training among mankind "in other words, not its origin, but "the way in which it works "on the whole" is dr. maudsley's final test of a belief. this is our own empiricist criterion; and this criterion the stoutest insisters on supernatural origin have also been forced to use in the end "the varieties of religious experience" pp. 19, 20. to put it vulgarly "the proof of the pudding is in the eating" and it is sheer waste of time to upbraid the cook before tasting of his dish. 5 or pyrrho-zoroastrianism. 6 "we have to confess that the part of it [mental life] of which rationalism can give an account is relatively superfic

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

ry of the philosopher's elixer, by e. p. philalethes (lewis du moulin, 1654-55. in one volume, 8vo "being a series "of beautifully written manuscripts, as legible as copper-plate, in calf "4 4"s" there is practically no doubt that this very singular volume was entirely the work of daniel cable, and none of the works appear to have ever been printed. cable published a work entitled "of natural and supernatural things" which lowndes calls an extraordinary book. if its matter is at all similar to that of the present volume, there is little wonder that lowndes should call it "extraordinary" waite (a. e) the book of ceremonial magic, including the rites and mysteries of go tic theurgy, sorcery, and infernal necromancy, in two parts. i. an analytical and critical account of the chief magical rit

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3 2

nte) to put the perfume upon the censer, after which he is to place himself upon his knees before the altar; following in all things and throughout the instructions which i have given unto you. humiliate yourself before god and his celestial court, and commence your prayer with fervour, for then it is that you will begin to enflame yourself in praying, and you will see appear an extraordinary and supernatural splendour which will fill the whole apartment, and will surround you with an inexpressible odour, and this alone will console you and comfort your heart so that you shall call for ever happy the day of the lord.42 "during seven days shall you perform the ceremonies without failing therein in any way: namely, the day of the consecration, the three days of the convocation of the good an

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3

e gymnastics? for this reason i prefer to consider this abnormal condition of the spirit as a true "grace" as a magic mirror wherein man is invited to see himself at his best; that is to say, as that which he should be, and might be; a kind of angelic excitement; a rehabilitation of the most flattering type. a certain spiritualist school, largely represented in england and america, even considers supernatural phenomena, such as the apparition of phantoms, ghosts &c, as manifestations of the divine will, ever anxious to awaken in the spirit of man the memory of invisible truths. besides this charming and singular state, where all the forces are balanced; where the imagination, though enormously powerful, does not drag after it into perilous adventures the moral sense; when an exquisite sens

h the objects which he has met in his day's work, which have carelessly fixed themselves upon the vast canvas of his memory. that is the natural dream; it is the man himself. but the other kind of dream, the dream absurd and unforeseen, without meaning or connection with the character, the life, and the passions of the sleeper: this dream, which i shall call hieroglyphic, evidently represents the supernatural side of life, and it is exactly because it is absurd that the ancients believed it to be divine. as it is inexplicable by natural causes, they attributed to it a cause external to man, and even to-day, leaving out of account oneiromancers and the fooleries of a philosophical school which sees in dreams of this type sometimes a reproach, sometimes a warning; in short, a symbolic and mo

kenness, throughout its duration, it is true, will be nothing but an immense dream, thanks to the intensity of its colours and the rapidity of its conceptions. but it will always keep the idiosyncrasy of the individual. the man has desired to dream; the dream will govern the man. but this dream will be truly the son of its father. the idle man has taxed his ingenuity to introduce artificially the supernatural into his life and into his thought; but, after all, and despite the accidental energy of his experiences, he is nothing but the same man magnified, the same number raised to a very high power. he 68 is brought into subjection, but, unhappily for him, it is not by himself; that is to say, by the part of himself which is already dominant "he would be angel; he becomes a beast" momentari

s the scutcheon of his joy, this supreme delight of feeling oneself full of life and believing oneself full of genius, there had suddenly smitten the bar sinister of terror. at first dazzled by the beauty of his sensations, he had suddenly fallen into fear of them. he had asked himself the question "what would become of my intelligence 74 and of my bodily organs if this state (which he took for a supernatural state "went on always increasing; if my nerves became continually more and more delicate" by the power of enlargement which the spiritual eye of the patient possesses, this fear must be an unspeakable torment "i was" he said "like a runaway horse galloping towards an abyss, wishing to stop and being unable to do so. indeed, it was a frightful ride, and my thought, slave of circumstanc

appearances; they are deformed and transformed. then_ the ambiguities, the misunderstandings, and the transpositions of ideas! sounds cloak themselves with colour; colours blossom 81 into music. that, you will say, is nothing but natural. every poetic brain in its healthy, normal state, readily conceives these analogies. but i have already warned the reader that there is nothing of the positively supernatural in hashish intoxication; only those analogies possess an unaccustomed liveliness; they penetrate and they envelop; they overwhelm the mind with their masterfulness. musical notes become numbers; and if your mind is gifted with some mathematical aptitude, the harmony to which you listen, while keeping its voluptuous and sensual character, transforms itself into a vast rhythmical operat

nd all the wonders of the woods. yet the multitude trample the flowers of the fields under their feet, and snigger in their halls of pleasure at a dancer clothed in 138 frilled nudity, because they are nearer seeing the mysteries of creation than they are in the smugness of their own stuffy back parlours; and gape in wonder at some stage trickster, some thought-reading buffoon, and talk about the supernatural, the supernormal, the superterestrial, the superhuman, and all the other superficial superfluities of superannuated supernumeraries, as if this poor juggler were some kind of magician who could enter their thick skulls and steal their sorry thoughts, whilst all the time he is at the old game of picking their greasy pockets. miracles are but the clouds that cloak the dreamy eyes of ign

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 4 2

no superhuman journey on the wings of genii through infinitudes of rosy either. at one period of their history, france, germany, and england abounded in all the characteristics of the untutored old world mind, yet when did an echo of oriental music ring from the lute of minstrel, 243 "minnesinger" or "trov re" the difference can not be accounted for by climate, religion, or manners. it is not the supernatural in arabian story which is inexplicable, but the peculiar phase of the supernatural both in beauty and terror. i say inexplicable, because to me, in common with all around me, it bore this character for years. in later days, i believe, and now with all due modesty assert, i unlocked the secret, not by a hypothesis, not by processes of reasoning, but by journeying through those self-sam

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 4

cient symbolism is indeed in its very simplicity of great beauty. the highest of physical emotions, namely, love between man and woman, is taken as its foundation. this love, if allowed its natural course, results in the creation of images of ourselves, our children, who are better equipped to fight their way that we on account of the experiences we have gained. but, if this love is turned into a supernatural channel, that is to say, if the joys and pleasures of this world are renounced for some higher ideal still, an ideal super-worldly, then will it become a divine emotion, a love which will awake the human soul and urge it on through all obstructions to its ultimate union with the supreme soul. to teach this celestial marriage to the children of earth even the greatest masters must make

ALEX SANDERS THE KING OF THE WITCHES

ct of genuflecting? is the lighting of a candle to a long-dead saint more credible than tying cords round a wax image? is the immaculate conception more easily believed than a vision in a bowl of water? i have drawn no conclusions beyond this: for those like me who prefer their spirits mixed with soda, witchcraft affords a fascinating glimpse into another world; but for those who are drawn to the supernatural, who are prepared to devote time and trouble to it, witchcraft offers no less than the power to achieve a new dimension of life. his sexual appetites and his ine f j made a mockery of thei 1 cravi g or power. although he heroi. elr aws with hi. d' eroin he is still acknowled d d. s orgies an his use of witches. known .as 'the j;ea respected by many english on magic,magick in theory an

only for a moment, he met with total failure. there were few occasions for him to be alone, for he shared a bedroom with his three brothers and there was usually one of them trailing after him. even his clairvoyance deserted him, and he began to thi that it had never really existed but had been projected on him ?y his grandmother. had it all been made up, all she had told him about witchcraft and supernatural powers? he read and reread his book of shadows and decided that no uneducated woman could have written such prose nor expressed such philosophy. as he recovered from his initial grief he began to accept that he was helpless until such times as he could find another witch to work with if there were any still alive. alone he dared not conjure up spirits or call down the power from the m

ALICE A BAILEY01 THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE ATOM

to it. these systems of thought teach that the world has been evolved by a power or being who has built the solar system, and who guides the worlds aright, keeping our little human life in the hollow of his hand, and "sweetly ordering" all things according to some hidden purpose which it is not possible for us, with our finite minds, to glimpse, still less to understand. this is the religious and supernatural point of view, and is based on the growing self-consciousness of the individual, and in a recognition of his own divinity. like the point of view of the realistic school, it embodies only a partial truth, and needs to be complemented. the third line of thought we might call the idealistic. it posits an evolutionary process within all manifestation and identifies life with the cosmic p

sciousness of the individual, and in a recognition of his own divinity. like the point of view of the realistic school, it embodies only a partial truth, and needs to be complemented. the third line of thought we might call the idealistic. it posits an evolutionary process within all manifestation and identifies life with the cosmic process. it is the exact opposite of materialism, and brings the supernatural deity, predicated by the religionist, into the position of a great entity or life, who is evolving through, and by means of, the universe, just as man is evolving consciousness through the medium of an objective physical body. in these three standpoints the frankly materialistic, the purely supernatural, and the idealistic you have the three main lines of thought which have been put f

e within the group. it necessitates an ability on his part to recognise a life- 8- the consciousness of the atom copyright 1998 lucis trust greater than himself, whether that life is called god, or whether it is simply regarded as the life of the group to which a man, as a unit, belongs, that great identity of which we are each a part. this corresponds to the school of thought which we called the supernatural, and it must be succeeded in time by a truer and a wider concept. as we have already seen, the first or atomic stage developed by means of selfishness, or the self-centred life of the atom (whether the atom of substance or the human atom; the second stage grows to perfection by the sacrifice of the unit to the good of the many, and of the atom to the group in which it has place. this

ALICE A BAILEY04 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE

ties of refusing to acknowledge it, will be far more insuperable than an admission of its existence. scientists admit already the fact of etheric matter; the success of photographic endeavor has demonstrated the reality of that which has hitherto been considered unreal, because (from the standpoint of the physical) intangible. phenomena are occurring all the time which remain in the domain of the supernatural unless accounted for through the medium of etheric matter, and in their anxiety to prove the spiritualists wrong, scientists have aided the cause of the true and higher spiritism by falling back on reality, and on the fact of the etheric body, even though they consider it a body of emanative radiation being concerned with the effect and not having yet ascertained the cause. medical me

ALICE A BAILEY05 THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL

hey are constructed so that they become so purified and clarified that the "light of god" which they have hitherto hidden, can shine forth in all its beauty in the three worlds. this can be demonstrated as literally true upon the physical plane, for through the work of purification and the control of the life currents the light in the head becomes so apparent that it can be seen by those who have supernatural vision, as radiations extending all around the head, thus forming the halo so well known in pictures of the saints. the halo is a fact in nature and not just a symbol. it is the result of the work of raja yoga and is the physical demonstration of the life and light of the spiritual man. vivekananda says, speaking technically (and it is good for western occult students to master the te

ALICE A BAILEY07 FROM INTELLECT TO INTUITION

een said, by the process of investigation and of passing inwards from form to form, the mystic arrives eventually at the glory of the unveiled self. it seems to be unalterably true that all paths lead to god viewing god as the ultimate goal, the symbol of man's search for reality. it is no longer a sign of superstition to believe in a higher dimension and in another world of being. even the word "supernatural" has become deeply and profoundly respectable, and it seems possible that some day our educational systems may regard the preparation of the individual to transcend his natural limitations as an entirely legitimate part of its affairs. it is interesting to note what dr. c. lloyd morgan in the gifford lectures, delivered in 1923, has to say about this word "supernatural" he says "there

mitations as an entirely legitimate part of its affairs. it is interesting to note what dr. c. lloyd morgan in the gifford lectures, delivered in 1923, has to say about this word "supernatural" he says "there is, i submit, an intelligible sense in which it may be said that, in the ascending hierarchy of stages of progress, regarded as manifestations of divine purpose, each higher stage is in turn supernatural to that which precedes it. in this sense life is supernatural to the inorganic; reflective comprehension in thought is supernatural to naive unreflective perception; the religious attitude, with acknowledgement of divine purpose, is supernatural to the ethical attitude in social affairs. for those who reach this highest stage, as they deem it, the religious attitude affords the suprem

at which precedes it. in this sense life is supernatural to the inorganic; reflective comprehension in thought is supernatural to naive unreflective perception; the religious attitude, with acknowledgement of divine purpose, is supernatural to the ethical attitude in social affairs. for those who reach this highest stage, as they deem it, the religious attitude affords the supreme exemplar of the supernatural. it is distinctive of the spiritual man."12(23) and, he adds most beautifully and most appositely, as far as our subject is concerned, that "the stress for us is on a new attitude, for it is this that is, as i think, emergent. hence we may speak of a new 'vision' and a new 'heart' capable of a higher and richer form of joy."13(24) in dr. hocking's notable book "human nature and its re

h can and does hasten the work of development. dr. otto in the idea of the holy says that man "must be guided and led on by consideration and discussion of the matter through the ways of his own mind, until he reach the point at which the 'numinous' in him perforce begins to stir, to start into life and into consciousness."7(73) the word "numinous" we are told, comes from the latin numen, meaning supernatural divine power. it stands for "the specific non-rational religious apprehension and its object, at all its levels, from the first dim stirrings where religion can hardly yet be said to exist to the most exalted forms of spiritual experience."8(74) his translator, dr. harvey, professor of philosophy at armstrong college, adds that there develops in man a "growing awareness of an object

chnique which has made possible their transition out of the fourth into the fifth kingdom in nature. we found that these illuminated men, right down the ages, testify to the same truth, and that they claim for this universal method that it brings them certain results that might be enumerated as follows: first: they achieve direct experience of divine realities, of transcendental truths and of the supernatural world. these appear, when contacted, to be as much a natural process and as vitally a part of the evolutionary development as are any of the processes to which the sciences of biology, of physics or of chemistry bear witness. just as these three great sciences are occult to, and practically unattainable by, the average grade school student, so the higher metaphysics is- 78- from intel

ALICE A BAILEY08 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC

ence, and authority will give place to personal appreciation of reality. the power of the church over the group will be supplanted by the power of the awakened soul in men; the age of miracles and the disputations as to the why and how of those miracles with the consequent scepticism or agnosticism will give way to the understanding of the laws of nature which control the superhuman realm and the supernatural stage of the evolutionary process. man will enter into his divine heritage and know himself as the son of the father, with all the divine characteristics, powers and capacities which are his because of his divine endowment. but in the meantime what have we? a breaking away from old established tradition, a revolt from authority, whether of the- 188- a treatise on white magic copyright

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

nalysing and synthesising intellect does not doubt in this sense; it questions and waits. but it is in the holy place, with a full knowledge of what is written, and frequently after victory, that doubt descends upon the disciple. perhaps, after all, that sense of divinity which has hitherto upheld the disciple is itself but glamour and not reality. that there have been experiences of a divine and supernatural nature the disciple cannot doubt. there have been moments when there has been "a sense of divine access as different from other experiences, as original and inexplicable, as sex or as the sense of beauty as hunger or thirst,"44 for there is no question that "at the heart of all religion and all religions there is an experience unique, and not to be accounted for by evolution from othe

cstasy accompanies the revelation of the secret of jesus' person. the first time the revelation was for him alone; here the disciples also shared it. it is not clear to what extent they themselves were transported by the experience. so much is sure, that in a dazed condition, out of which they awake only at the end of the scene (st. mark, ix:8) the figure of jesus appears to them illuminated by a supernatural light and glory, and a voice intimates that he- 100- from bethlehem to calvary copyright 1998 lucis trust is the son of god. the occurrence can be explained only as the outcome of great eschatological excitement."18 the same writer goes on to point out "we have therefore three revelations of the secret of messiahship, which so hang together that each subsequent one implies the foregoi

ALICE A BAILEY17 TELEPATHY AND THE ETHERIC VEHICLE

and has been brought down to the level of an educational objective, it will be found to be closely linked to the emerging teaching anent invocation and evocation and will be expanded to include not only right human relations to the superhuman kingdoms, but right human relations with the subhuman kingdoms also. it will, therefore, be concerned with the sensitive response of the entire natural and supernatural world to the "one in whom we live and move and have our being; it will put mankind into a right relationship with all aspects and expressions of the divine nature, deepening subjective contact and bringing about a diviner objective manifestation and one more in line with divine purpose. it will lead to a great shift of the human consciousness off the levels of emotional and physical l

ALICE A BAILEY24 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME V THE RAYS AND THE INITIATIONS

selfishness may continue to play a potent part in his life expression, but underlying these and subordinating them will be found a deep dissatisfaction about things as they are and an agonising realisation of failure. it is at this point that the disciple begins to learn the uses of failure and to know certain fundamental distinctions between that which is natural and objective and that which is supernatural and subjective. do these ideas make the concept of initiation more useful to you and more practical? any initiation which does not find interpretation in daily reactions is of small service and basically- 445- a treatise on the seven rays- volume v: the rays and the initiations copyright 1998 lucis trust unreal. it is the unreality of its presentation which has led to the rejection of

ARADIA GOSPEL OF THE WITCHES

!tu che della grande cadutami ai bene salvata!ti prego di farmi una altra grazia,di farmi far un bello sposalizio,una sposalizio ricco e compagnatoda molte signore..se questa grazia mi faraisempre il vangelo delle stregeio asseriro. page 41 n r r r r r it is a realisationof forbidden or secret love, with attraction to the dimly seen beautiful-by-moonlight,with the fairy or witch-like charm of the supernatural a romanceall combined in a single strangeform the spell of night!there is a dangerous silence in that houra stillness which leaves room for the full soult o open all itself, without the powerof calling wholly back its self-control;the silver light which, hallowing tree and tower,sheds beauty and deep softness oer the whole,breathes also to the heart, and oer it throwsa loving languor

BASIL VALENTINE TWELVE KEYS

o any one, and that god has endowed natural substances with greater powers than most men are ready to believe. upon my mouth god has set a seal, that there might be scope for others after me to write about the wonderful things of nature, which by the foolish are looked upon as unnatural. for they do not understand that all things twelve keys of basil valentine 43 of 95 are ultimately traceable to supernatural causes, but nevertheless are, in this present state of the world, subject to natural conditions. twelve keys of basil valentine 44 of 95 sixth key the male without the female is looked upon as only half a body, nor can the female without the male be regarded as more complete for neither can bring forth fruit so long as it remains alone. but if the two be conjugally united, there is a

BELL CHRISTOPHER PAUL TSIU MARPO THE CAREER OF A TIBETAN PROTECTOR DEITY

lay and monastic communities. x figure 1. tsiu marpo (tenzin 1975, p. 415) xi introduction since the arrival of buddhism in tibet during the seventh century c.e, the religion has had a complex, at times uncomfortable, relationship with the indigenous religious forces of the land. in cultural myth and history, this relationship is personified by the constant interaction between buddhist agents and supernatural deities of the tibetan landscape. this interaction is not wholly unique to tibet and can be found in the development of buddhism in china, japan, sri lanka, and elsewhere in asia. however, what is unique is how such relationships develop, given tibet s particular history, and how the forces involved help solidify the buddhist community along lay and monastic divisions, the two major s

(tib. lha; skt. deva: this class of beings does not really fit in with the other "demons" gods, as discussed above, are the celestial beings that inhabit the heavenly realm; they are white in color. the use of the term in this study will refer exclusively to this type of being in order to remain uniform. the words "deity" and "divinity" have thus provided suitable umbrella terms for all manner of supernatural beings. it is important to note that the tibetan word lha is far more convoluted in use. textual sources tend to use lha equally to refer to different beings, including tantric and worldly deities. 13 7. savage demons (tib. dmu: these demons are somewhat obscure, though they are considered to be very ancient tibetan deities. they are extremely savage and noxious in nature, and cause d

edirected through ritual means. ren girard, in his book on violence and the sacred, discusses how the concept of sacrifice is implemented in order to redirect violence away from the community. he states that violence is unavoidable but controllable; therefore, communities develop systems of sacrifice in which violence can be directed.101 in tibetan buddhism, violence is directed against human and supernatural enemies through ritual means in order to defend buddhism and its practitioners. though girard primarily focuses on texts within the western religious traditions, such as the bible and the greek story of oedipus, his arguments can be applied to asian contexts. this notion of redirecting violence can be observed in a number of tibetan rituals, including the texts to be discussed next ch

r instance, the l (glud) ritual binds a demon within an object that is then removed from the site that the demon plagued and taken far away to be destroyed.102 in ritual dances( cham, effigies that embody subjugated demons are made and destroyed in order to liberate them.103 in many instances, these notions of killing, expelling, and liberating are conflated; also, they are not always directed at supernatural enemies. catherine cantwell discusses the "liberation" killing ritual (sgrol ba) in its multiple contexts and describes a scenario 98 by contrast, the primary enemies of the geluk deity dorj shukden (rdo rje shugs ldan) are members of the geluk sect who do not keep the lineage pure of other sectarian influences. dorj shukden is another little-studied protector deity who deserves great

higatse, always complains about the heavy grain-tax which had been collected at his time, etc.161 hanna havnevik describes a scenario in which the female oracle lobsang tsedr n channeled a male hero spirit and accordingly dressed, walked, and drank beer like a man; she never drank beer in any other circumstance. patrons claim that, once out of the trance, nobody could smell beer on her breath.162 supernatural qualities are a significant attribute of the trance state and help further the authenticity and sacred activity that surrounds the oracle tradition. such supernatural abilities include shows of super strength, such as being able to bear the heavy crown associated with the position of the oracle said to be so heavy that two or three men are needed to hoist it onto the oracle s head and

ar the heavy crown associated with the position of the oracle said to be so heavy that two or three men are needed to hoist it onto the oracle s head and twisting swords into knots. this twisted sword, called the "knotted thunderbolt (rdo rje mdud pa, is a prized possession among tibetans, and those honored enough to obtain one hang it above doorways to ward off demonic influences. other feats of supernatural ability gained under trance include an oracle thrusting a sword into his or her chest until its end comes out the back and removing it to show no sign of injury, as well as vomiting coins.163 such miraculous exhibitions accompany the central supernatural abilities of clairvoyance and prophecy that are the impetus for these trances. the goal of oracle trances is to provide a service to

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

it osch or asch is fire or heat; and the egyptian word osiris is compounded (as shown by schelling) of the two primitives aish and asr, or a "fireenchanter" aesar in the old etruscan meant a god (being perhaps derived from asura of the vedas. aeswar and eswara are analogous terms, as dr. kenealy thought. in the bhagavad gita we read "iswara resides in every mortal being and puts in motion, by his supernatural power, all things which mount on the wheel of time" it is the creator and the destroyer, truly "the primitive fire was supposed to have an insatiable appetite for devouring. maximus of tyre relates that the ancient persians threw into the fire combustible matter crying 'devour, oh lord' in the irish language easam, or asam, means 'to create' and aesar was the name of an ancient irish

ve power, the chief god "put man to sleep for long years, for several lives" which means racial periods, and is a reference to his mental sleep, as shown elsewhere. during that time the deity pulled an ivi (bone) out of man and she became a woman* nevertheless, whatever the allegory may mean, even its exoteric meaning necessitates a divine builder of man "a progenitor" do we then believe in such "supernatural" beings? we say, no. occultism has never believed in anything, whether animate or inanimate, outside nature. nor are we cosmolators or polytheists for believing in "heavenly man" and divine men, for we have the accumulated testimony of the ages, with its unvarying evidence on every essential point, to support us in this; the wisdom of the ancients and universal tradition. we reject, h

remote geological periods; in races of ethereal, following incorporeal "arupa" men, with form but no solid substance, giants who preceded us pigmies; in dynasties of divine beings, those kings and instructors of the third race in arts and sciences, compared with which our little modern science stands less chance than elementary arithmetic with geometry. no, certainly not. we do not believe in the supernatural but only in the superhuman, or rather interhuman, intelligences. one may easily appreciate the feeling of reluctance that an educated person would have to being classed with the superstitious and ignorant; and even realize the great truth uttered by renan when he says that "the supernatural has become like the original sin, a blemish that every one seems ashamed of- even those most re

even realize the great truth uttered by renan when he says that "the supernatural has become like the original sin, a blemish that every one seems ashamed of- even those most religious persons who refuse in our day to accept even a minimum of bible miracles in all their crudeness, and who, seeking to reduce them to the minimum, hide and conceal it in the furthermost corners of the past* but the "supernatural" of renan belongs to dogma and its dead letter. it has nought to do with its spirit nor with the reality of facts in nature. if theology asks us to believe that four or five thousand years ago men lived 900 years and more, that a portion of mankind, the enemies of the people of israel exclusively, was composed of giants[[footnote(s "polynesian researches" ellis. vol.ii, p. 38. mission

ind alone. thus it has now become self-evident that postulating as we do (a) the appearance of man before that of other mammalia, and even before the ages of the huge reptiles (b) periodical deluges and glacial periods owing to the karmic disturbance of the axis; and chiefly (c) the birth of man[[vol. 2, page] 275 no devils outside humanity. from a superior being, or what materialism would call a supernatural being, though it is only super-human- it is evident that our teachings have very few chances of an impartial hearing. add to it the claim that a portion of the mankind in the third race- all those monads of men who had reached the highest point of merit and karma in the preceding manvantara- owed their psychic and rational natures to divine beings hypostasizing into their fifth princi

aid to be still found in the neighbourhood of canton[[footnote(s* treating of the chinese dragon and the literature of china, mr. ch. gould writes in his "mythical monsters" on p. 212 "its mythologies, histories, religions, popular stories and proverbs, all teem with references to a mysterious being who has a physical nature and spiritual attributes. gifted with an accepted form, which he has the supernatural power of casting off for the assumption of others, he has the power of influencing the weather, producing droughts or fertilizing rains at pleasure, of raising tempests and allaying them. volumes could be compiled from the scattered legends which everywhere abound relating to this subject" this "mysterious being" is the mythical dragon, i.e, the symbol of the historical, actual adept

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

. from this state he fell- into the brute and savage? this is diametrically opposite to our eastern teaching, and even to the kabalistic notion so far as we understand it, and to the bible itself. this looks like corporealism and substantialism colouring positive philosophy, though it is rather hard to feel quite sure of the author's meaning (see p. 235. a fall, however "from the natural into the supernatural and the animal- supernatural meaning the purely spiritual in this case- means what we suggest* on the authority of irenaeus, of justin martyr and the "codex" itself, dunlap shows that the nazarenes regarded "spirit" as a female and evil power in its connection with our earth (dunlap "sod" the son of the man, p. 52[[vol. 1, page] 195 the codex repeats the allegory. feminine. thus the s

sloka expresses the conception- a purely vedantic one, as already explained elsewhere- of a life-thread, sutratma, running through successive generations. how, then, can this be explained? by resorting to a simile, to a familiar illustration, though necessarily imperfect, as all our available analogies must be. before resorting to it, however, i would ask whether it seems unnatural, least of all "supernatural" to any one of us, when we consider that process known as the growth and development of a foetus into a healthy baby weighing several pounds evolves from what? from the segmentation of an infinitesimally small ovum and a spermatozoon; and afterwards we see that baby develop into a six-foot man! this refers to the atomic and physical[[footnote(s* paracelsus calls them the flagae; the c

in and importation "divine origin" does not mean here a revelation from an anthropomorphic god on a mount amidst thunder and lightning; but, as we understand it, a language and a system of science imparted to the early mankind by a more advanced mankind, so much higher as to be divine in the sight of that infant humanity. by a "mankind" in short, from other spheres; an idea which contains nothing supernatural in it, but the acceptance or rejection of which depends upon the degree of conceit and arrogance in the mind of him to whom it is stated. for, if the professors of modern knowledge would only confess that, though they know nothing of the future of the disembodied man- or rather will accept nothing- yet this future may be pregnant with surprises and unexpected revelations to them, once

proven. for the etheric force, discovered by the well-known (in america and now in europe) john worrell keely, of philadelphia, is no hallucination. notwithstanding his failure to utilize it, a failure prognosticated and maintained by some occultists from the first, the phenomena exhibited by the discoverer during the last few years have been wonderful, almost miraculous, not in the sense of the supernatural* but of the superhuman. had keely been permitted to succeed, he might have reduced a whole army to atoms in the space of a few seconds as easily as he reduced a dead ox to the same condition. the reader is now asked to give a serious attention to that newly-discovered potency which the discoverer has named "inter-etheric force and forces" in the humble opinion of the occultists, as of

been permitted to succeed, he might have reduced a whole army to atoms in the space of a few seconds as easily as he reduced a dead ox to the same condition. the reader is now asked to give a serious attention to that newly-discovered potency which the discoverer has named "inter-etheric force and forces" in the humble opinion of the occultists, as of his immediate friends[[footnote(s* the word "supernatural" implies above or outside of nature. nature and space are one. now space for the metaphysician exists outside of any act of sensation, and is a purely subjective representation; materialism, which would connect it forcibly with one or the other datum of sensation, notwithstanding. for our senses, it is fairly subjective when independent of anything within it. how then can any phenomen

ecessarily lose their vital coherence and thus do no good when studied independently. to be able to appreciate and accept the occult views on the nebular theory, one has to study the whole esoteric cosmogonical system. and the time has hardly arrived for the astronomers to be asked to accept fohat and the divine builders. even the undeniably correct surmises of sir w. herschell, that had nothing "supernatural" in them, about the sun being called "globe of fire (perhaps) metaphorically, and his early speculations about the nature of that which is now called the nasmyth willow-leaf theory- caused that most eminent of all astro[[vol. 1, page] 591 forces are emanations. nomers to be smiled at by other, far less eminent colleagues, who saw and now see in his ideas only "imaginative and fanciful

BUCKLAND RAYMOND COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT

quarters. 2. we recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment. we seek to live in harmony with nature, in ecological balance offering fulfillment to life and consciousness within an evolutionary concept. 3. we acknowledge a depth of power far greater than that apparent to the average person. because it is far greater than ordinary it is sometimes called "supernatural, but we see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to all. 4. we conceive of the creative power in the universe as manifesting through polarity as masculine and feminine and that this same creative power lies in all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine. we value neither above the other, knowing each to be supportive to the other. we

ic growth and development; success. tunnel: hiding; being afraid. turning: changing or developing. see left or right. turning in a circle represents lack of progress. twins: ego and alter ego. umbrella: shelter. veil: insecurity. volcano: sexual energy; emotions. wall: frustration; inability. watch: see clock. water: spirituality; emotion. wedding: culmination of plans; happiness; success. witch: supernatural ability; wisdom. woman: the anima. her age represents maturity or lack of it. wreath: self-pity. remembering dreams the obvious first step in dream interpretation is to remember them. if you have difficulty in remembering your dreams, the probable reason is that you have ignored them for so long the subconscious no longer tries to bring them to your conscious memory. if this is the ca

individual nature. whenever possible, check on the results you achieve and keep a written record of them. in this way you can watch your progress. the above exercises can be done quite well in a group. you can even arrange two teams and see which is the more accurate. other exercises and tests will suggest themselves. keep trying. don't be discouraged. and keep those notes. a pocket guide to the supernatural raymond buckland, ace books, 1969 lesson eight: marriage, birth, death and channeling 1105 psychometry all physical material has memory. it is not the memory of a conscious awareness, but is the retention of manifested energy with which the material has come into contact. further, if a person touches a particular object, a cosmic link is established between the two that will exist at

or other sources have you used in your herbal work? are there local experts you have talked with? what have you learned? lesson eleven magick note: this is an important lesson for the student. do not rush through it. read and study it carefully. read it several times over. you should become thoroughly familiar with its contents. what is witchcraft but the human control of natural forces through a supernatural power. with fasting and incantation, with conjuring, men snare that power and use it without actually knowing what it is that they use. so witchcraft is the science of that power, within whose cult all mysteries merge and mingle. witches still live witchcraft is first and foremost a religion. worship of the lord and the theda kenyan lady is therefore the prime concern of the witch. ma

. what could you say about the person? please read: the book of changes by j. blofeld 1-omzgbyr.wilhelm the seventh sense by kenneth roberts numerology by vincent lopez the new a to z horoscope maker and delineator by llewellyn george palmistry, the whole view by judith hipskind recommended supplementary reading: crystal gazing t. besterman medical palmistry marten steinbach a pocket guide to the supernatural raymond buckland lesson ten 1. what are the requirements of a good healer? 2. why should you always refer to plants by their latin name? 3. what is (a) an infusion (b) clarification? 4. name three different methods of preparing herbs for medicinal use. 5. what would you use slippery elm for (littmus fulva) 6. what do the following terms mean (a) carminative (b) expectorant (c) rubifac

more than ten i years as a gardnerian, he; introduced his own denomination of the craft seax-wica (saxon witchcraft) which has since grown to worldwide practice. ray buckland is a british-born author of numerous best selling books on practical magick, such as practical color magick and practical candleburning rituals. he is regarded as one of the leading authorities on witchcraft, voodoo and the supernatural. today ray buckland has retired from public work to concentrate on his screenwriting career and to more fully explore his gypsy heritage. with the discovery that neo-witchcraft or wicca is not devil-worship, thousands of religious seekers around the world have finally come to realize that this earth religion may well be the answer to their needs. yet it has been almost impossible to g

CHIREAU YVONNE BLACK MAGIC RELIGION AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONJURING TRADITION

an enduring reminder of the world to which she and her people belong, nana peazant has created this charm for her family's protection, even as some of the most destructive forces that they face have emerged from their own conflicts. in its composition, the charm consolidates some of the most significant icons of african american spirituality: the bible, a token of christian redemption; a root, a supernatural emblem and touchstone to an ancient heritage; and the most precious relic that nana owns, the bequest of a slave parent to a child.a twisted cord of her own mother's hair. bound together and made inseparable with twine, each element of the hand illustrates the charm's singularity of spirit. although the scene occurs in a motion picture, the real, historical implications present in it

tivities of members of a group or community. it may also include what david hall has called "lived religion" or the practice and "everyday thinking and doing of lay men and women" african american religion, according to this perspective, not only embodies ecclesial formations of faith but also encompasses noninstitutionalized expressions and activities.[6] it is my belief that permutations of the supernatural in practices such as conjuring, the african american tradition of healing and harming, have been resignified as "religion" generally, however, observers have not viewed conjure and religion as elements of a single complex, choosing instead to retain the "magic-religion" dichotomy when looking at african american spirituality. perhaps one reason is that most interpreters set "christian

value-laden assumptions, has shaped academic studies on african american religion from the past to the present. while it may be useful for academic interpreters, a rigid dichotomy between christian and non-christian expressions in black folk traditions belies practitioners f own experiences.[7] instead of viewing supernaturalism as a marginal subset of african american religion, i have identified supernatural practices as they appear within and outside black spiritual traditions. these include those that might be classified as "magical" whose participants claim an allegiance to conventional spiritual authorities (e.g, christian ministers, or members of black churches) while taking part in hoodoo, conjure, and\ 5\ root-working practices. take for example a former slave, self-proclaimed prea

d healer in a 1930s texas community by the name of william adams. adams, as did others in his day, found in the christian scriptures a timeless collection of potent spells, charms, curses, and esoteric lore "there am lots of folks, and educated ones too, that says we-uns don't understand" he claimed" emember the lord, in some of his ways, can be mysterious. the bible says so" spiritual powers and supernatural abilities, he argued, were available to those who were divinely gifted or specially inspired by god.[8] this book considers other cases as well, such as that of bishop charles harrison mason, the founder of what would become the largest african american pentecostal denomination, the church of god in christ. mason possessed an uncommon fascination with strangely formed natural objects

ts" or magical artifacts used by black conjurers throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. mason, however, described his roots as "wonders of god" and contemplated the miraculous as he delivered sermons to his afro-christian followers. shifting to a very different context, we may consider the kongolese in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, pious african catholics who assigned supernatural significance to the gnarly, rootlike incarnations of their patron deities. far from representing religious oddities, do these phenomena point to continuities that reach from africa to america? to begin to answer this question i present a spectrum of beliefs and practices by illuminating the "magical" aspects of african american spirituality. african american magical practices and beli

926, which offered the author's particular insights into the social and cultural milieu from which black black magic page 6 of 144 http//content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docid=kt600020q0&chunk.id=0&doc.view=print 7/14/2006 spiritual traditions in late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century america were derived. first-person narratives of conjure traditions are best exemplified by the vast collection of supernatural charms, mystical experiences, spiritual formulae, and other raw materials collected in hoodoo.conjuration.witchcraft.rootwork\ 6\ collected by harry middleton hyatt in the 1930s and 1940s. there is also a voluminous secondary literature on african american supernaturalism that consists of monographs, articles, and ethnographies of black folk tradition in the united states dating from

COLLIER IRENE CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

c, the writing system was quite advanced; its symbols are found on numerous bronze vessels from that period. during the qin dynasty (221 206 b.c, chinese writing became systematized and sophisticated. many of the symbols from that era closely resemble the chinese writing characters used today.4 fushi teaches the people 33 fushi watched the new humans stumbling about. these people did not have the supernatural powers of gods, the strength of tigers, or the speed of leopards. they did not have the protective armor of turtles, the leathery hide of water buffaloes, or the thick fur of foxes. people had thin skin, soft flesh, sparse hair, and moved about rather slowly. they had good hearts and cheerful laughter, but they were easily frightened and discouraged. fushi decided to help the new huma

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

knowledge and potential available to us. in the periods known as lemuria and atlantis, hundreds of thousands of years ago in our version of time, humans lived in what we would call a science fiction world, in which amazing things were possible, as was also true in civilisations before those. these were not miracles, merely the use of the natural laws of creation. what is termed the paranormal or supernatural is only that which our limited version of science has not discovered or acknowledged yet. everything that exists is the result of 'natural' laws. if it were not, it could not 14..and the truth shall set you free exist. we began to go backwards when the jamming frequency was installed, and the levels of consciousness which contained the knowledge enjoyed before recorded human history w

medicine-man or the asiatic shaman; others have compared it to the sensitivity of a medium, and the magnetism of a hypnotist."7 and herman rauschning, an aide to hitler, said in his book, hitler speaks "one cannot help thinking of him as a medium. for most of the time, mediums are ordinary, insignificant people. suddenly they are endowed with what seem to be 210 .and the truth shall set you free supernatural powers which set them apart from the rest of humanity. the medium is possessed. once the crisis is past, they fall back again into mediocrity. it was in this way, beyond any doubt, that hitler was possessed by forces outside of himself- almost demoniacal forces of which the individual named hitler was only the temporary vehicle. the mixture of the banal and the supernatural created th

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

the anunnaki to rule on their behalf. he says that they drank menstrual blood known as star fire, but he doesn't mention the blood they drink from the victims of human sacrifice right to this day. the drinking of menstrual blood, symbolised as "red mead" or "red wine, goes back to the dawn of history and many ancient calendars were based on the moon-menstrual cycle. the greeks called it ambrosia("supernatural red wine" of the goddess hera, while in india it was soma (the food of the gods) and in persia, haoma. they believed the menstrual blood was sacred and the life essence that could bring immortality. sir laurence gardner calls the anunnaki bloodlines the "dragon bloodlines, but claims that this derives only from the use of crocodile fat in the royal ceremonies of ancient egypt. right

s, demeter/ceres, dionysus/bacchus, jupiter/zeus, and, of course, sol invictus. so jesus was naturally given the birthday of december 25th; the birthday of the sun. nicaea was the moment when jesus and christ were brought together for the first time in the way of the other "anointed" sun gods. the council was convened to end the conflict and squabbling between the followers of st paul's "jesus, a supernatural god, and those who questioned that jesus could be the same as god. the latter were called the arians after their leader, arius, a churchman in alexandria, egypt. amid fistfights and mayhem, it was "decided, on constantine's insistence, that all christians must believe in the supernatural jesus- or else. this belief, which is the foundation of christianity to this day, was "defined" in

feed on us like emotional. psychic and bioplasmic vampires and work to destroy our spiritual life and thus individuality until we are assimilated into their hive via psionic implants just as they have done with many other humans beyond this world, many within the underground military-industrial networks, and with many of the 'abductees' of recent years. and not only psychic assimilation, but also supernatural possession (by rep-oltergiest parasites) and also genetic assimilation as well "what if these 'wer-dracs 'repti-poltergiests 'demon-aliens, or whatever one might wish to call these serpentine sorcerers, had became adept over time at superficial molecular shape shifting as the indwelling 'poltergiest' or 'astral parasite' literally absorbed, consumed, devoured, or assimilated the repti

ned to the occult art of the african medicine man or the asiatic shaman; others have compared it to the sensitivity of a medium, and the magnetism of a hypnotist."19 and hermann rauschning, an aide to hitler, said in his book hitler speaks "one cannot help thinking of him as a medium. for most of the time, mediums are ordinary, insignificant people. suddenly they are endowed with what seems to be supernatural powers, which set them apart from the rest of humanity. the medium is possessed. once the crisis is passed, they fall back into mediocrity. it was in this way, beyond any doubt, that hitler was possessed by forces outside of himself- almost demoniacal forces of which the individual man, hitler, was only the temporary vehicle. the mixture of the banal and the supernatural created that

eary, the national co-ordinator of the rape crisis centres, said "we could be talking about high levels of organised abuse which could almost be beyond the belief of many of the agencies tasked with dealing with this problem. although it is unrecognised, ritual abuse does take place in ireland and survivors of this type of abuse live here. elaborate ritual, group activities, religious, magical or supernatural beliefs and practices may be used to terrify and silence children and to convince them of the absolute power of their abusers. the purpose of these rituals is to gain and maintain access to children in order to exploit them sexually. there is also evidence that some of the groups would exchange children to other groups abroad."2 it is a vast global network, fundamentally connected to

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

eral translation of symbolic texts.on this misunderstanding and deceit christianity was built. we are led to believethat the christian church emerged as one unit, but this is simply not true. there weremany factions across a wide spectrum of views arguing and battling for supremacy asthe holders of the truth. the fiercest conflict ensued between the followers of the stpaul version of jesus as the supernatural son of god, and the arians, who believed hewas a man, not god. the arians were named after anus, a churchman in alexandria,egypt, who questioned that jesus could be the same as god. had not jehovah said thathe was the only god? how then could god be in three parts as the father, son and holyspirit? the trinity is a pagan concept and part of babylonian and egyptian belief.now if we liv

ndowed with what seem to besupernatural powers which set them apart from the rest of humanity. the medium ispossessed. once the crisis is passed, they fall back again into mediocrity. it was in thisway, beyond any doubt, that hitler was possessed by forces outside of himself- almostdemoniacal forces of which the individual man hitler was only the temporary vehicle. themixture of the banal and the supernatural created that insupportable duality of which onewas conscious in his presence. it was like looking at a bizarre face whose expressionseemed to reflect an unbalanced state of mind coupled with a disquieting impression ofhidden powers.6hitler appeared to live in perpetual fear of the supermen. rauschning told howhitler suffered from terrible nightmares and would wake in terror screaming

elled information comes from thissource already. project bluebeam also involves the manifestation of supernaturalphenomena of many kinds to terrify the population and amid the terror and conflict,also via holographic image in the sky, the brotherhood saviour will come. it must beemphasised also, as we consider project bluebeam, that the crop circle phenomena doesnot have to be extraterrestrial or supernatural, as most investigators believe. it couldbe, but it doesnt have to be. in the period before the complex crop patterns firstappeared in the 1980s the technology was developed which could create them. this wasa high frequency gamma-ray beam device which was developed for the military. someof the main characteristics of the genuine crop circles (many have been hoaxed) are: thestalks bend

. these phenomena can even be stimulated by areas ofgeopathic stress in the earth and by overhead power lines, both of which produceelectromagnetic fields and they can certainly be produced by the electromagnetictechnology used by the brotherhood in their mind control projects. the effect andpotential of electromagnetic fields to take people into altered states of consciousness andto trigger many supernatural phenomena is enormous. unless we understand this,extraterrestrial explanations can be given for very terrestrial events. this applies toplasma balls and lights in the sky which are commonly caused by electromagneticprojections from the earth. the modern explosion of ufo sightings did not begin untilafter the second world war, by which time the germans for one had developed forms offly

DEMONIC BIBLE

for leaders. other organizations already exist which serve the function of initiating neophytes and training adepts. those who become adepts will find their way to the embassy of lucifer. magus tsirk susej, antichrist chad ian miller was born on august 3, 1970 in british columbia, canada. at the age of seven, after his family spent two years living in a haunted house, he became interested in the supernatural. his romance with the occult grew and by the age of thirteen he had studied a great many works on the occult and supernatural including many books by researchers of the paranormal. he grew disinterested in parapsychology, however, as he found that parapsychologists were more concerned with paranormal events in themselves than with the spiritual reality which paranormal events suggeste

ic and rational explanation they sought since they had blinded themselves to the mystic and spiritual reality which was the cause of the very events these researchers witnessed. at the age of fourteen, he turned his attention to mythology and folklore and has said that he fell in love with the goddess diana of greek mythology. his fascination with mythology quickly combined with his belief in the supernatural and drew him into the study of witchcraft and magic. where parapsychology sought a rational explanation for occult phenomena, magic offered an answer. as sixteen, he read the satanic bible by anton lavey. like many others who have been influenced by satanism, he did not become a satanist but, rather, realized that he had always been a satanist. while most authors of books on witchcraf

DIABOLUS

the nature of both the opposer and the sorcerer within the context of relation. by passing through the darkness is a light revealed brighter than all others. beginning with the foundations of the adversary in the form of the egyptian set are we able to firstly understand that his force, while averse is indeed a necessary and 3 significantly important to the balance of nature in both a natural and supernatural sense. the shadow holds substance which bears the fruit of knowledge from the practitioner who is daring enough to taste it. set is the original opposer or adversary, whose form captivated and later frightened those who dare stand against him. the persian foundation of averse practice is found in some satanic lore written by zoroastrian priests. ahriman, the prince of darkness in that

DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF OCCULT TERMINOLOGY

tive to imagery which arises from the unconscious. a method of utilizing the psionic discipline of clairvoyance, via means of a crystal ball, black mirror, or bowl of water, etc. seance: from the old french "seoir" from the latin "sedere" meaning "to sit. in spiritism (q.v, or spiritualism, a session or meeting at which spiritualists attempt to contact with the spirits of the dead. secret chiefs: supernatural beings who preside over the rosicrucian (q.v) and other occult (q.v) and esoteric (q.v) currents and communicate occult teaching to men and woman who seek to follow that path. the head of the hermetic order of the golden dawn, s. l. macgregor mathers (q.v, was said to be in communication with them, though he could not describe who and what they were. aleister crowley (q.v) also claime

DION FORTUNE MYSTICAL QABALA

esentations" are "designed" let us once and for all disabuse our minds of the idea that spirit can work directly upon matter; it never does so. spirit works through mind, and mind works through the 'ether; and the 'ether, which is the framework of matter and the vehicle of the life-forces, can be manipulated within the limits of its nature, which are by no means inconsiderable. all miraculous and supernatural happenings, therefore, are brought about by the manipulation of the natural qualities of the 'ether, and if we understood the nature of the 'ether, we should understand the rationale of their production. we should no longer attribute them to the direct mystical qabala page 174 intervention of god, or to the activities of the spirits of the departed, than we attribute nowadays the phen

y must have a channel of manifestation; and why be at great pains to build a psychic one when there is a natural one ready to hand? god moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform when natural law is a sealed book to us; but when we understand the ways of nature's working, we see that god moves in a perfectly natural way, through the regularly established channels; the difference between the supernatural and the natural does not lie in the channels of manifestation that are used, but in the amount of power that comes through them. not in quality but in quantity does the flow of power alter when spiritual forces are successfully invoked. 53. the whole problem of malkuth is a problem of channels and connecting links. the rest of the work is done by the mind on the subtler planes; the re

DION FORTUNE PSYCHIC SELF DEFENSE

these indicate that elemental forces, not human, are at work. poltergeist phenomena also occur, in which objects are flung about, bells rung and other noisy manifestations take place. of course there may be multiplicity of phenomena, more than one type appearing in the same case. needless to say, the possibility of some natural, material explanation must never be ignored, even in cases where the supernatural element appears most obvious. it should always be diligently sought in every possible direction before any supernormal hypothesis is considered worthy of attention. but on the other hand, we should not be so wedded to materialistic theories that we refuse to take a psychic theory as a working hypothesis if it shows any possibility of being fruitful. after all, the proof of the pudding

DONALDTYSON EVILEYE

as the evil eye, when the belief is so widespread across both time and cultural boundaries. at the same time it is obvious that the traditional explanation as to how the evil eye works must be incorrect. how then does it work? when a malicious glance is sent from the eye of a spiteful person directly into the eye of another person who is susceptible to suggestion, and is predisposed to anticipate supernatural attacks and resulting misfortunes, it implants itself in the imagination of the victim like a black seed, and begins to grow, nourished by the fear and expectation of the victim. as a result, the mind of the person assaulted by the evil eye turns against itself, and actually creates the misfortunes that it most fears. in the same way that a hypnotist can put someone into a hypnotic st

EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD PAPYRUS OF ANI MALESTROM

eru, the gods. but side by side with neter, whatever it may mean, we have mentioned in texts of all ages a number of beings called neteru which egyptologists universally translate by the word "gods" among these must be the egyptians' ideas of god. http//www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod06.htm (1 of 7 [8/10/2001 11:23:29 am] included the great cosmic powers and the beings who, although held to be supernatural, were yet finite and mortal, and were endowed by the egyptians with love, hatred, and passions of every sort and kind. the difference between the conceptions of neter the one supreme god and the neteru is best shown by an appeal to egyptian texts. in the pyramid of unas it is said to the deceased, un-k ar kes neter thou existest at the side of god.[3] in the pyramid of teta it is said

EMPERORS NEW RELIGION CHURCH OF SATAN

ultnick bunk that anton lavey prides the satanic bible as being devoid of in the preface of the book. both readers despising such bunkery and readers desiring it are generously satisfied. the satanic bible thus represents an occultnick slam dunk: most readers will agree with certain portions of the satanic bible as long as they are either atheists on a rational level, deists with symbolism but no supernatural beliefs, or even theists believing in god and/or satan but not particularly caring about their sentences in their afterlives. indeed, because most readers can find something they agree with in the satanic bible almost regardless of personal belief, and because they are encouraged to pick and choose those items they agree with, the only obstacle to being a satanist per the church of sa

ommon among religious groups. the structure is not formalized in the church of satan, and only serves to understand the dynamics of the church of satan as a religious organization. 2.1 characteristic religious traits the core and the soldiers display the characteristic traits of new religious movements founded by charismatic leaders: 1. they believe the founder can/could perform miracles or other supernatural feats, and the founder is perceived as somehow more than human. the founder is considered infallible, or the founder s faults are ignored or explained away [25, pp. 184- 218] the founder, anton lavey, plays a key role in the religion. it is very common to find that followers of new religious groups, sects, or cults revere the founder as more than human, capable of miracles (or, in the

espite the organization s claim in the affiliation information that: an individual s membership is held in strictest confidence by the church of satan [1] other attempts to keep a monopoly on satanism include the church of satan s use of the baphomet symbol (figure 6. reportedly, the church of satan originally used an exact copy of the baphomet symbol displayed on the front cover of magic and the supernatural [45] on membership cards and other material, but has later produced a cleaned-up rendition [46. the church of satan does not own the original symbol, but the church of satan has attempted to prevent other organizations from using any rendition of the symbol claiming it to be a copyright violation against the church of satan [23. because the precise rendition is less important than sym

if not for anton lavey, other organizations would never have thought of referring to themselves as satanic. this argument is questionable, however, because it is based on the improbable premise that no-one else would have designed an organization and called it satanism dur- figure 6. the baphomet symbol was copied by the church of satan from the front cover of maurice bessy s book, magic and the supernatural (left. the current edition of the satanic bible uses the same symbol (right, but with several clean-ups compensating for the somewhat blurred rendition on bessy s book. although the precise rendition is less important than symbolism when it comes to religious symbols, the church of satan has aggressively pursued other uses of the symbol as copyright violations against the church of sa

but it may have been this act of mine that ordained his fall. michael aquino, you are become magus v of the aeon of set [49] the church of satan has a case against michael aquino in terms of the postulated 1975 schism. firstly, the church of satan advises that michael aquino s revelation might have been prompted by a strong desire to be a new anton lavey or to take over the church of satan: this supernatural revelation supposedly gives him the right to supercede the church of satan. doesn t that sound familiar [50] thus noting that the revelation came at an opportune moment when michael aquino found himself torn between loyalty with the church of satan and his personal interpretation of its ideology, the church of satan has a point: michael aquino s revelation and his evaluation of the ch

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

ibuted to the realm of ordinary sense perception, but their very elusiveness has led them to be associated with the occult. the evolution of occultism the present-day view of the occult is highly influenced by the history of the paranormal in the west during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. through the seventeenth century, most people believed in the active operation of occult (then termed supernatural) entities and forces. this belief brought comfort to some; but, for others, it became a source of fear, leading to suffering, and even death, for many. it allowed some people to rule by their reported ability to manipulate supernatural powers, and made it possible for the inquisition to persecute thousands as witches and satanists. it also enabled unscrupulous religious leaders to dec

h, for many. it allowed some people to rule by their reported ability to manipulate supernatural powers, and made it possible for the inquisition to persecute thousands as witches and satanists. it also enabled unscrupulous religious leaders to deceive people with sham relics and miracles. by the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, however, there began a serious critique of the more questionable supernatural phenomena, beginning with relics and extending to the actions of the witchfinders. as protestantism secularized (denied sacred value to) the world, and the acceptance of scientific observation and organization of natural phenomena spread, a general spirit of skepticism was created. in the eighteenth century, this skeptical spirit created the first significant movement to challenge the

phenomena, beginning with relics and extending to the actions of the witchfinders. as protestantism secularized (denied sacred value to) the world, and the acceptance of scientific observation and organization of natural phenomena spread, a general spirit of skepticism was created. in the eighteenth century, this skeptical spirit created the first significant movement to challenge the role of the supernatural in human society. deism. deism affirmed the existence of god the creator, but suggested that god had merely established a system of natural law, leaving the world to govern itself by that law. by implication, god was divorced from the world, and supernatural events did not occur; rather the supernatural was merely the misobserved natural. furthermore, neither angels nor spirits commun

racle .the breaking by god of his own natural laws to intervene in the lives of his creatures. deist thought was largely confined to a small number of intellectual circles, among them some very powerful and influential people, including most of the founding fathers of the united states.benjamin franklin, thomas jefferson, and george washington. in the nineteenth century, the skeptical view of the supernatural became the cornerstone of the freethought movement. this minority movement impacted every level of intellectual and theological thinking at that time. theologians regularly began their courses with proofs of the existence of god; preachers debated village atheists; evangelists strengthened their efforts to reach the godless masses. in the midst of the debate between traditional religi

w people (known as spiritualists) proposed a different viewpoint in which the distinction between this life and the life beyond became a somewhat artificial intellectual construct; everything was part of one larger natural world. to demonstrate and prove scientifically the existence of this larger universe, spiritualists turned to mediums.people with special access to those realms once called the supernatural. entering a trance-like state, these mediums would bring forth messages containing information that seemingly could not have been acquired by normal means. the mediums manifestations of a wide variety of extraordinary phenomena seemingly pointed to the existence of unusual forces operating in the physical world, forces unknown or undocumented by the emerging scientific community at th

existence of unusual forces operating in the physical world, forces unknown or undocumented by the emerging scientific community at the time. almost concurrently with the emergence and spread of spiritualism, a few intellectuals, having close ties to traditional religion, yet imbued with the new scientific methodology, concluded that scientific observation could be used to investigate reports of supernatural phenomena, especially reports of ghosts and hauntings. this sparked the formation in 1862 of the ghost club in england. during the next two decades, the growth of spiritualism provided a fertile field for investigation, and in 1882 a new generation of investigators founded the society for psychical research in london to study actual phenomena occurring during spiritualist seances as w

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

. london: faith press, 1915. the hill of dreams. 1907. reprint, new york: dover, 1986. the house of souls. 1906. reprint, freeport, n.y: books for libraries press, 1971. the terror. 1917. reprint, new york: w. w. norton, 1965. reynolds, aidan, and william charlton. arthur machen: a short account of his life and work. london, 1963. 951 sullivan, jack, ed. the penguin encyclopedia of horror and the supernatural. new york: viking, 1986. macionica slavonic name for a witch (see slavs) mackenzie, kenneth r(obert) h(enderson (1833.1886) prominent british occultist, an honorary magus of the societas rosicruciana in anglia, and a member of the hermetic society of the golden dawn. during 1858.59 he edited four issues of biological review, devoted to spiritualism, homeopathy, and electro-dentistry

osed to appear. sources: calmet, augustine. the phantom world. 2 vols. london: richard bentley, 1850. magic general term for magic art, believed to derive from the greek magein, the science and religion of the priests of zoroaster (see magi, or, according to philologist skeat, from greek megas (great, thus signifying the great science. it commonly refers to the ability to cause change to occur by supernatural or mysterious powers and abilities. in the twentieth century, magic has been more stringently defined as the ability to create change by an act of the will and the use of the cosmic power believed to underpin physical existence. contemporary magicians also distinguish between high magic and low magic. the latter refers to using magic to make changes in the mundane world, from concocti

e being the seventh son of a seventh son; through revelation from the gods; or through his mastery of ritual. the shaman operated like a medium, for instead of summoning the powers of the air at his bidding, as did the magicians of medieval days, he found it necessary to throw himself into a trance and seek them in their own sphere (the magician is also often regarded as possessed by an animal or supernatural being) the duties of the priest and magician were often combined in tribal society. when one religion was superseded, however, the priests of the old cult were considered, in the eyes of the leaders and believers of the new, nothing but evil or misguided magicians. medieval definition of magic the definitions of magic given by the great magicians of medieval and modern times naturally

y. the eighteenth century was rich in occult personalities, for example, the alchemists lascaris martines de pasqually and louis claude de saint-martin, who founded the martinist school, which was continued by papus (gerard encausse. by the end of the eighteenth century, magic practice had reached its lowest ebb as emphasis on the exploration of causative agents centered on the physical world and supernatural explanations were pushed aside. it was not until the nineteenth century that a spreading mesmerist philosophy offered philosophical underpinnings for a scientific worldview. magic merged for the moment with mesmerism, and many of the secret magic societies that abounded in europe about this period practiced animal magnetism experiments as well as astrology, kabbalism, and ceremonial m

ny, to have been founded in that city in the year 1115. in the rosenkreutzer in seiner blosse (1786) of f. g. e. weise, it was stated that the initiates wore a triangle, symbolizing power, wisdom, and love. the more exalted orders among them were called mage or wise masters, and these held the greater mysteries of the fraternity. they were masters of secret sciences and achieved feats that seemed supernatural. magical vestments and appurtenances the practice of magic generally prescribes various items of clothing and accessories as needful adjuncts to magical rites, in part to assist the magician in imagining himself/herself to be in an otherworldly setting. their color, name, form, and substance, which were symbolic of certain powers and elements, supposedly added greater efficacy to the

ime said to be great magicians, were supposed to launch lead darts, about a finger-length, against their absent enemies, believing that with such magic darts they were sending grievous pains and maladies. magicians (illusionists) the term magician can refer to two distinct areas of practice. the first refers to those who claim to practice the art of change by the use of unknown (either natural or supernatural) forces. such practice is covered in this encyclopedia under the headings ceremonial magic and magic. the second connotation refers to stage illusionists. these represent those who have perfected acts presenting the same phenomena as those presented by mediums and psychics. it conjures up many different images in people, some that extend into the far reaches of one s imagination and e

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

individuals report feeling the presence of god, they usually describe a subjective state that the nonbeliever does not feel compelled to take literally. of course we know there was a time when our ancestors were certain that otherworldly beings of all sorts walked the world. gods communicated openly with humans. one could summon up their presence or encounter them spontaneously. fairies and other supernatural entities haunted the landscape as introduction xi things that existed not just in supernatural belief but in actual experience. we also know that our poor, benighted ancestors knew no better. superstitious, fearful, deeply credulous, they mistook shadows and dreams for denizens of realms that had no reality beyond the one ignorance and foolishness assigned it. finally, most of us are

le, little in common between the average channeler and the average witness to a close encounter of the third kind (a ufo sighting in which, according to a classification system defined by the late astronomer and ufologist j. allen hynek, the presence of animated creatures is reported [1972, 138. typically, channelers have had a long history of occult interests before they begin communicating with supernatural entities holding forth on familiar metaphysical doctrines. close-encounter witnesses, on the other hand, fit the profile of witnesses to less exotic ufo sightings; in other words, they are pretty much indistinguishable from their fellow citizens. consequently, channelers look more like candidates for subjective experience, and in- introduction xv deed to every indication channeling is

i. whether this king of the world, or even the author s supposed informant, ever existed, he and his kingdom soon entered occult lore. in darkness over tibet (1935) theodore illion recounted his allegedly true adventures in an underground city in a distant valley. at first he thought he had entered a utopia, but soon he realized that the inhabitants, for all their advanced spiritual knowledge and supernatural powers, were cannibals. illion wrote that his reported experiences proved the existence of agharti. in 1946 vincent h. gaddis, a regular contributor to amazing stories who later achieved a degree of fame as the inventor of the concept of the bermuda triangle, picked up on the theme, depicting agharti as a city of evil that was linked to tunnels all over the world. he incorporated agha

rld until 1948, when the martian/human alliance reclaimed the city and slew its ruler, the king of the world, and many of his troops. t h e re is no real-life central asian tradition of agharti, though chinese and ti b e t a n e q u i valents to western fairy lore spoke of magical caves, on the other side of which the traveler would find a beautiful land and lovely but ultimately tre a c h e rous supernatural beings. see also: reptoids further reading dickhoff, robert ernst, 1965. agharta. new york: fieldcrest. kafton-minkel, walter, 1989. subterranean worlds: 100,000 years of dragons, dwarfs, the dead, lost races and ufos from inside the earth. port townsend, wa: loompanics unlimited. ossendowski, ferdinand, 1922. beasts, men and gods. new york: dutton. ahab on a camping trip through east

o oversee the affairs of humanity. they channel wisdom to those who will listen to them. one source observes, it is important for students and people to come to realize that all ascended beings are real, tangible beings. their bodies are not physical but they can make them as tangible as our physical bodies are( ascended masters. the great white brotherhood, a spiritual council that exists in the supernatural realm, consists of ascended masters. further reading ascended masters. http//www.ascension-research. org/masters.html. ashtar ashtar is among the most popular and most powerfully positioned of all channeling entities. as (according to most contactees who have dealings with him) head of the ashtar command he is, in the words of his sponsor lord michael, supreme director in charge of al

lton, 1989. an alien harvest: fur- ther evidence linking animal mutilations and human abductions to alien life forms. littleton, co: linda moulton howe productions. jones, william e, and rebecca d. minshall, 1991. bill cooper and the need for more research (ufos, conspiracies, and the jfk assassination. dublin, oh: midohio research associates. hollow earth a long mythological tradition holds that supernatural beings dwell beneath our feet, either in caves and caverns or in the earth s inte- hollow earth 121 books on the hollow-earth theory (fortean picture library) rior. some beliefs have it that the spirits of the unsaved dead live on in gloom or torment beneath our feet. the most famous scientific proponent of a hollow earth, edmond halley (1656 1743, best remembered for the comet named

FAUST

stand and that before the good and fair, which of is hard for them, they grumble; and will the dog, like them too, snarl and bumble? but ah! i feel already, with a will the best, contentment wells no longer from my breast. but wherefore must the stream so soon run dry and we again thus thirsting lie? i have experienced this in ample measure. and yet this feeling has its compensation; we learn the supernatural to treasure. our spirits yearn toward revelation that nowhere glows more fair, more excellent, than here in the new testament. to open the fundamental text i m moved, with honest feeling, once for all, to turn the sacred, blest original into my german well-beloved. he opens a volume and applies himself to it. tis written: in the beginning was the word! here now i m balked! who ll put

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

om de vita coelitus comparanda, 3 (ficino, p. 534. this, and other borrowings from ficino, are pointed out by walker, pp. 89-90. 5 agrippa, de occult, phil, i, 15-37; ed. cit, pp. 24-53. 6 walker, p. 92. 7 de occult, phil, i, 38; ed. cit, p. 53. 132 cornelius agrippa's survey of renaissance magic is the concordance of the world that celestial things draw supercelestial things, and natural things, supernatural things, through the virtue running through all and the participation in it of all species."1 hence it was that ancient priests were able to make statues and images which foretold the future. agrippa is aiming at the full demonic magic of the asckpius, going far beyond the mild neoplatonised magic of ficino which he has been describing in the earlier chapters. he knows that there is an

, whilst with innumerable rites it is honoured and cultivated, by which we seek to obtain innumerable kinds of favours from it. for this is needed that wisdom and judgment, that art and industry and use of the intellectual light, which is revealed to the world from the intelligible sun, sometimes more strongly, sometimes less strongly. which habit is called magia: and this, when it is directed to supernatural principles is divine; when towards the contemplation of nature and scrutiny of her secrets, it is called natural; and it is called middle or mathematical as it consists in reasons and acts of the soul, which is on the horizon between corporeal and spiritual, spiritual and intellectual. and, to return to our purpose said isis to momus, the stupid and senseless idolaters had no reason t

s was (as we shall see in the next chapter) the copernican sun. the ficinian neoplatonising of the asclepian magic is very clear in some of the passages quoted above, particularly in the use of the word "reasons" for basic stellar influences which recalls the opening of the de vita coelitus cotnparanda.1 there is also an influence of cornelius agrippa in the classification of magia into divine or supernatural, middle or mathematical, and natural.2 to know more of, for example, the colours, seals, characters, signs, images, belonging to the seven planets the reader would naturally turn to agrippa's useful book. bruno's egyptianism is thus that of a complete modern magus, deriving ultimately from ficino but having passed through the agrippa stage. and bruno openly proclaims his egyptianism a

llenico del nolano, the dialogue which follows the first part of the work. one of the speakers in this is actually an ass which speaks, and it describes itself as a "naturalissimo asino> it contemplates the "works of the world and the principles of nature" and its nature is "physical".4 it becomes a member of a pythagorean academy devoted to the "physical, because it is not possible to understand supernatural things, except through their shining in natural things; for only a purged and superior intellect can consider them in themselves.5 there is no metaphysics in this academy, for "what others boast of as metaphysics is only a part of logic."6 bruno has swept away as "metaphysics" the cabalistic system of the sephiroth, the pseudo-dionysian hierarchies, the whole superstructure which the

FRATER TENEBROUS CULTS OF CTHULHU

nce. instead of joining their juvenile games, he developed his own, interior world of the imagination through writing, and at the age of 15 produced his first horror story, the beast in the cave by 1914, he had submitted a series of articles to the united amateur press association and to local newspapers, ranging in content from astronomy and philosophy, to his early stories of the occult and the supernatural. also at this time, he began the epistolary communications which were to become one of the main pleasures of his life (at one time, lovecraft had over a hundred regular correspondents, and in fact, his extant letters considerably outweigh his fiction- one estimate puts the total number of letters written by lovecraft at over 100,000) however, it was not until 1917 that lovecraft serio

ll of fear the actual sensation of the presence of the hideous unknown. looking at what i had written i was astonished by its coherence. it comprises the first paragraph of the enclosed manuscript, only three words having been changed. 1 lovecraft is a particularly interesting case of the transmission of occult knowledge via dream, in that he was one of the few authors to write effectively on the supernatural without conscious belief in the material which he was conveying. on the contrary, he violently denied the possibility of the existence of occult phenomena, though he was willing to employ their manifestation as a fictional device. nevertheless, this intellectual denial, expressed in his letters and in conversations with friends, is belied by the subjective certainty with which he wrot

evil worship. a point to note here is that lovecraft never actually used the term cthulhu mythos, which was introduced after his death by his protege, august derleth. cthulhu is only one of a pantheon of deities which includes yog-sothoth, azathoth, nyarlathotep, and shubniggurath, amongst others. the manifestations of these beings varies from story to story sometimes they are described as purely supernatural, while at other times they appear as extraterrestrials with concrete physical existence and sometimes, a particular deity may be referred to in both ways within the same text. by comparing the references to each of these deities in the mythos stories, it is possible to reconstruct their inter-relationship in terms of a hierarchy, and to examine the correspondences between lovecraft s

atsky transmitted the book of dzayn, and crowley transcribed the book of the cells of the qliphoth could it be that lovecraft may have subconsciously communicated the book of dead names from the same source? in his realisation of the cthulhu mythos, lovecraft also drew upon a wide range of sources from the historical occult tradition, and from the literary material pertaining to it. in his essay, supernatural horror in literature, he mentions academic works such as frazer s the golden bough, and margaret murray s the witch cult in western europe, as well as authentic grimoires such as the keys of solomon and dr. john dee s book of enoch, or liber logaeth. he had also read waite s collection of medieval texts, the book of black magic and pacts, macgregor mathers translation of the sacred ma

FREEMASONS SATANISM AND SYMBOLISM

ginia, p. 48; emphasis added] once the mason learns to control his emotion and to apply the "dynamo of living power" the mason can be assured of being able to control the "seething energies of lucifer" in his hands. he makes the admission that masonry is the craft, which is an old name for witchcraft. satanists are assured that, if they will join the coven and learn the craft, he will control the supernatural power of satan, just as manly p. hall promises here. as you can see, they have exposed themselves. powerful proof that freemasonry is satanism. the language is direct and clear. it is not cluttered with deliberately confusing arcane language that only an insider can understand. further, note that hall and reynold e. blight are 33rd degree masons, while the illustrator is 32nd degree

symbols" by fredrick goodman states that "the true magic symbol is an image which hides an inner meaning. this meaning is usually cunningly hidden behind a form which most people think they can understand immediately [p. 6] examining these masonic symbols reveals the cunningly hidden meanings. then compare them with known satanic symbols so you can easily see from whence freemasonry receives her "supernatural insights" and her "spiritual light" the double-headed eagle the double-headed eagle is probably the most easily recognizable masonic symbol in the world, even more important than the square and compass/rule. they look like two eagles, but they are not. they are the phoenix bird of ancient egypt. remember that the brotherhood was known in ancient egypt as "the mystery schools" the curr

FULLER J F C SECRET WISDOM OF THE QABALAH

entist says, gto measure the mass of an electron, a suitable procedure is to make astronomical observations of the distances and velocities of spiral nebulae h, 15 these angles all but coincide. and when the qabalist postulates no-thingness as the beginning of every-thingness, and the scientist says, gthe beginning seems to present insuperable difficulties unless we agree to look on it as frankly supernatural h, 16 coincidence is absolute; for in both reality remains impenetrable, and like bottom's dream all that is derived from this supreme zero is without bottom- it is the pit of activities which the qabalists frequently call hell. the laboratory of satan. in the world we see a ceaseless struggle entailing change- birth, formation, growth, decay, and death. a ceaseless evolution and diss

GAMBLE ELIZA BURT THE GOD IDEA OF THE ANCIENTS OR SEX IN RELIGION

udy of the heavenly bodies with which their religious ideas were so intimately connected. while comparing the early emblems which prefigure the primitive elements in the god-idea, hargrave jennings observes "in the conveyance of certain ideas to those who contemplate it, the pyramid boasts of prouder significance, and impresses with a hint of still more impenetrable mystery. we seem to gather dim supernatural ideas of the mighty mother of nature. that almost two-sexed entity, without a name--she of the veil which is never to be lifted, perhaps not even by the angels, for their knowledge is limited. in short, this tremendous abstraction, cybele, ideae, mater, isiac controller of the zodiacs, whatever she may be, has her representative in the half-buried sphinx even to our own day, watching

e fact is tolerably well understood that mysticism and the accumulation of superstitious ideas are the result of the over-stimulation of the lower animal instincts. when the agencies which had hitherto held the lower nature in check became inoperative--when man began to regard himself as a creator and therefore as the superior of woman--he had reached a point at which he was largely controlled by supernatural or mystical influences. the fact is observed that in course of time the governmental powers are no longer in the hands of the people; the masses have become enslaved. their rulers are priests--deified tyrants who are unable to maintain their authority except through the ignorance and credulity of the masses. hence one is not surprised to find that the change which took place at a cert

hich they had created, was subsequently lost or practically obscured, only fragments of it having been preserved from the general ruin. within these fragments have been preserved in india certain evidences of a profound knowledge of nature, or of the at present unknown forces in the universe, a demonstration of which, in our own time, would probably be looked upon as a miraculous interposition of supernatural agencies. regarding the refinements and luxuries of this ancient people, diodorus siculus declares that they flowed in streams of gold and silver, that "the porticoes of their temples were overlaid with gold, and that the adornments of their buildings were in some parts of silver and gold, and in others of ivory and precious stones, and other things of great value" from various observ

GILBERT AE WAITE A MAGICIAN OF MANY PARTS

towardsrunningaway to sea, no chanceoftaking totheroadwithouta horseorofentering the listsofchivalry.rubbishonce again,butit was something to enter theworldof adventurous romance even from the backstairs, or from london purlieus'(sly,p.35. for this addiction, however, there was to be no cure.thechristmasof1870broughtwithittheextranumberofthelondonjournaland egan'sthehorrorsofhoathleyhall-addinga supernatural element tothehighadventureofthe bays ofengland.thespell wasnowcomplete. asmuchasicouldofdangerous rubbish' and reflected, at theendofhisme,thatishould never have entered thoseotheroccult. paths,andcomeoutofthemto proceed further, hadinot-amidstmy last.attemptatschooling-comeacrossthe__dangerousrubbish27shadowlessrider,his leagueofthe crossofblood, and thefortythievesoflondon,whowere l

GILBERT THE GOLDEN DAWN TWILIGHT OF THE MAGICIANS

the voice of a medium who could offer to individuals specific messages from particular spirits.thereaction of the churches was unanimously hostile and spiritualistic phenomena were condemned as fraudulent or, more usually, diabolic; but however disapproving of particular practices, the churches did not deny the reality of a spiritual order, and society as a whole maintained a solid belief in the supernatural.norwere all clerics equally hostile. some went so far as to holdseances-the'sittings' at which a medium, often in a trance, produces messages for those present-themselves, and one, the revd w. stainton moses, was fromi&]2until his death in1892a medium himself and the principal exponent of spiritualist thought in england. others were more circumspect and, whether from natural reticence

n support for brodie-innes.italso reiterates his own beliefs 'i donotforget that ours is an occult and magical order, and i for one firmly believe in the guidance and supervi255 sionofhigher powers (whether you call them thethirdorderor by any other title, and i believe that such higher powers will take care that all that is worth preserving in theorderas we know it will be preserved?"whetherwith supernatural aid or not, brodie255 innes did become achiefoftheorderin1902buthistermofoffice was, as we have seen, short lived.forall that he was a public figure brodie- innes made no secret of his interests and never allowed the problemsoftheorderto upset his professional life. witchcraft had always fascinated him and in the courseofa lecture onscottishwitchcrafttrials,given in1891to a bibliograp

termofoffice was, as we have seen, short lived.forall that he was a public figure brodie- innes made no secret of his interests and never allowed the problemsoftheorderto upset his professional life. witchcraft had always fascinated him and in the courseofa lecture onscottishwitchcrafttrials,given in1891to a bibliographical society known asthesetteofoddvolumes, he publicly expressed his belief in supernatural beings. having argued that hypnosis, auto-hypnosis and hysteria could account formuchofso-called witchcraft, he added:'ofcourse this is far from accounting for the whole range of phenomena; indeed, unless we accept the theoryofthe operation of intelligent powers superior to man, some better and some worse, of an intermediary character, neither wholly goodnorwholly evil, it is hard to

he theoryofthe operation of intelligent powers superior to man, some better and some worse, of an intermediary character, neither wholly goodnorwholly evil, it is hard to see how observed phenomena can be accounted for with logical completeness, either today or in the sixteenth century' later, in the years before thegreatwar, he wrote a seriesofhistorical novels on witchcraft,butit was neither by supernatural influence nor by their intrinsic merit that they were published; more simply it was due tohughelliott, who owned the publishing house of rebman and co, being a fellow initiate in the golden dawn. brodie-innes' successor as imperator in amen-ra was less open about his occult pursuits. william peck was the citys4thegoldendawnastronomer for edinburgh, a believer in astrology,a freemason

recalled the curious conversation that ensued:finding that i was interested in such subjects,drbury suggested one day that i should join a secret societyofesoteric students.theinvitation had been led up to by a good deal of preparatory inquiry.thedialogue between us ran somewhat thus 'what shall i get from it''intime, you will get powers 'what sortofpowers''theyare powers which people would call supernatural.theyare perfectly natural,butthey are got by knowledge of deeper forces of nature''ifthey are good, why should not everyone know them''theywould be capableofgreat abuse in the wrong hands''howcan you prevent their getting into wrong hands 'by carefully examining our initiates 'should i be examined 'certainly''by whom''thepeople would be in london 'should i have to present myself?'59po

literature, art or thought; but they did create many curious byways, exploring them with the aidofthe principles and prac255 tices of the golden dawn, and thesebywayshave kept their fascination for dreamers and critics alike. in iiterature the most enduring of these byways is within the genre of occult fiction, for while ghost stories and fairy tales have always been with us, tales of sorcery and supernatural evil set in the real worldofthe present were something new to the reading public at the turn of the century. truly 'occult' fiction may be said to have begun withdracula(1897),and the enormous popularity of this tale of vampires and evil powers undoubtedly encouraged publishers to take up similar fiction from other, less known authors.draculaitself cannot be laid at the door of the go

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

he marvellous. there is no such thing as a miracle.thatis, there is never an absolute reversal of any natural law. every event, however unexpected by us, who are all more or less grossly ignorant of nature and of nature's laws, is the result of pre-existing causes, which develop resultsinwaysand to extents strictly conformable to the energies set in motion. supernormal events may be,butnothing is supernatural. the oldest and wisest among us may never have seen a certain event,butthis is no proof of miracle.thewisest and oldest is but a foolifhesays that nothing new to his experience ever occurs.thewisest is he who is not too old to confess his ignorance, and to learn as eagerly as if he were still a child in years. prejudice is the greatest enemy of the student, and is a fatal bar to progr

m that of zadkiel's lilly. quoting, we presume, from talmudic tradition, josephus, the historian of the jews, asserts that adam was instructed by divine inspiration in astrology, and that his son seth practised the art. he wrote abouta.d.66.theannals of the ottoman empire, and the history of the mohammedan rulers in asia, africa and spain, teem with narratives of astrological pre255 dictions, and supernatural warnings which helped to arouse the enthusiasm of these hardy and superstitious warriors. osman the first, the founder of the ottoman empire in 1299, is said to have been much guided by a sheik who professed astrology. timour or tamerlane, the tartar chief, was induced to make war with baiazet, the sultan of turkey about the year 1400, by warning received by the astrologer abdullah li

rs and failures of the christian churches, and followed it up by an attempt to convince western europe and america of the value of the cosmogonical and supra-terrestrial lore of the brahmin and kshatriya pundits of hindostan.thesecretdoctrineinterested and puzzled us all by its profound sug255 gestions of an existing knowledge of prehistoric ages, and by its assertions regarding man's relation to supernatural beings of angelic type, whose powers over the earth and its humanity set afar off the hebrew and orthodox ideal of a personal god 255 jehovah- who, it was taught, was the ruler of all and every detail of our lives. this insight into hindoo theology and philosophy was a leaven imported into english thought,butit was clearly nota recent spiritual development 291desirable that it should

GILBERT THE SORCERER AND HIS APPRENTICE

a musical box, etc, and when we were assembled i brought him in a cab. he saiditwas very doubtfulifthere would be any manifestation under the circumstances, which were very unfavourable. but there were the ordinary phenomena that have been so often described, and need not be repeated. a curious point, however, was that none of us had the slightest feeling of having experienced anything uncanny or supernatural. in discussing it afterwards we were divided in opinion, whether it had been brilliant conjuring, or the manifestation of some strange unknown force which the medium somehow was able to set in motion, and to some extent control. either hypothesis was unlikely, because in either case the power would have been worth a fortune to the medium, and he would not have been dependent on the co

GLOBAL FREEMASONRY

y of thinking that posits the concept of humanity as its focus and only goal. in other words, it calls human beings to turn away from god their creator, and concern themselves with their own existence and identity. a common dictionary defines humanism as "a system of thought that is based on the values, characteristics, and behavior that are believed to be best in human beings, rather than on any supernatural authority" 33 the clearest definition of humanism, however, has been put forward by those who espoused it. one of the most prominent modern spokesmen for humanism is corliss lamont. in his book the philosophy of humanism, the author writes: 5[ hf humanism revisited [in sum] humanism believes that nature. constitutes the sum total of reality, that matter-energy and not mind is the foun

t definition of humanism, however, has been put forward by those who espoused it. one of the most prominent modern spokesmen for humanism is corliss lamont. in his book the philosophy of humanism, the author writes: 5[ hf humanism revisited [in sum] humanism believes that nature. constitutes the sum total of reality, that matter-energy and not mind is the foundation stuff of the universe and that supernatural entities simply do not exist. this nonreality of the supernatural means, on the human level, that men do not possess supernatural and immortal souls; and, on the level of the universe as a whole, that our cosmos does not possess a supernatural and eternal god.34 as we can see, humanism is almost identical to atheism, and this fact is freely admitted by humanists. there were two import

an's religious culture and civilization, as clearly depicted by anthropology and history, are the product of a gradual development due to his interaction with his natural environment and with his social heritage. the individual born into a particular culture is largely molded by that culture. fifth: humanism asserts that the nature of the universe depicted by modern science makes unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic guarantees of human values. sixth: we are convinced that the time has passed for theism, deism, modernism, and the several varieties of "new thought."35 in the above articles, we see the expression of a common philosophy that manifests itself under such names as materialism, darwinism, atheism and agnosticism. in the first article, the materialist dogma of the eternal existe

harity to gain his approval. for them, everything must be done only for the sake of humanity. we can clearly discern this way of thinking in a book published by the turkish lodges: masonic morality is based on love for humanity. it totally rejects being good through hope for the future, a benefit, a reward, and paradise, out of fear of another person, a religious or political institution, unknown supernatural powers it only espouses and exalts being good in relation to the love for family, country, human beings and humanity. this is one of the most significant aims of freemasonic evolution. to love people and to be good without expect- global freemasonry jc the masonic theory of "humanist morality" is extremely deceptive. history shows that, in societies where religion has been destroyed

of the ideas of evil, justice and honesty beyond the physical world, they believe that these things arise from a person's social conditions, social relationships and what he strives for in his life" and adds "masonry is trying to spread this idea throughout the whole world."53 selami isindag, a senior turkish mason, writes: according to masonry, in order to rescue humanity from a morality of the supernatural based on religious sources, it is necessary to establish a morality that is based on love for humanity which is not relative. in its traditional moral principles, masonry has taken into account the tendencies of the human organism, its needs and their satisfaction, the rules of social life and their organization, conscience, freedom of thought and speech and, finally, all the things t

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

tate of world affairs then it does seem that some sort of nefarious plan has been in operation. in conspiracy or degeneracy by revilo.p.oliver we read the following. a theory that a conspiracy has been working consciously for many centuries is not very plausible unless one attributes to them a religious unity. that is tantamount to regarding them as satanists engaged in the worship and service of supernatural evil, the directors of the conspiracy must see or otherwise directly perceive manifestations which convince them of the existence and power of lucifer (satan. and since subtle conspirators must be very shrewd men, not likely to be deceived by auto-suggestion, hypnosis,or drugs, we should have to conclude that they probably are in contact with a force of pure evil. this quote illustrat

GRAHAM HANCOCK FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

g, oval rather than square in plan, 240 feet long at the base and 120 feet wide. it was, moreover, very high, rising 120 feet above the surrounding plain. since time out of mind this edifice, which did look like the castle of a necromancer, had been known as the pyramid of the magician and also as the house of the dwarf. these names were derived from a maya legend which asserted that a dwarf with supernatural powers had raised 6 the atlas of mysterious places, p. 70. 7 time among the maya, p. 298. 8 fair gods and stone faces, pp. 95-6. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 155 the entire building in just one night.9 the steps, as i climbed them, seemed more and more perversely narrow. my instinct was to lean forward, flatten myself against the side of the pyramid, and cling on for dear l

g on for dear life. instead i looked up at the angry, overcast sky above me. flocks of birds circled, screeching wildly as though seeking refuge from some impending disaster, and the thick mass of low-lying cloud that had blotted out the sun a few hours earlier was now so agitated by high winds that it seemed to boil. the pyramid of the magician was by no means unique in being associated with the supernatural powers of dwarves, whose architectural and masonry skills were widely renowned in central america. construction work was easy for them, asserted one typical maya legend, all they had to do was whistle and heavy rocks would move into place. 10 a very similar tradition, as the reader may recall, claimed that the gigantic stone blocks of the mysterious andean city of tiahuanaco had been

f according to the monument s sides. the northern face was aligned, almost perfectly, to true north, the eastern face almost perfectly to true east, the southern to true south, and the western face to true west. the average error was only around three minutes of arc (down to less than two minutes on the southern face)1 incredible accuracy for any building in any epoch, and an inexplicable, almost supernatural feat here in egypt 4500 years ago when the great pyramid was supposed to have been built. an error of three arc minutes represents an infinitesimal deviation from true of less than 0.015 per cent. in the opinion of structural engineers, with whom i had discussed the great pyramid, the need for such precision was impossible to understand. from their point of view as practical builders

urshu, a category of lesser divinities whose title meant the watchers .3 and they preserved particularly vivid recollections of the gods themselves, puissant and beautiful beings called the neteru who lived on earth with humankind and exercised their sovereignty from heliopolis and other sanctuaries up and down the nile. some of these neteru were male and some female but all possessed a range of supernatural powers which included the ability to appear, at will, as men or women, or as animals, birds, reptiles, trees or plants. paradoxically, their words and deeds seem to have reflected human passions and preoccupations. likewise, although they were portrayed as stronger and more intelligent than humans, it was believed that they could grow sick or even die, or be killed under certain circu

ring but at the same time commanding. moreover, he expresses his essential dualism by ruling m heaven (as the constellation of orion) and on earth as a king among men. like viracocha in the andes and quetzalcoatl in central america, his ways are subtle and mysterious. like them, he is exceptionally tall and always depicted wearing the curved beard of divinity.22 and like them too, although he has supernatural powers at his reign, we have seven divine pharaohs up to and including thoth (i.e, ra, shu, geb, osiris, set, horus, thoth. 17 the gods of the egyptians, volume i, p. 400; garth fowden, the egyptian hermes, cambridge university press, 1987, pp. 22-3. see also from fetish to god in ancient egypt, pp. 121-2; egyptian magic, pp. 128-9; new larousse encyclopaedia of mythology, pp. 27-8. 1

GRERALD SCHUELER AN ADVANCED GUIDE TO ENOCHIAN MAGICK

wer to travel consciously through time and space. the second ordeal will bestow the power to transcend your humanity and align yourself with divinity. the third ordeal will bestow the power to enter the spiritual realms at will. you will have full control over the demon khoronzon. the fourth ordeal will bestow the power of spiritual insight. you will assume your spiritual identity and will obtain supernatural knowledge. the fifth ordeal will bestow the power of love. your sole remaining link with this world will be your compassion for others. if successful, the five ordeals will give the vovin the following necessary characteristics: 1. mobility 2. detachment 3. knowledge 4. understanding 5. compassion in addition to acquiring a new magical name, you will also need a magical word. as a vov

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

s of her golden hair, and the (first) stroke of the harp killed her murderess, sv. folk v. 1, 81. scott's miustr. 3, 81. in one kinderm. no. 28 a bone of the slain brother is made into a shepherd's whistle, and every time it is blown, it publishes the crime; and a swiss legend tells the same of a flute (haupt's zeitschr. 3, 36. the power of music and song was explained by giving the instruments a supernatural origin, and doubtless a remoter antiquity did not leave gods out of the reckoning. when waiuamoinen touches his harp, the whole of nature listens, the four-footed beasts of the wood run up to him, the birds come flying, the fish in the waters swim toward him; tears of bhss burst from the god's eyes, and fall on his breast, from his breast to his knees, from his knees to his feet, wett

end wordum, thuuer eude wuden eude saxnote eudo allem them unholdum the bii'o senotas siut. loog devil. always be avoided^ so long as a belief in tlie reality of those gods was undestroyed in the hearts of men: the new doctrine could more easily take root and germinate by representing the old as odious and sinful, not as absolutely null; the christian miracles looked more credible when something supernatural was allowed to time-honoured heathenism too. this view found a precedent in the new test, itself: the god beelzebub of the o.t. had dropt into the class of devils. long in the habit of regarding jupiter, mercury, mars and venus as diabolic beings, how could the converters, preaching christianity to our forefathers, have set donar, wuotan, zio, frouwa and the rest in any other point of

playing dice, and taking into his service men that vow themselves to him. his red beard, his hammer and bolt recall donar. phol and zio are connected with the storm-wind, and the former with devil's buildings. as for giants, their whole being has most things in common with that of the devil. chapter xxxiv. magic. miracle (wundern^ is the salutary, magic (zaubern) tlie hurtful or unlawful, use of supernatural powers: miracle is divine, magic devilish; not till the gods were degraded and despised was magic imputed to them" beings midway betwixt them and man, sage giants, artful elves and dwarfs practise magic; only their skill seems more innate, stationary, not an acquired art. man can heal or poison, by directing natural forces to good or to evil; sometimes he even shares the gift of mirac

gods were degraded and despised was magic imputed to them" beings midway betwixt them and man, sage giants, artful elves and dwarfs practise magic; only their skill seems more innate, stationary, not an acquired art. man can heal or poison, by directing natural forces to good or to evil; sometimes he even shares the gift of miracle, but when he pushes the beneficent exercise of his powers to the supernatural point, he learns to conjure. miracle is wrought by honest means, magic by unlawful; the one is geheuer (blessed, wholesome, p. 914, the other ungeheuer. at the same time the origin of all conjuring must be traced directly to the most sacred callings, which contained in themselves all the wisdom of heathendom, viz. religious worship and the art of song. sacrificing and singing came to

H SPENCER LEWIS ROSICRUCIAN MANUAL AMORC 1990

fs, but should supplant them with knowledge or a frank admission that he does not know.(see knowledge. birth.mystically, birth occurs when the animal body takes its first breath of life. then the body becomes a conscious being. birth is the opposite phase of the passing of the breath (and consciousness) which is falsely called death.(see death. black magic.the erroneous belief that man can invoke supernatural powers which he considers demoniacal and satanic in order to do his evil bidding. such so-called "black arts" are usually motivated by the intent to inflict harm upon others. black magic depends upon the false premises of primitive reasoning. the only person who is harmed by it is the one who believes that such a power exists and that it can affect him. actually, if harm does occur it

aat.the egyptian word for truth. the symbol of maat was a feather. cromaat means "the truth shall be, or "so mote it be. the confession to maat is taken from the confession.contained in the book of the dead.spoken in the chamber of maat in egyptian temples of initiation. magic.presumes there are occult powers in nature which must be invoked by the application of certain agencies. both natural and supernatural forces, it is believed, can be brought to serve human will. black magic is the superstitious use of magical rites for malevolent purposes. white magic is the use of these rites for benevolent purposes. magnetism.every electrified body has its aura, and when that aura is active it constitutes a magnetic field and the aura is sometimes called magnetism. magnetism, from a purely electric

personality persist after transition from the physical body, and retain, as part of their attributes or equipment, the complete storehouse of memory. the psychic body utilizes the subconscious functioning of the mind as its essential consciousness; hence in all psychic work and projections of the psychic body the subconscious mind is keenly active.(see borderline state. miraclea.the result not of supernatural but of natural law. they are miracles only to those who do not understand what is meant by natural law. a miracle is any occurrence which appears to be contrary to nature and for which no natural cause is evident. molecule.the smallest particle subdivision of a chemical compound capable of maintaining its unique chemical properties and attributes. a molecule may be a combination of at

follows the method symbolized by the "law of the triangle. natural law is that basic principle which, while demanding, commanding, and insisting on strict obedience to its dictates throughout, is elastic enough in one sense to allow for much and frequent blending of the entities of any plane as long as such blending harmonizes with its purposes. thus it is seen that there can be no such thing as supernatural law, a term which is not only a misnomer but grossly misleading. miracles are not the result of so-called supernatural law; they are the result of obedience to the demand of natural law. miracles as such are so only to those who do not understand what is meant by natural law. negative.that phase of polarity which is the complement of the positive. it is that phase or condition which r

s symbolizing a storm. artificial symbols are those which men devise to depict some idea for a particular class of people or for universal acceptance. symbols in mathematics and the different sciences fall in this category. t thaumaturge.a miracle or a wonder-working. the practice of employing natural laws in such manner as to produce unusual phenomena. that which gives the appearance of invoking supernatural forces. thaumaturgy is thus associated with primitive magic or religio-magic rites. therapeutics.generally used to mean any system of healing or method for the alleviation of pain and physical suffering. the ancients, however, used the word in a mystical sense and a branch of the rosicrucians in egypt was known as the therapeuti. this was a branch of the ancient order, which at that t

"duration. time and space are illusions of the objective mind.but not illusions to be denied, for they are essential. transcendentalism.concept of the realm beyond the awareness of the objective senses.[204] transition.this term is generally used to indicate the condition called death in modern times, but since there is no death in natural law, any more than there is in the spiritual or so-called supernatural, the term is not only erroneous, but absolutely contradictory. the great change that takes place at the time when death is supposed to occur is, after all, a mere transition and transposition of the various component parts which when united constitute a living human being or a living entity of conscious matter. this transition consists of separation of the dual parts of man (soul and

HAMIL THE ROSICRUCIAN SEER

fthedevil,upon both the minds and bodies of their fellow-creatures.ishall endeavour this evening, by god's help, to follow that branchofthe subject, and to shew you whaticonceive to be the connexion between the agency of those fallen spirits and thelyingwondersperformed in these later times, amongst which i have no hesitation in reckoning thismesmerism,which is now performing its realeffects-real,supernatural, butdiabolical.,255rev.hughmcneil,liverpool, april, 1842 'were we to believe nothing but what we could perfectly compre255 hend, not only our stockofknowledge inauthe branches of learning would be shrunk up to nothing, but even the affairs of common life could not be carriedon'-tucker.totheeditors ofthezoistthesurprisingcoincidenceofthephenomenaelicited bytheancientpracticeofinvocatio

HANDBOOK OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

t, the force that constantly threatened the divine order. there was a tradition that the creator and the numerous gods and goddesses whom he/she had created originally lived in egypt itself. at the beginning of history they withdrew up into the heavens or down under the earth, though their spirits might be persuaded to reside in shrines built for them by the king. the egyptians believed that some supernatural beings could still be encountered in the wilder regions of the earth, such as the remote desert and the areas of untamed marshland on the edges of the nile valley and in parts of the delta. many of the key events in egyptian myth, such as the burial of the murdered god osiris, were supposed to have happened in specific places in egypt or in its neighboring countries. thus a mythical g

to behave in life. these are often known as instruction or wisdom texts. one of the topics instruction texts deal with is the proper relationship between humanity and the gods, so they sometimes allude to mythical events, such as the sun god s decision to destroy rebellious humanity. other literary works that deal with ethical issues are in the form of prophecies or dialogues between a man and a supernatural being.31 in a text comparable to the biblical book of job, a man named ipuur (ipuwer) questions the lord of all about why suffering and injustice are rife in egypt. the god s replies are not very well preserved in the only surviving manuscript, but the gist is that people must accept responsibility for their own actions.32 some egyptologists assign the dialogue of ipuur to a genre of

nowledge of written magic was confined to the literate elite, so it is not surprising that some spells have a distinct literary quality. healing spells often identify the doctor-magician with a deity skilled in the use of heka, such as isis or thoth; the patient with a deity who suffered in myth, such as horus the child (see deities, themes, and concepts; and the disease or problem with a hostile supernatural force. these identifications were sometimes extended into a narrative of the misfortune that befell the deity and its ultimate resolution. a complex story about the poisoning of the sun god, known as the true name of ra (see period of direct rule by the creator sun god under linear time in mythical time lines, is an example that may have been composed as early as the middle kingdom. b

narrator is the scorpion goddess serqet. her monologue forms part of a healing spell, but it is composed in an excellent literary style.19 as the story occurs in few sources, it cannot be seen as a very important part of the mythical cycle, but the names of the sun god recorded in the story reflect the kind of theological speculation found in new kingdom hymns to the creator. gaining power over a supernatural being by discovering its secret true name is a constant theme of egyptian magical and funerary texts and a common motif in the folktales of many cultures. the true name of ra. the story begins with a statement by serqet that the creator made heaven, earth, the waters, the breath of life, gods, people, small and large cattle, reptiles, birds, and fishes. deities and people were both ru

of hope. in most egyptian tales, intelligence and natural eloquence or book learning are more admired than feats of arms or willingness to die with honor. the main characters are often priest-magicians (see imhotep and magicians in deities, themes, and concepts) who deal with threats from ghosts, demons, and foreign sorcerers by using spells, amulets, and rituals. the ability to communicate with supernatural beings is the basis of their power. some stories feature magicians who are able to see the true forms of the gods or enter the duat while still alive, but egyptian literature is full of warnings about the misuse of such powers by the magicians or their royal patrons. magical tales were often set in the time of famous kings, such as djoser (c. 2667 2648 bce) or rameses ii (1279 1213 bc

ified with the red crown of lower egypt and with the fire-spitting uraeus: the serpent who is upon her father. she was said to be the one who wields the knife on the night of the great battle between the forces of order and chaos. in new kingdom funerary literature, sekhmet often stands in the solar barque to defend ra from the apophis serpent. users of the book of the dead hoped to destroy their supernatural enemies as sekhmet the great would. king rameses ii claimed that sekhmet the great rode with him in his chariot, ready to destroy the enemy with her fiery breath. she seems to have embodied the negative qualities of the heat of the sun that could lead to sunstroke, drought, famines, and epidemics. of all the archer goddesses in the egyptian pantheon, sekhmet was the most dreaded. her

HEAVEN HELL

lieve that their souls after death would go to the kingdom in the other world over which he reigned. the beliefs connected with the cult of osiris developed naturally p. ix out of the beliefs of the predynastic egyptians, who, we have every reason to think, dealt largely in magic both "black" and "white" many of the superstitions, and most of the fantastic and half-savage ideas about the gods and supernatural powers enshrined in the great collection of religious texts called per-em-hru, were inherited by the dynastic egyptians from some of the oldest dwellers in the nile valley. those who died in the faith of osiris believed in the efficacy of the book per-em-hru, and were content to employ it as a "guide" to a heaven which was full of material delights; the number of those who were "follo

HELENA BLAVATSKY NIGHTMARE TALES

f the prince's murderer to be at last pronounced. the frenchman himself seemedtransfigured, his grey hair standing on end; his bulky clumsy form seemed to have grown in a few minutes.all theatrical pretence was now gone; there remained but the mesmerizer, aware of his responsibility,unconscious himself of the possible results, studying and anxiously expecting. suddenly frosya, as if liftedby some supernatural force, rose from her reclining posture and stood erect before us, again motionless andstill, waiting for the magnetic fluid to direct her. the frenchman, silently taking the old lady's hand, placed itin that of the somnambulist, and ordered her to put herself en rapport with the gospoja. nightmare talescan the double murder?4 "what seest thou, my daughter" softly murmured the serbian

devarata knew that there be would beunassailable and impregnable. he might be seen there, but no one could do him violence- not even the godvaruna himself. it was a simple solution. the religious austerities of the aranyakas (the holy men of theforests) several of whom were daityas (titans, a race of giants and demons, gave them such dominance thatall the gods trembled before their sway and their supernatural powers- even varuna, himself. these antediluvian yogis, it seems, had the power to destroy even the god himself, at will- possiblybecause they had invented him themselves. nightmare talesthe blue lotus22 devarata spent several years in the forests; at last he grew tired of the life. allowing it to be understood thathe could satisfy varuna by finding a substitute, who would sacrifice h

lps; nursed "by the native gnomeswho watched over his cradle; growing up in the weird atmosphere of the ghouls and vampires who play sucha prominent part in the household of every styrian and slavonian in southern austria; educated later, as astudent in the shadow of the old rhenish castles of germany; franz from his childhood had passed throughevery emotional stage on the plane of the so-called "supernatural" he had also studied at one time the"occult arts" with an enthusiastic disciple of paracelsus and kunrath; alchemy had few theoretical secrets forhim; and he had dabbled in "ceremonial magic" and "sorcery" with some hungarian tziganes. yet he lovedabove all else music, and above music- his violin. at the age of twenty-two he suddenly gave up his practical studies in the occult, and fr

al ofniccolo paganini was suddenly heralded, and threw lutetia into a convulsion of expectation. the unparallelartist arrived, and- all paris fell at once at his feet. iinow it is a well-known fact that a superstition born in the dark days of mediaeval superstition, and survivingalmost to the middle of the present century, attributed all such abnormal, out-of-the-way talent as that ofpaganini to "supernatural" agency. every great and marvellous artist had been accused in his day of dealingswith the devil. a few instances will suffice to refresh the reader's memory. tartini, the great composer and violinist of the xviith century, was denounced as one who got his bestinspirations from the evil one, with whom he was, it was said, in regular league. this accusation was ofcourse due to the almo

she owed it to a demon whowatched over her cradle and sung the baby to sleep. finally paganini- the unrivalled performer, the meanitalian, who like dryden's jubal striking on the "chorded shell" forced the throngs that followed him toworship the divine sounds produced, and made people say that "less than a god could not dwell within thehollow of his violin- paganini left a legend too. the almost supernatural art of the greatest violin-player that the world has ever known was often speculatedupon, never understood. the effect produced by him on his audience was literally marvellous, overpowering.the great rossini is said to have wept like a sentimental german maiden on hearing him play for the firsttime. the princess elisa of lucca, a sister of the great napoleon, in whose service paganini

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

helpless mediumship. he who has not an initiate for a master had better leave the dangerous study alone. look around you and observe. while two-thirds of civilized society ridicule the mere notion that there is anything in theosophy, occultism, spiritualism, or in the cabala, the other third is composed of the most heterogeneous and opposite elements. some believe in the mystical, and even in the supernatural, but each believes in his own way. others will rush single-handed into the study of the cabala, psychism, mesmerism, spiritualism, or some form or another of mysticism. result: no two men think alike, no two are agreed upon any fundamental occult principles, though many are those who claim for themselves the ultima thule of knowledge, and would make outsiders believe that they are ful

those around him than the average mortal. this is clear. q. then is an occultist simply a man who possesses more power than other people? a. far more-if he is a practical and really learned occultist, and not one only in name. occult sciences are not, as described in encyclopedias, those imaginary sciences of the middle ages which related to the supposed action or influence of occult qualities or supernatural powers, as alchemy, magic, necromancy, and astrology -for they are real, actual, and very dangerous sciences. they teach the secret potency of things in nature, developing and cultivating the hidden powers "latent in man" thus giving him tremendous advantages over more ignorant mortals. hypnotism, now become so common and a subject of serious scientific inquiry, is a good instance in

ry other religion as a relic of ignorance and superstition. people begin to believe now, at any rate, in hypnotism, and some-even of the most cultured-in theosophy and phenomena. but who among them, except preachers and blind fanatics, will confess to a belief in biblical miracles? and this is where the point of difference comes in. there are very good and pure theosophists who may believe in the supernatural, divine miracles included, but no occultist will do so. for an occultist practices scientific theosophy, based on accurate knowledge of nature's secret workings; but a theosophist, practicing the powers called abnormal, minus the light of occultism, will simply tend toward a dangerous form of mediumship, because, although holding page 16 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt to theos

ruth should be proclaimed. had the formation of the theosophical society been postponed a few years longer, one half of the civilized nations would have become by this time rank materialists, and the other half anthropomorphists and phenomenalists. q. are we to regard theosophy in any way as a revelation? a. in no way whatever-not even in the sense of a new and direct disclosure from some higher, supernatural, or, at least, superhuman beings; but only in the sense of an "unveiling" of old, very old, truths to minds hitherto ignorant of them, ignorant even of the existence and preservation of any such archaic knowledge. it has become "fashionable" especially of late, to deride the notion that there ever was, in the mysteries of great and civilized peoples, such as the egyptians, greeks, or

hieved also by means of publications, in those places where no lectures and personal teachings are possible. our duty is to keep alive in man his spiritual intuitions. to oppose and counteract-after due investigation and proof of its irrational nature-bigotry in every form, religious, scientific, or social, and cant above all, whether as religious sectarianism or as belief in miracles or anything supernatural. what we have to do is to seek to obtain knowledge of all the laws of nature, and to diffuse it. to encourage the study of those laws least understood by modern people, the so-called occult sciences, based on the true knowledge of nature, instead of, as at present, on superstitious beliefs based on blind faith and authority. popular folklore and traditions, however fanciful at times

's mental qualities and moral propensities, would it not help to dispel what mr. rhys-davids calls "the desperate expedient of a mystery" if we regarded the life-undulation as individuality, and each of its series of natal manifestations as a separate personality? the perfect individual, buddhist speaking, is a buddha, i should say; for buddha is but the rare flower of humanity, without the least supernatural admixture. and as countless generations("four asankheyyas and a hundred thousand cycles) are required to develop a man into a buddha, and the iron will to become one runs throughout all the successive births, what shall we call that which thus wills and perseveres? character? one's individuality: an individuality but partly manifested in any one birth, but built up of fragments from a

HOWE THE ALCHEMIST OF THE GOLDEN DAWN

ions. this unreadable but nevertheless fascinating book claimed to be 'a treatise on trees, shrubs, and plants, etc, for the cure of diseases and ailments, of the human system (without medicine) by sympathy (positive and negative) on the soul plane, by "charubel (the great seer, a collegian who trained for the gospel 60 years ago, gave his whole life up for the love of nature and the study of the supernatural elements &c &c. author of the zodiac symbolised, the north pole star and region, the seer critic, the geozonic spheres, the occultist, astrographical revelations, psychological experiences &c' dear sir& bro [i.e, f. l. gardner, your letter by second post today. i can scarcely do more than acknowledge it today. i am absolutely harrassed by work &c. preparatory to going to london next w

HP LOVECRAFT THE ALCHEMIST

of the holders of my title from much exceeding the span of thirty-two years. upon my twenty-first birthday, the aged pierre gave to me a family document which he said had for many generations been handed down from father to son, and continued by each possessor. its contents were of the most startling nature, and its perusal confirmed the gravest of my apprehensions. at this time, my belief in the supernatural was firm and deep-seated, else i should have dismissed with scorn the incredible narrative unfolded before my eyes. the paper carried me back to the days of the thirteenth century, when the old castle in which i sat had been a feared and impregnable fortress. it told of a certain ancient man who had once dwelled on our estates, a person of no small accomplishments, though little above

HP LOVECRAFT THE TOMB

rn father. were my sojourns beyond the chained door about to be proclaimed to the world? imagine my delighted astonishment on hearing the spy inform my parent in a cautious whisper that i had spent the night in the bower outside the tomb; my sleep-filmed eyes fixed upon the crevice where the padlocked portal stood ajar! by what miracle had the watcher been thus deluded? i was now convinced that a supernatural agency protected me. made bold by this heaven-sent circumstance, i began to resume perfect openness in going to the vault; confident that no one could witness my entrance. for a week i tasted to the full joys of that charnel conviviality which i must not describe, when the thing happened, and i was borne away to this accursed abode of sorrow and monotony. i should not have ventured ou

HP LOVECRAFT THE UNNAMABLE

ormal, objective experiences possess any esthetic significance, and that it is the province of tile artist not so much to rouse strong emotion by action, ecstasy, and astonishment, as to maintain a placid interest and appreciation by accurate, detailed transcripts of everyday affairs. especially did he object to my preoccupation with the mystical and the unexplained; for although believing in the supernatural much more fully than i, he would not admit that it is sufficiently commonplace for literary treatment that a mind can find its greatest pleasure in escapes from the daily treadmill, and in original and dramatic recombinations of images usually thrown by habit and fatigue into the hackneyed patterns of actual existence, was something virtually incredible to his clear, practical, and lo

HUEBNER LOUISE WITCHCRAFT FOR ALL WICCA 04

ho wish to alter circumstances must be intense, emotional, self-motivated and capable of obsession. although popular knowledge of witches comes mostly from fairy tales and legends, not to mention superstition, let us set one thing straight: witches are human, very human, and sometimes a little superhuman. they are physical animals who may have a special mental quirk; supernormal, perhaps, but not supernatural. as to the belief that witches live many lives, it is doubtful. i am a witch and the only life other than this one that i believe possible would be some extension of self. if it is impossible to explain this thing called self, then it may be possible to entertain the idea that all humans are tuned into a vast, ubiquitous source of energy that enables each individual to think or be. if

n would be involved in a nightmarish hysteria. chemists and doctors were prime targets, understandably. medicine was so primitive, mistakes were bound to occur; it was easier to attribute a death to witchcraft than to a dirty scalpel or the wrong medication. personally, i don't believe any of those people were witches. most of the cases have been investigated and proved to be something other than supernatural. in those days, if they suspected someone of being a witch and then found a wart on her, that was all the proof needed to make her eligible for a hideous death. and all the time the characteristics of the real witch were overlooked. the magnetism and forceful personality that characterized the authentic witch were never seen in an evil light. it was only the poor helpless woman or the

ugh emotional self-control. franklin investigated this area quite extensively. abraham lincoln had some strange ideas; he had several psychic experiences that are recorded in the history books. this phenomenon is not unusual among powerful men in any society. rasputin in czar nicholas' court attempted to exert control through sorcery. mackenzie, the canadian prime minister, openly delved into the supernatural. many professional men and women and political leaders practice forms of witchcraft, although what they do seems to be much more fun than what took place a few hundred years ago. there is, for example, a political organization that meets regularly for the purpose of projecting its desires on to society. call it witchcraft or not, they perform special rituals to trigger their collectiv

g schools. that is, you might be able to take a person with an awkward walk, give him dancing lessons to enable him to walk more gracefully, but he'll never be able to rip around the stage in a ballet. anything can be improved with training, but whether or not you're going to practice witchcraft, you can't be psychic unless you're born that way. unlike some people, i never claim to be tapping any supernatural power, or trying to save the world. the pseudopsychics have a gift of sensitivity, but nothing more. any psychic could pretend to give inside information on the stock market or medicine, but what competent psychic would sell these services, unless he has specialized training as well as sensitivity? that's why i don't like being grouped with the community of psychics. the true psychic

cincher. if fooling around with candles makes you feel odd, consider this: millions and millions of people, for century after century, spent their most thoughtful moments staring at the tongues of fire from candles and torches and, before that, campfires. and untold millions, attending church ceremonies, were conditioned by flickering candlefire as they made their strongest efforts to contact the supernatural, god. odd? not a bit. if thought has any force beyond our own small persons, then no greater communication with the thought energies of millions could be approached than through the common human fascination with controlled fire. 13. the coleopterous charm one charm that will have a catalytic effect upon all personal relationships, and will project a romantic aura about the charmer tha

a tremendous dissipation that takes place in wallowing in misery. i don't know what the problem is, but i think you could spruce up your relationship by completely stopping and beginning new. i don't think you should drag on the burdens of before. sever them completely. try the "new life spells" dear louise: long 'before now i have wanted to meet a witch and have been thoroughly fascinated by the supernatural. i do have the unfortunate problem of not being born a witch. i was born november 4, 1952. i was wondering if some people are more or less receptive to spells and psychic powers than others. i am clinging to the thought that hidden forces are at work somewhere in the universe, and i believe that occasionally i can pick them up. the main reason for this letter is to inform you of a rea

INITIATION INTO HERMETICS

power and finally the nervous system, injuring the health as well as the development. such cases are recorded by the millions in the orient, but they occur in great numbers in the occident as well as in all the other civilized countries. the magician certainly has the opportunity as long as he has not achieved the necessary maturity of convincing himself of the existence of clairvoyance and other supernatural occurrences in one way or another, but usually and that is the worst of it he does not stop at this conviction; he too may become prey to intoxication and fall into the same condition as so many drug-stricken persons. for this reason i will not describe any method in this work that would tempt the magician to experiment on such things, but i shall only point out quite harmless methods

e you, or better to say, the electric fluid contained in the light, reinforces and increases you active powers in the spirit, soul and body. in this manner you can arouse all the active faculties, qualities, etc, that are imputed to the fire element and the air element in yourself. you have the possibility, for example, to increase your will power, your faith, and your control of the element to a supernatural degree. it is indeed quite impossible to describe with mere words the range of power and strength achieved in this way, and you will be convinced of it best by your own experiences. in the previous steps i have always pointed out how very important it is to ennoble the soul, to be free of passions and to try to reach the magic equilibrium. if an unrighteous and passionate person who h

mic universe together with their laws. so the reader s opinion about magic will undergo a noticeable change and i hope he will nevermore degrade this ancient wisdom to sorcery and similar pieces of devilry. it is understandable that each reader will judge this book from his individual point of view. he who stands upon the purely materialistic position, an unbeliever in religious matters, ignoring supernatural phenomena and only concerned in material interests, undoubtedly will regard this book as sheer nonsense, and i am not purposed to convert such people to any faith or to change their ideas. this work has exclusively been written for those who seek the pure truth and the supreme wisdom that they will indeed find in it. many times our fellow men are argued and even persuaded into a speci

IRISH WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY

fs, but they followed different channels, and affected public life in different ways. another point with reverence to the plan of this work as indicated by the title needs a few words of explanation. it will be seen by the reader that the volume does not deal solely with the question of witchcraft, though that we have endeavoured to bring into prominence as much as possible, but that tales of the supernatural, of the appearance of ghosts, and of the devil, are also included, especially in chapters iv and vi. if we have erred in inserting these, we have at least erred in the respectable company of sir walter scott, c. k. sharpe, and other writers of note. we have included them, partly because they afford interesting reading, and are culled from sources with which p. 6 the average reader is

y of sir walter scott, c. k. sharpe, and other writers of note. we have included them, partly because they afford interesting reading, and are culled from sources with which p. 6 the average reader is unacquainted, but principally because they reflect as in a mirror the temper of the age, and show the degree to which every class of society was permeated with the belief in the grosser forms of the supernatural, and the blind readiness with which it accepted what would at the present day be tossed aside as unworthy of even a cursory examination. this is forcibly brought out in the instance of a lawsuit being undertaken at the instigation of a ghost--a quaint item of legal lore. the judge who adjudicated, or the jury and lawyers who took their respective parts in such a case, would with equal

isation developed along other and more barbaric lines, and so had no opportunity of assimilating the particular phases of that belief which obtained elsewhere in europe. consequently, when the anglo-normans came over, they found that the native celts had no predisposition towards accepting the view of the witch as an emissary of satan and p. 8 an enemy of the church, though they fully believed in supernatural influences of both good and evil, and credited their bards and druids with the possession of powers beyond the ordinary. had this country never suffered a cross-channel invasion, had she been left to work out her destiny unaided and uninfluenced by her neighbours, it is quite conceivable that at some period in her history she would have imbibed the witchcraft spirit, and, with the gen

ter p. 15 made the northern province a miniature scotland in this respect. we cannot blame them for this; could anything else be expected from men who, clergy and laity alike, were saturated with the superstitions that were then so prominent in the two countries from which their ranks had been recruited? thus the seventeenth century was the period par excellence of witchcraft, demonology, and the supernatural in ireland. the most remarkable witch case of that time, the trial of florence newton in 1661, to which allusion has already been made, seems to have been largely influenced by what occurred in england, while the various methods suggested or employed as a test of that old woman's culpability are quite in accordance with the procedure adopted a few years previously by the english witch

bells would ring in notre dame" scot had studied successively at oxford and paris (where he acquired the title of "mathematicus; he then passed to bologna, thence to palermo, and subsequently continued his studies at toledo. his refusal of the see of cashel was an intellectual loss to the irish church, for, he was so widely renowned for his varied and extensive learning that he was credited with supernatural powers; a number of legends grew up around his name which hid his real merit, and transformed the man p. 53 of science into a magician. in the border country traditions of his magical power are common. boccaccio alludes to "a great master in necromancy, called michael scot" while dante places him in the eighth circle of hell. the next, who is so slender in the ranks, was michael scot

overrun by triumphant presbyterianism, which the doctor, as a firm upholder of episcopacy, opposed with all his might, and thereupon was spoken of with great acerbity by his opponents. it is not too uncharitable, therefore, to assume that these stories originated with some member of that body, who may well have believed that such had actually happened. for the next instance of witchcraft and the supernatural in connection with ireland we are compelled to go beyond the confines of our country. though in this the connection with the green isle is slight, yet it is of interest as affording an example of that blending of fairy lore with sorcery which is not an uncommon feature of scottish witchcraft-trials. in the year 1613 a woman named margaret barclay, of irvine in scotland, was accused of

ISIS UNVEILED

t day. llie young doctor felt con- fused, and was just going to address the old man, when, as quick as lightning, the znti-hai- snatched his nand from his grasp and raised himself in bed. his deep-sunken eye* flashed; his yellow-white beard and hair streaming round his livid face mode him a dreadful sighl one instant more, and his long, sinewy arms were clasped round the pbyddan's neck, as with a supernatural force be drew the doctor's head closer and clostf to ma own face, where he held him as in a vise, while vhirperinj words inaudible to tu in bis ear. the skeptic struggled to free himself, but before he bad time to make one digilizocb, google 44 isis dnveil d wine was common to many ancient nations" cicero mentions it in his works, and wonders at the strangeness of the rite. there had

the middle ages; but it is too late now for even the church to put forward this traditional scarecrow. research begins to suggest that which, if ever verified, will bring eternal disgrace on the church of the apostle peter, whose very imposition of herself upon that disciple must be re- garded as the most unverified and unverifiable of the assumptions of the catholic clergy. the erudite author of supernatural religion" assiduously endeavors to prove that by simon magus we must understand the apostle paul, whose epistles were secretly as well as openly calumniated by peter, and charged with containing "dyanditic learning" the apostle of the gentiles was brave, outspoken, sincere, and very learned; the apostle of circumcision, cowardly, cautious, insincere, and very ignorant. that paul had b

feld; snpernaturid rdifion, loc, eit. 366. part ii. 367. but on tbe other hand this antagonism is very ilrongly marked in the clmun- ftrw homuiat, ui whidi ^ter unequivocally denies that paul, whom he calls simon the bfagidan, has ever bad a vition of christ, and calls him "an enemy" canon weitcott nys "there can be no doubt that st. paul is referred to as 'the enemy (on ou canon, p. 252, note 2; supernatural rdigion, part ii, v. but this anta^nism. which rages unto the present day, we end even in st. paul's epitlus. what can be more energetic than such like sentences "such are /af apostles, deceitful workers, transform- ing themselves into the apostles of christ. the very chiefest apostles (8 corinlhiaa. i digitizecoy google 162 isis ttmv mt.rn marcion, who recogniaed no other goapeu thaa

eak his own commandments? how could he consistently prohibit idolatry and image-worship and still cause moaes to set up the brazen serpent? how command: thou sbalt not steal, and then order the israelites to poil the egyptians of their gold and silver "anticipating the results of modem criticism, marcion denies the applicability to jesus of the so-called messianic prophecies" writes the author of supernatural religion "the emmanuel of isaiah is not christ; the 'virgin' his mother, is simply a 'young woman [an almah of the temple, and the sufferings of the servant of god isaiah, lii, 13-liii, 3) are not predictions of the death of jesus" 375. put xl tii. tertuuiui: adt. mare, iii. zii, nii. 376. emmanuel wu doubtlen the kio of the pn^faet hmuelf, m described in the mith cliapter; what nu pr

hem by jesus, mmng up matters of the law with the words of the savior" finally we may add that modem biblical criticism, wbic^ unfortu- nately became really active and serious only towuxl the end of the last century, now generally admits that marcion's text of the only gospel he knew anything about that of luke ia far superior and by far more correct than that of our present synoptics. we find in supernatural rdigion the following sentence, startling for every christian "we are, therefore, indited to mareion for the correct version even of 'ae lord's prayer* if leaving for the present the i ominent founders of christian sects, we now turn to the sect of the ophites, which assumed a definite form about the time of marcion and the baailideans, we m^ find in it the reason for the kerenea of a

he was born through the holg pneuma from the virgin* while simon magus argues in the homilies from the standpoint of every gnostic (nazarenes and ebionites included, peter, as a true apostle of circumdsion, holds to the old law attd as a matter of course seeks to blend his beuef in the divinity of christ with his old faith in the 'lord god' and ex-proteetor of the 'chosen people' as the author of supernatural religion shows the epiiome* to be "a blending of the other two [parts of the clementines] probably intended to purge them from heretical doctrine* and, together with a great majority of critics, assigns to the homilies a date not earlier than the third century, we may well infer that they must differ widely from their original, if there ever was one. simon the magician proves througho

JASMUHEEN THE FOOD OF GODS

ith a pure heart and staying tuned to the divine channels via our lifestyle. grace is an experiential medicine that frees us from our emotional, mental and spiritual anorexia. it is an addictive sustenance that feeds our spiritual body as it lets us know and witness that we are in perfect alignment with our divine nature. the catholic encyclopedia says that grace (gratia, charis, in general, is a supernatural gift of god to intellectual creatures (men, angels) for their eternal salvation, whether the latter be furthered and attained through salutary acts or a state of holiness. this state of holiness comes to us naturally when we live the lifestyle required to keep us anchored in the theta. delta field. to me grace is a form of divine nutrition as it feeds my inner being when i see it in a

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

wn period has remarked that, he who deals in the secrets of magic, or in the secrets of the human mind, is too often looked upon with jealous eyes by the world, which is no great conjuror. how is it, that, after centuries of doubt or denial, how happens it, in face of the reason that can make nothing of it, the common sense that rejects, and the science which can demonstrate it as impossible, the supernatural still has such vital hold in the human not to say the modern mind? how happens it that the most terrible fear is the fear of the invisible? this, too, when we are on all hands assured that the visible alone is that which we have to dread! the ordinary reason exhorts us to dismiss our t x preface fears. that thing magic, that superstition miracle, is now banished wholly from the belief

ssions, honour, rank, money, even wives and numerous or any children, but toys in a certain sense? where sink they in importance to him when the great unknown sets in which awaits every man? he who can work as nature works causing the sunshine, so to speak, to light fire up independently in itself, and to breed and propagate precious things upon the atmosphere in which it bums causing the growing supernatural soul to work amidst the seeds of gold, and to purge the material, devilish mass until the excrement is expelled, and it springs in health into condensating, solid splendour, a produce again to be sown, to fructify into fresh harvests the alchemist, or prince of chemists, who can do this, laughs at the hoards of kings. by the time that the artist is thus so much more than man, is he th

orld, as also the body or vehicle through which it is made manifest, the lord intended to be pure. and it was not purposed, in the divine arrangement, that men should grow again down to the earth. it is for other purposes that the stars, in their attraction, have raised man on his feet, instead of abandoning him to the all-fours that were the imperfect tentatives of nature until life, through the supernatural impulse, rose above its original condemned level base and relegate. we of the secret knowledge do wrap ourselves in mystery, to avoid the objurgation and importunity or violence of those who conceive that we cannot be philosophers unless we put our knowledge to some ordinary worldly use. there is scarcely one who thinks about us who does not believe that our society has no existence;

century. they made a figure in almost all the countries of europe. they delcared that the intimate essences of natural things were only to be known by the trying efforts of fire, directed in a chemical process. the theosophists also insisted that human reason was a dangerous and deceitful guide; that no real progress could be made in knowledge or in religion by it; and that to all vital that is, supernatural purpose it was a vain thing. they taught that divine and supernatural illumination was the only means of arriving at truth. their name of paracelsists was derived from paracelsus, the eminent physician and chemist, whowas the chief ornament of this extraordinary sect. in england, robert flood, or fludd, was their great advocate and exponent. rivier, who wrong in france; severinus, an

are theophrastus paracelsus, adam von boden, oswald croll; and, later, valentine weigel, robert flood, or fludd, jacob bohmen, peter poiret &c. under this head we may also refer to the medico-surgical essays of hemmann, published at berlin in 1778; and pfaff s astrology. as a great general principle, the theosophists called the soul a fire, taken from the eternal ocean of light. in regard to the supernatural using the word in its widest sense it may be said that all the difficulty in admitting the strange things told us lies in the non-admiszoroaster and the magi. 67 sion of an internal causal world as absolutely real: it is said, in intellectually admitting, because the influence of the arts proves that men s feelings always have admitted, and do still admit, this reality. the platonic p

is too loud for them? therefore shall they speak fearfully of it in whispers. philosophers talk of it as anatomists discourse of the constituents (or the parts) of the human body as a piece of mechanism, wondrous though it be. such the wheels of the clock, say they in their ingenious expounding of the whys and the wherefores (and the mechanics and the mathematics) of this mysterious thing, with a supernatural soul in it, called world. such is the chain, such are the balances, such the larger and the smaller mechanical forces; such the time-blood, as it were, that is sent circulating 68 the rosicrucians. through it; such is the striking, with an infinity of bells. it is made for man, this world, and it is greatly like himthat is mean, they would add. and they do think it, if they dare add t

JESSUP MK THE CASE FOR THE UFO

e asked to think as he has never thought before, to admit to possibilities which will shake the very foundations of his being. for countless generations mankind has been confronted with an endless series of events, the causes of which have been obscure, if not altogether outside any casual sequence which his mind was able to imagine. in varying degrees, these happenings have generally been called supernatural: in more modern terminology, paranormal. this convenient phraseology may name them and, to a lesser extent, classify them; however, it does not explain the events, nor does it transmit and real knowledge to a groping mankind. to gain understanding, therefore, we must do more than classify; we must analyze and theorize. to do these things we must courageously invade a field which has s

f our qualitative knowledge has come through nonconformity. don't worry those few do not count. he again asks too much of proud, vain humankind in this volume, we are going to confront, for the first time, a number of hitherto incorrigible facts. we shall relate, for the first time, previously unrelated data and draw startling conclusions therefrom. to begin such a leap into the maelstrom of the "supernatural" we must first clarify our use of the word "world" we must no limit it to a state or a continent. and, despite the fact that it may disturb our complacency and arouse vague fears, we can no longer limit it to a single planet. the earth is not alone, nor has it been for some time. 2 clearest translation. could be actual. 25 next, we segregate paranormal experiences into groupings havin

isappearances of people, singly and in groups, publicly or in unobserved obscurity. these skin-ting-ling episodes seemed at first to have little in common with the falls of objects and the antics of storms. many are incidents which, if their reality has been admitted at all, are in the view of scientists, spiritualists, and students of the occult, considered to belong to or border on the socalled supernatural. within these segregations we must place the disappearance of the crews of ships, such as the sea bird and the marie celeste; the disappearance of individuals while in the company of their peers. there is not much hypothecating to be done with these. the stories can be told, and the cases lumped together as one big unexplained group of events. no explanation other than that of abducti

LAITMAN M KABBALAH REVEALED

creator, and to the plan itself as the thought of creation. in other words, and this is important, when kabbalah: then and now 21 kabbalists talk about nature or nature s laws, they are talking about the creator. and vise versa, when they are talking about the creator, they are talking about nature or nature s laws. these terms are synonymous. to a kabbalist, the term, creator, does not signify a supernatural, distinct entity, but the next degree that a human being should reach when pursuing higher knowledge. the hebrew word for creator is boreh, and contains two words: bo (come) and re eh (see. thus, the word, creator, is a personal invitation to experience the spiritual world. t h e c r a d l e o f s c i e n c e the knowledge that the first kabbalists acquired did more than help them und

LAITMAN M KABBALAH ATTAINING THE WORLDS BEYOND

today s point of view may be proven wrong tomorrow. therefore, the conclusions that we draw from any situation are correct for that particular situation; yet, they can be directly opposite to the conclusions we will draw in other situations. by the same token, we cannot assess other worlds or their laws, or judge them based on our own current criteria the criteria of our world. we do not possess supernatural intelligence or perception, and we err constantly even within the boundaries of our own world. thus, we cannot draw conclusions about the unknown and pass judgment on it. only those of us who possess the requisite supernatural qualities can make correct judgments concerning what exists above and beyond the natural. those who possess both supernatural qualities and our own qualities ca

perception, and we err constantly even within the boundaries of our own world. thus, we cannot draw conclusions about the unknown and pass judgment on it. only those of us who possess the requisite supernatural qualities can make correct judgments concerning what exists above and beyond the natural. those who possess both supernatural qualities and our own qualities can more closely describe the supernatural to us. such a person is known as a kabbalist a person of our world, created with the same qualities as each of us, but also endowed with other qualities from above that permit this person to describe to us what goes on in the other worlds. perceiving the creator- 23- this is why the creator has allowed certain kabbalists to reveal their knowledge to vast numbers of people in society

st efforts because it "buys" us the world, rather than something temporary and transitory. having grasped kabbalah, we can grasp the source of all sciences in their true, completely revealed state. this in itself shows what kind of effort is needed, since we know how much effort is required to grasp a single science, even in the paltry framework within which we understand it. we receive the truly supernatural strengths needed to grasp kabbalah from above, and are thus able to bear the suffering on the path to grasping this wisdom. at this time, we receive the self-confidence and life strength necessary to comprehend it by ourselves. but we cannot overcome all the obstacles without the clear help of the creator (obscured help of the creator is evident in the fact that the creator upholds li

hysical or moral exertion of the body. a reward may also come in the form of money, honors, fame, etc. when we feel that we lack any strength to withstand the body, that there is no energy to perform even the lightest of tasks, because the body cannot make any effort without seeing some reward in return, then there is no other alternative but to turn to the creator for help. we must pray for some supernatural power that would allow one to work against one s nature and reason. thus, the most important problem is to believe in the fact that the creator is able to help despite natural laws to the contrary, and that he is waiting for such requests. however, this decision can be reached only after one is completely disillusioned with one s own abilities. the creator desires that each person cho

connection to the spiritual. thus, it does not bring us to prayer, and without prayer it is impossible to comprehend the light of kabbalah. in the left line, however, we attempt to overcome our true state with our own willpower, and thus come to realize that we do not possess sufficient strength for such a task. only then do we begin to discern our need for help from above, since we see that only supernatural powers can help us. only through the left line can we attain the desired end. but it is important to understand that the two lines must be balanced so that each is utilized equally.only thenwill a middle line emerge, combining the right and the left line into a single line. if one line is greater than the other, it will prevent the two from merging, since that line will perceive itsel

ttaining the worlds beyond detail, never diminishing the task that he took upon himself. breathless from fatigue, suffering from shortness of breath, he never cancelled even one appointment or class; he never shifted any of his responsibilities to another person. constantly observing his behavior, i would lose confidence in myself and in my own possible success, even though i understood that this supernatural strength emanated from the realization of the grandiose task before him, and from the help from above. i cannot forget even one moment that i spent with him during our trips to t veria and mount meron, when i would spend long evenings sitting across from him, absorbing his glance, his speeches, his songs. these recollections live deep inside of me, and i hope that, even today, they de

LAITMAN M THE KABBALAH EXPERIENCE

g medical technology, does not deliver us from pain and torment. people are less interested in knowledge and progress and more concerned with their own personal fate. the human ego, the desire to enjoy for ourselves, continues to grow with each generation and seek fulfillment. it is happening very powerfully in our time, and therefore, along with technology, there are courses in astrology and the supernatural that b e l i e f s, m y s t i c i s m a n d t h e s u p e r n a t u r a l 303 are opening everywhere around us, even in universities. books about mysticism abound on the shelves of bookstores; horoscopes, prophecies and clairvoyants are found in every form of the media. i published my first book on kabbalah in 1984. at that time, the public was very earthbound, with its feet firmly on

bbalah is above our world. 284 the teachings of the east..285 kabbalah is not mysticism. 286 fortune tellers v social assistance. 287 false links to the upper worlds. 289 becoming a great egoist. 291 witchcraft and kabbalah. 291 meditation. 292 tarot cards. 293 pleasure hunt. 294 cults and ceremonies. 294 esoteric teachings. 295 evil eye. 295 a curse. 296 satan is within. 297 the truth behind the supernatural. 297 shambalah. 298 the physical body is meaningless here. 298 man is alone with his purpose. 299 ufos. 299 an eclipse of the sun and a lunar eclipse. 300 parapsychology. 301 astrology..302 gimatria. 305 graves of righteous people. 305 the well of miriam. 306 t h e k a b b a l a h e x p e r i e n c e 438 the western wall and other miracles. 307 miracles. 308 the discovery of the origi

LEFT HAND PATH AND RIGHT HAND PATH

paths: the left-hand path preserves individuality, while the right-hand path destroys it. conversely, some accuse left-hand path religions of narcissism while praising the right-hand path for its altruism. right-hand path religions are usually said to share the following properties: belief in a higher power, such as a deity. obedience to the will of the higher power. belief in the existence of a supernatural mechanism, such as karma, divine retribution, or threefold law, which causes the moral decisions that an individual makes to be reciprocated upon himself. the ultimate goal of having the individual consciousness be absorbed into a greater or cosmic whole. left-hand path religions are usually said to share the following properties: the belief that some people can, by attaining spiritua

LEWIS JAMES SATANISM TODAY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION FOLKLORE AND POPULAR CULTURE

resident in canine hell, heaven s emissaries reclaim him for his heroism in giving up his life to save the orphan girl. amulet amulets are special objects or symbols often worn as medallions for the purpose of warding off evil. amulets differ from talismans in that they passively protect their wearer from evil and harm. they are protection devices. talismans, on the other hand, possess magical or supernatural powers of their own and transmit them to the amulet 5 owner. they attract some benefit to the possessor, whereas the amulet acts as a shield to repel harm. many ancient magical symbols are regarded as being both amulets and talismans, able to attract good fortune as well as repelling bad luck. examples of these are the swastika, the ankh, the five-pointed star or pentagram, and the si

d wirth (1931, 60. this was, however, only a pentagram containing a goat s face. it was not the full sigil of baphomet as delineated in the satanic bible. the concept is the same, but the actual art is not. the first version of the goat-faced pentagram surrounded by two circles with leviathan written between them appeared in and on the cover of maurice bessy s a pictorial history of magic and the supernatural (1964. nowhere in this book, however, is this graphic referred to as the sigil of baphomet.during his years of research into the black arts, anton lavey had come across this book and added it to his collection. when he chose to found the church of satan, he decided that this particular symbol most fully embodied the principles that were the bedrock of the first aboveground satanic chu

denied. the hebraic figures around the outer circle of the symbol which stem from the magical teachings of the kabala, spell out leviathan, the serpent of the watery abyss, and identified with satan. these figures correspond to the five points of the inverted star (136) peter h. gilmore see also church of satan; lavey, anton for further reading: bessy,maurice. a pictorial history of magic and the supernatural. london: spring books, 1964. first published as histoire en 1000 images de la magie. paris: editions du pont royal, 1961. howard,michael. the occult conspiracy. london: rider, 1989. lavey, anton szandor. the satanic bible. new york: avon, 1969. wirth, oswald. la franc-maconnerie rendue intelligible a ces adeptes. 3 vols. paris: derry- livres, 1931. reprinted laval, france: n.p. 1962 1

y press, 1949. samuels, andrew, bani shorter, and fred plaut. a critical dictionary of jungian analysis. london: routledge& kegan paul, 1986. the craft in this 1996 film, a young girl moves to los angeles and finds that she doesn t fit in anywhere in the cliquish st. benedict s academy. she then finds friends in three other outcast girls. together they create their own coven and stumble onto real supernatural power. the craze jack palance plays the owner of a london antique store in this 1973 film. in his spare time, he leads a satanic cult that ritually sacrifices beautiful women. the police keep finding the bodies of the group s victims scattered around the countryside. crime satanic crime, more frequently referred to as occult crime, became a topic of popular interest among law enforcem

ction of an enemy, you must destroy them by proxy! they must be shot, stabbed, sickened, burned, smashed, drowned, or rent in the most vividly convincing manner! anton lavey, the satanic bible curses 57 curses, sometimes referred to as hexes, are negative magical spells made against other people. they are meant to harm a person through ill luck, sickness, or even death.curses traditionally invoke supernatural forces or entities to change someone s fate for the worse. in many different cultures, sorcerers can be hired to place curses on others. sorcerers can also be hired to undo a curse. as a group, entire families and their descendants have been affected by curses. they can also be used to protect temples, other kinds of spaces, and treasures, as in the case of the famous tutankhamen tomb

e to stop this step until the expended energy results in a state of relative exhaustion on the part of the magician. as developed by anton lavey, cursing became one of the principal magical acts of modern satanism. it occupies a prominent place in his satanic bible. lavey recommended coming together for ritual cursings as a way of forming bonds within a satanic group. the importance given to such supernatural acts may strike one as odd, given that laveyan satanism is generally atheistic. lavey, however, defined magic broadly as the change in situations or events in accordance with one s will, which would, using normally accepted methods, be unchangeable (lavey 1969, 110).while arguing that the greater magic taps forces beyond the ken of contemporary science, he did not go so far as to asse

LIBER LLL PARADIGMAT PIRATE

dge over other magicians who have neglected this avenue to power. section 2: in the second section the neophyte will explore forms of gnosis covering the full potential range of altered states of consciousness, from the inhibitory to the excitatory to the chemically induced (which for reasons of legality must remain optional. alongside with trance work, this is the final methodology for obtaining supernatural control over the body/mind and using it to alter the field of probability through which we constantly swim. section 3: as an extension of liber mmm, the practitioner will master the techniques of creating a useful set of magical tools and then consecrate them for the great work of magic. a thorough understanding of these techniques will not only create a set of instruments for ritual

LIBER LXVII THE SWORD OF SONG

ascen-sion day. futility of whole discussion, in view of facts. ascension day 21 that worthy yankee millionaire, and wealthy nephews, young and fair, the pleasing crawfords! lost! lost! lost !78 .the holy spirit, friend! beware. ah! ten days yet to pentecost! come that, i promise you.but stay! at present .tis ascension day! at least your faith should be content. i quarrel not with this event. the supernatural element? i deny nothing.at the term it is just nothing i affirm. the fool (with whom is wisdom, deem the scriptures.rightly) in his heart saith (silent, to himself, apart) this secret.\yhla ya.79 see the good psalm! and thus, my friend! my diatribes approach the end and find us hardly quarelling. and yet.you seem not satisfied? the literal mistranslated thing must not by sinners be de

philsophic mind, no fears, no hopes, devotions blind to hamper, soberly we.ll state the problem, and investigate in purely scientific mood the sheer ananke of the mind, a temper for our steel to find whereby those brazen nails subdued against our door-post may in vain ring. we.ll examine, to be plain, by logic.s intellectual prism the spiritual syllogism. we know what fools (only) call divine and supernatural and what they name material are really one, not two, the line by which divide they and define being a shadowy sort of test; a verbal lusus at the best, at worst a wicked lie devised to bind men.s thoughts; but we must work with our own instruments, nor shirk discarding what we erstwhile prized; should we perceive it disagree with the first-born necessity. i come to tell you why i shun

all time? then we must believe that gloucester was right, and that eclipses caused the fall of lear! observe that before this shakespeare has had a sly dig or two at magic. in king john .my lord, they say five moons were seen to-night .but there is no eyewitness. so in macbeth. in a host of spiritual suggestion there is always the rational sober explanation alongside to discredit the folly of the supernatural. shakespeare is like his own touchstone; he uses his folly as a stalking-horse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit. here, however, the mask is thrown off for any but the utterly besotted; edmund.s speech stands up in the face of all time as truth; it challenges the acclamation of the centuries. edmund is then the hero; more, he is shakespeare.s own portrait of himsel

found by going to particular places or reading particular books or joining particular socieites is to make for the thousandth time the mistake that is at once materialism and superstition. if mr. crowley and the new mystics think for one moment that an egyptian desert is more mystic than an english meadow, that a palm tree is more poetic than a sussex beech, that a broken temple of osiris is more supernatural than a baptist chapel in brixton, then they notes 61 are sectarians, and only sectarians of no more value to humanity than those who think that the english soil is the only soil worth defending, and the baptist chapel the only chapel worth of worship (sic. but mr. crowley is a strong and genuine poet, and we have little doubt that he will work up from his appreciation of the temple of

LINDOW JOHN NORSE MYTHOLOGY A GUIDE TO THE GODS HEROES RITUALS AND BELIEFS

-crafted poem of 12 stanzas, repeating it three times over the course of the evening. in the poem the speaker refers to himself as a bjarg-alfr, gmountain-elf, h which is a kenning for giant and refers to his journeys around mountains and north to the elivagar in the third netherworld. he has, he says, a house all to himself on the lava field, but few visit him there. in short, he appears to be a supernatural nature being such as have been deities, themes, and concepts 73 commonly found in european folklore until very recently.a lone denizen of the areas far from where humans live. but this particular giant has ties to norse mythology. gstrong thor makes trouble for people, h he says in stanza 10, and gthe earth is rent, because i say that thor thus again came thither, h he adds in stanza

spirits. see also mani; sol; vidfinn references and further reading: anne holtsmark, gbil og hjuke, h maal og minne, 1945: 139.154. alfred wolf, gdie germanische sippe bil: entsprechung zu mana: mit einem anhang uber den bilwis, h sprakvetenskapliga sallskapets i uppsala forhandlingar, 1928.1930: 17.156, thought that the root bil meant gsupernatural power h and referred to a concept like mana, a supernatural power in gods and objects. 78 norse mythology bileyg (wavering-eye) odin name. odin himself includes this in the list of names he gives just before the epiphany in grimnismal (stanza 47. it is not, however, known from other sources, although it is listed among the thulur. this name is found in the same line, and alliterates with baleyg (flame-eye, and some observers think two sides of

y, those dwarfs, out of earth, as durinn told. there follows a catalog of dwarfs that takes up several stanzas. thus voluspa actually has more information on dwarfs than on the gods. the names deities, themes, and concepts 99 in this and other catalogs of dwarfs suggest something about their characteristics: they are associated with the dead, with battle, with wisdom, with craftsmanship, with the supernatural, and even to some extent with the elves. it is not clear why the arrival of giant maidens in voluspa should provoke a crisis involving the dwarfs. however, the response appears to have something to do with the creation of order in the already existing community of dwarfs, or the creation of troops of dwarfs themselves. what these dwarfs do is to create ghuman likenesses, h and it is n

in stanza 5: there dwells east of the elivagar exceedingly wise hymir, at the edge of heaven. my father, the powerful one, owns a kettle, a huge pot, a league deep. finally there is the curious set of stanzas found in bergbua thattr, a thirteenth- century account of one thord and his servant who get lost on his way to church in winter and take shelter for the night in a cave. there they hear the supernatural inhabitant of the cave recite a poem predicting various cataclysmic events. in the seventh (of twelve) stanzas, the poet says that he travels north down into the third netherworld, and there someone fears his arrival at the elivagar. the poem is sometimes difficult to understand, but here at least the peripheral location of the elivagar is assured. there is little useful direct discus

rld-of-the-black-elves, and whether he intended a distinction between the dark-elves and black-elves is unknown, as in fact is any distinction among the elves outside of snorri. the relative lack of information about the elves in the mythology is made more tantalizing by the references retained in medieval icelandic tradition to the alfablot. in recent scandinavian folklore elves are important as supernatural nature beings in danish and icelandic tradition. see also asir; alfablot; alfheim; volund references and further reading: two readable treatments in english are those of jon hnefill a.alsteinsson, gfolk narrative and norse mythology, h arv 46 (1989: 115.122 (reprinted as ggiants and elves in mythology and folktales, h in jon hnefill a.alsteinsson, a piece of horse liver: myth, ritual

the asir will make up the subject of this section of the edda, had once given gto a traveling woman as payment for his pleasure h (that is, as payment to a prostitute) the land she could plow up in a day and a night using four oxen. that woman was gefjon, of the family of the asir. gshe took four oxen from the north out of jotunheimar, and those were the sons of a giant and her, h and with their supernatural power they plowed up an entire piece of land and took it west to a sound, where they put it down. gefjon named it selund (modern sjalland, the main island of denmark, on which the city of copenhagen is now located. and a body of water was left behind in sweden, gylfi fs realm, called logrinn (the lake, i.e, lake malaren, west of stockholm, and the bays in logrinn match the headlands o

LURQUIN STONE EVOLUTION AND RELIGIOUS CREATION MYTHS

states. journalist and author chris mooney argues in his book the republican war on science (2005) that seattle s discovery institute an organization at the center of the id movement is politically and religiously motivated. the goal of the discovery institute, he claims, is the destruction of scientific materialism (modern science) and its replacement by a religiously imbued science based on the supernatural origin of many phenomena observed in nature (intelligent design. this redefinition of science, says mooney, is in line with the thinking of members of the conservative republican christian right and hence has serious political implications that can affect all of us. it is therefore important to understand what id actually 3 proposes, what its origins are, and the extent to which it ca

quarks and intense light. matter as we know it could not have formed, and neither could life have appeared. dyson then wonders about the reason why the ordering of these forces was such that matter as we know it did form, a prerequisite for life to appear and, ultimately, a prerequisite for sentient life-forms like humans to reflect upon this particular occurrence. dyson sees here the action of a supernatural being or a universal mind who must have ordained the precise values of the four forces in order to allow human beings not only to exist, but also to wonder about the reason why the universe is built the way it is. by extending this type of reasoning further, one can imagine that this supernatural being (god) had a purpose in mind when it created our unique universe. this purpose is th

east a billion years and, in many cases, much longer than that (figure 1.1. since it is now thought that planet formation is a direct consequence of star formation, and since planets are, as far as we know, necessary for the appearance of life, it is not outlandish to think that life could also have appeared in some of these other universes. thus, the notion of a unique universe ours created by a supernatural being for a given purpose becomes much less tenable. but, of course, these other universes are not observable by us. therefore, speculating about other universes and why things are the way they are with or without god or purpose in our only knowable universe, fun as this may be, is just that, speculation. in fact, dyson himself recognized this to a large extent. as a physicist, he kno

epresents an evolutionary or political step in their thinking is unclear. however, since perfection was originally an important implicit concept in the development of id, we find it necessary to devote some space to its discussion. before moving on, one last point needs to be firmly established. arguments against id and for evolution are not comments on the existence or nonexistence of god or any supernatural force. these are metaphysical matters beyond science, upon which science cannot comment. evolutionary scientists themselves may personally be theists or atheists or agnostics it does not matter as far as their science is concerned. what science can comment upon, however, is natural process, and its view of this process is very much in conflict with teleology-oriented id thinking. crea

pressions. they are a form of verbal art, sometimes later written down in religious texts. often, origin myths reflect a peoples view of nature and their place within it. for example, anthropologist william haviland discusses how an origin myth among the abenaki (an indigenous group in new england and canada) reflects the abenaki cultural idea of the unity among all living things. in this myth, a supernatural being, tabaldak, created all life. as for humans in particular, at first he mistakenly tried to make them out of stone, but this did not work because it left their hearts too cold. then tabaldak tried again, using living wood, and from this came all later abenakis. like the trees from which the wood came, these people were rooted in earth and (like trees when blown by the wind) could

otheistic religions with the idea of one god as creator. further, these are revealed religions. possibly, then, a powerful single creator god with a strong message about the origin of life sets a frame for some within these faiths to see evolution as a threat to religious conviction. by contrast, neither hinduism nor buddhism is monotheistic or revealed, and neither sees evolution as a threat. no supernatural force within polytheistic hinduism reveals one divine truth. buddha s teachings are not revelations of a higher supernatural power; they are the result of buddha s own enlightenment, and they do not address the origin of earth, life, or humans. in addition, hinduism and buddhism contain strong ideas of change, transformation (for example, reincarnation, and impermanence that make evol

MAGIC AND SPELLS

een the will of a spellcaster and the stuff of raw magic. without the weave, raw magic is locked away and inaccessible-an archmage can't light a candle in a dead magic zone. but, surrounded by the weave, a spellcaster can shape lightning to blast her foes, transport herself hundreds of miles in the blink of an eye, even reverse death itself. all spells, magic items, spell-like abilities, and even supernatural abilities such as a ghost's ability to walk through walls, depend on the weave and call upon it in different ways. the exact nature of the weave is elusive because it is many things simultaneously. the weave is the body of mystra, the goddess of tragic. mystra has dominion over magic worked throughout toril, but she cannot shut off the flow of magic altogether without ceasing to exist

ric rules and formulas that comprises the art (arcane spellcasting) and the power (divine spellcasting. everything from the texts of arcane spellbooks to the individual components of spells is part of the weave. magic not only flows from source to spellcaster through the weave, the weave gives spellcasters the tools they need to shape magic to their purposes. whenever a spell, spell-like ability, supernatural ability, or magic item functions, the threads o the weave intertwine, knit, warp, twist, and fold to make the effect possible. when characters use divination spells such as detect magic, identify, or analyze dweomer, they glimpse the weave. a spell such as dispel magic smooths the weave, attempting to return it to its natural state. spells such as antimagic field rearrange the weave s

r towers or strongholds. with careful study, they chart the boundaries of the wild magic effect and then use this information to best advantage when fighting on their home ground against enemy spellcasters. table d% 01-10 11-2f effects of wild magic zones any spell or spell-like ability whose caster is within a wild magic zone is vulnerable to the effects of wild magic (wild magic does not affect supernatural, extraordinary, or natural abilities) the caster must roll a caster level check (dc 1s+ spell level. for a magic item, use its caster level for the caster level check. if the caster level check fails, roll on. table 2-1: wild magic effects to determine if the spell actually goes awry, and if so, how. spells or spell-like abilities cast from outside a wild magic zone at targets inside

ons of dead magic were created during the time of troubles and have since faded or retreated. dead magic zones often persist in places where extreme concentrations of magical power were abruptly scattered or destroyed-in the vicinity of a shattered mythal, at the spot where an artifact was broken, br at the scene of a god's death. detecting dead magic spellcasters and creatures with spell-like or supernatural abilities immediately notice when they enter a zone of dead magic. spellcasters are attuned to the weave, and they feel uneasy and uncomfortable in dead magic zones. a weave user can take a moveequivalent action to note the exact boundary of a dead magic zone. shadow weave users are not attuned to the weave and experience no such unusual sensations in regions of dead magic. any spellc

ic the story of spellfire by far the more powerful of these rare and precious talents. it is a random gift bestowed upon only a handful of women and men in a generation. spellfire in any form is refined, controlled raw magic. in beneficent manifestations, it is a font of silver light and healing energy. in,battle, it is a searing blue-white jet of all-consuming radiance. silver fire this powerful supernatural ability is unique to the chosen of mystra. manifesting as a beautiful silver-white flame that surrounds the wielder and fills the area into which it is projected, silver fire can be used for different effects. it can act as a ring of warmth or a ring of mind shielding, allow the user to breathe water, or banish all external magical compulsions upon the user as if a greater dispelling

dc 20. spellfire damage is half fire damage and half raw magical power, just like the damage of aflame strike spell is half fire and half divine energy. creatures with immunity, resistance, or protection against fire apply these effects to half the damage. a spellfire wielder can also heal a target by touch, restoring 2 hit points per spellfire energy level expended for this purpose. unlike most supernatural abilities, spellfire is affected by spells and magic items that affect spell-like abilities, such as a rod of absorption or a rod of negation (if pointed at the manifestation rather than the wielder. it can be thwarted or counterspelled by dispel magic, and theoretically a spellfire wielder could counterspell another's spellfire. however, spellfire is a supernatural ability and does n

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

t fame, is often supposed to have been the founder of gnosticism. if this be true, the sect was formed during the century after christ and is probably the first of the many branches which have sprung from the main trunk of christianity. everything with which the enthusiasts of the early christian church might not agree they declared to be inspired by the devil. that simon magus had mysterious and supernatural powers is conceded even by his enemies, but they maintained that these powers were lent to him by the infernal spirits and furies which they asserted were his ever present companions. undoubtedly the most interesting legend concerning simon is that which tells of his theosophic contests with the apostle peter while the two were promulgating their differing doctrines in rome. according

bearer; a male herald; and a male and a female altar attendant. there were also numerous minor officials. he states that, according to porphyry, the hierophant represents plato's demiurgus, or creator of the world; the torch bearer, the sun; the altar man, the moon; the herald, hermes, or mercury; and the other officials, minor stars. from the records available, a number of strange and apparently supernatural phenomena accompanied the rituals. many initiates claim to have actually seen the living gods themselves. whether this was the result of religious ecstasy or the actual cooperation of invisible powers with the visible priests must remain a mystery. in the metamorphosis, or golden ass, apuleius thus describes what in all probability is his initiation into the eleusinian mysteries "i ap

may it not have been that these demigods of a fabulous age who, esdras-like, came out of the sea were atlantean priests? all that primitive man remembered of the atlanteans was the glory of their golden ornaments, the transcendency of their wisdom, and the sanctity of their symbols--the cross and the serpent. that they came in ships was soon forgotten, for untutored minds considered even boats as supernatural. wherever the atlanteans proselyted they erected pyramids and temples patterned after the great sanctuary in the city of the golden gates. such is the origin of the pyramids of egypt, mexico, and central america. the mounds in normandy and britain, as well as those of the american indians, are remnants of a similar culture. in the midst of the atlantean program of world colonization a

tisfaction once, kircher solves it again--but differently--in the following words "in egypt there are rich deposits of asphalt and petroleum. what did these clever fellows [the priests] do, then, but connect an oil deposit by a secret duct with one or more lamps, provided with wicks of asbestos! how could such lamps help burning perpetually* in my opinion this is the solution of the riddle of the supernatural everlastingness of these ancient lamps" montfaucon, in his antiquities, agrees in the main with the later deductions of kircher, believing the fabled perpetual lamps of the temples to be cunning mechanical contrivances. he further adds that the belief that lamps burned indefinitely in tombs was the result of the noteworthy fact that in some cases fumes resembling smoke poured forth fr

and visions, and were accompanied by severe pains in the head; some never completely recovered from the after effects of their delirium. the confused recital of their experiences was interpreted by the priests according to the question to be answered. while the priests probably used some unknown herb to produce the dreams or visions of the cavern, their skill in interpreting them bordered on the supernatural. before consulting the oracle, it was necessary to offer a ram to the d mon of the cave, and the priest decided by hieromancy whether the time chosen was propitious and the sacrifice was satisfactory. the seven wonders of the world many of the sculptors and architects of the ancient world were initiates of the mysteries, particularly the eleusinian rites. since the dawn of time, the t

human faculties and powers, such as speech, thought, and even motion. while renegade priests doubtless resorted to trickery- an instance of which is related in a curious apocryphal fragment entitled bel and the dragon and supposedly deleted from the end of the book of daniel--many of the phenomena recorded in connection with sanctified statues and relics can hardly be explained unless the work of supernatural agencies be admitted. history records the existence of stones which, when struck, threw all who heard the sound into a state of ecstasy. there were also echoing images which whispered for hours after the room itself had become silent, and musical stones productive of the sweetest harmonies. in recognition of the sanctity which the greeks and latins ascribed to stones, they placed thei

MARS COCIDIUS AND THE REDCAPS IN LANCASHIRE

or them they would not cause trouble. the supposed ghosts of people were also called boggarts, and the word may be have been used to explain any strange phenomena in the past. an outbreak of poltergeist activity on a farm above oldham in lancashire was attributed to a boggart and there are several such stories, some of which we will outline in the future. brownies a widespread name for a fairy or supernatural creature, they were small in appearance and wore brown coloured clothing. like many mischievous spirits they were thought to be attached to houses or families and could be helpful in menial household tasks. if offended they became malignant and mischievous, creating poltergeist activity and generally making a nuisance of themselves. to get rid of brownies all you had to do is leave th

if offended they became malignant and mischievous, creating poltergeist activity and generally making a nuisance of themselves. to get rid of brownies all you had to do is leave them a new cloak and hood, they would take it and never be seen again. the brownies were found in both england and scotland as far as the shetland isles. red caps, dunters& powries the red cap is one of the most dangerous supernatural creatures said to haunt the castles and watchtowers of the border regions. in appearance they are short and wiry, with ragged pointed teeth and sharp claws like steel. they wear a red bonnet on their heads, and are generally bearded with wrinkled aged faces. the red caps are murderous, and kill by rolling boulders or tearing at people with their sharp claws. they then proceed to drink

MASTERING WITCHCRAFT

ce, in certain of the states of america, to take money for any form of occult work, including witchcraft, can under certain circumstances still be regarded as a criminal offence. in england, since 1951 when the old witchcraft laws were finally repealed, there now operates a law entitled the fraudulent mediums act, which states that persons taking money for fraudulent practices involving purported supernatural activities can, in fact, still be held subject to prosecution by due process of the law. but only for fraud, not heresy. so it pays to watch your step. if in the course of your career in the black arts a friend asks you as a witch to do some special favour for him, take care not to ask money for your services, however strong the temptation. allow your friend to purchase the necessary

s of religious beliefs, the modern witch tends to "reserve judgement" generally; there are those who devote themselves entirely to the fertility cult of habondia and her horned consort. this is by no means universal, however. the gods are there if and when you need them. but more of this in a later chapter. as a witch, you do not necessarily have to worship any complete and permanent hierarchy of supernatural beings if you don't want to. there simply exists power to be tapped to do good or to do evil, both of which are remarkably relative concepts. of course, as a witch, you should know from tradition as indicated in the last chapter, that there exist certain entities who will aid you in your spells; what these beings ultimately are, whether they predated man, or whether man himself create

t your old, mundane one. some unkind critics have called this the nom du diable. it is nothing of the sort; at least, not in the sense they mean it. it is, in fact, an important part of your newly burgeoning witch personality, and henceforth you will be known chiefly by it to your fellow practitioners. many witches or warlocks choose to take a name which is intimately connected with magic and the supernatural, the favourites being the names of other, legendary practitioners of the black arts. for instance, if you are male, you may choose the name of a legendary sorcerer such as zyto, balaam, elymas, or cyprian; or, alternatively, maybe merlin, althotas, vergilius, or vandermast. a witch might well choose morgana, armida, vivienne, or melusina; brisen, nimue, hellawes, or fredegonda, noctic

being one- the only practitioner who would in theory be able to pierce the defensive boundary is one of extremely advanced powers, and as such he would probably be well beyond the need of having to resort to anything as ill-advised as a magical attack on his own. a whole coven maybe. that is another matter. there seems to be folly as well as strength in numbers. from the non-human point of view, supernatural entities such as shades of the dead or demonic intelligences appear to have very little interest in the human race, especially the last-mentioned class of beings. they generally only become involved in magical warfare when summoned and directed specifically, and as such their power is limited strictly to correspond with that of their invoker. so the circle and watchtower formula will

MATHERS MACGREGOR THE GREATER KEY OF SOLOMON VOL 1

halt vanquish all adversities, and shalt be cherished and loved by the angels and spirits, provided that thou hast made their characters and that thou hast them upon thee; i assure thee that this is the true way to succeed with case in all thine operations, for being fortified with a divine name, and the letters, characters, and sigils, applicable unto the operation, thou shalt discover with what supernatural exactitude and very great promptitude, both terrestrial and celestial things will be obedient unto thee. but all this will only be true, when accompanied by the pentacles which hereinafter follow, seeing that the seals, characters, and divine names, serve only to fortify the work, to preserve from unforeseen accidents, and to attract the familiarity of the angels and spirits; which is

MEANING OF MASONRY

this fact is of great importance to the student of the wisdom, for in it rests the main reason of the secrecy and the intense watchfulness and carefulness of the stewards of the mysteries lest the secret doctrines find expression on the lips or through the action of unfit persons to possess the secrets. for the secret power of the mysteries is within the signs. any person attaining to natural and supernatural states by the process of development, if his heart be untuned and his mind withdrawn from the divine to the human within him, that power b ecomes a power of evil instead of a power of good. an unfaithful initiate, in the degree of the mysteries he has attained, is capable, by virtue of his antecedent preparations and processes, of diverting the power to unholy, demoniacal, astral and

remony is" he ascended into heaven" the royal arch degree seeks to express that new and intensified life to which the candidate can be raised and the exalted degree of consciousness that comes with it. from being conscious merely as a natural man and in the natural restricted way common to every one born into this world, he becomes exalted (whilst still in his natural flesh) to consciousness in a supernatural and illimitable way. as has been said in previous papers, the purpose of all initiation is to lift human consciousness from lower to higher levels by quickening the latent spiritual potentialities in man to their full extent through appropriate discipline. no higher level of attainment is possible than that in which the human merges in the divine consciousness and knows as god knows

" raising" of the candidate to the rank of master mason and his" reunion with the companions of former toils" implying the reintegration and resumption of all his old faculties and powers in a sublimated state, just as the limbs of the risen osiris were said to reunite into a new whole and as the christian master withdrew his mutilated body from the to mb' and reassumed it, transmuted into one of supernatural substance and splendour. we have, therefore, now to consider how the royal arch degree exhibits the attainment of a new order of life. but it may be as well to say in advance that for those unhabituated to looking beyond surface-values and material meanings the exposition about to be given, dealing as it will with the profound spiritual truths and advanced psychological experience all

. initiation, we have already said, is something which but few are fit to receive, even after long and rigorous preparation, and fewer still are competent to impart. it was an experience of which a writer has said in regard to the candidate, vel invenit sanctum, vel facit--it either finds him holy or makes him so. virgil's account in the sixth aneid of the initiation of aneas into elysium (or the supernatural light, or that of lucius (again a name signifying enlightenment) in the "golden ass" of apuleius, when he was permitted to" see the sun at midnight" are instructive instances. so also the exclamation of clement of alexandria, who had been received into the gnostic school" o truly sacred mysteries! o pure light! i am led by the light of the torch to the view of heaven and of god. i bec

MICHAEL TSARION ATLANTIS ALIEN VISITATION AND GENETIC MANIPULATION

occur (alfred north whitehead)civilization originates in conquest abroad and repression at home (david watson) atlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulation93 chapter 15their satanic majesty s requestare we aware of the real reasons for genocide, for the mass slaughter which attendedcolonialization? its purpose is also one of occult significance. when dee entered intocommunication with the supernatural intelligences, he was told that there was a pricefor the knowledge he was to be given, a price for continued assistance throughout theages. the oversouls wanted something and that something was blood. blood hasoccult properties, especially when it is taken from an innocent, murdered in a ritualsetting (see highlander and any of the dracula movies. blood is a form of energy andvampires

iani. thesepriests were selected from the most ancient order, the luperci lupercian ancient order of priests.augustus caesarthe worship of augustus was not, as the ecclesiastical schools have insinuated, a mere lip-service, ameaningless mode of saluting the sovereign-pontiff, an elusive form of adulation or flattery to theemperor of rome; it was the worship of a personage who was believed to be a supernatural, omniscient,all-powerful and beneficent, the reincarnation of quirinus, the son of the god apollo and of the wife-virgin maia; the god whose coming was foretold by the cumaen sibyl; whose sway was to extend overthe whole earth; whose conception and birth were both miraculous; and whose advent was to usher inthe golden age of peace and plenty and to banish sin for ever. such was his ch

MOODY RAYMOND A LIFE AFTER LIFE

hemselves. out of the many kinds of explanations which might theoretically be proposed, there are a few which have been suggested quite frequently in the audiences which i have addressed. accordingly, i shall now deal with these more common explanations, and with another which, though it has never been proposed to me, might well have been. i have somewhat arbitrarily divided them into tree types: supernatural, natural (scientific, and psychological. supernatural explanations rarely, someone in one of my audiences has proposed demonic explanations of near-death experiences, suggesting that the experiences were doubtless directed by inimical forces. as a response to such explanations, i can only say this. it seems to me that the best way of distinguishing between god-directed and satan-direc

MORALS AND DOGMA

t for many centuries the hebrews have been forbidden to pronounce the sacred name; that wherever it occurs, they have for ages read the word _adona_ instead; and that under it, when the masoretic points, which represent the vowels, came to be used, they placed those which belonged to the latter word. the possession of the true pronunciation was deemed to confer on him who had it extraordinary and supernatural powers; and the word itself, worn upon the person, was regarded as an amulet, a protection against personal danger, sickness, and evil spirits. we know that all this was a vain superstition, natural to a rude people, necessarily disappearing as the intellect of man became enlightened; and wholly unworthy of a mason. it is noticeable that this notion of the sanctity of the divine name

lorious and immortal. if not for slander and persecution, the mason who would benefit his race must look for apathy and cold indifference in those whose good he seeks, in those who ought to seek the good of others. except when the sluggish depths of the human mind are broken up and tossed as with a storm, when at the appointed time a great reformer comes, and a new faith springs up and grows with supernatural energy, the progress of truth is slower than the growth of oaks; and he who plants need not expect to gather. the redeemer, at his death, had twelve disciples, and one betrayed and one deserted and denied him. it is enough for us to know that the fruit will come in its due season. when, or who shall gather it, it does not in the least concern us to know. it is our business to plant th

and noises, while they painfully groped their way, as in the gloomy cavern of the soul's sublunar migration; a scene justly compared to the passage of the valley of the shadow of death. for by the immutable law exemplified in the trials of psyche, man must pass through the terrors of the under-world, before he can reach the height of heaven. at length the gates of the _adytum_ were thrown open, a supernatural light streamed from the illuminated statue of the goddess, and enchanting sights and sounds, mingled with songs and dances, exalted the communicant to a rapture of supreme felicity, realizing, as far as sensuous imagery could depict, the anticipated reunion with the gods. in the dearth of direct evidence as to the detail of the ceremonies enacted, or of the meanings connected with the

as to them a great, solid, concave arch; a hemisphere of unknown material, at an unknown distance above the flat level earth; and along it journeyed in their courses the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. the sun was to them a great globe of fire, of unknown dimensions, at an unknown distance. the moon was a mass of softer light; the stars and planets lucent bodies, armed with unknown and supernatural influences. it could not fail to be soon observed, that at regular intervals the days and nights were equal; and that two of these intervals measured the same space of time as elapsed between the successive inundations, and between the returns of spring-time and harvest. nor could it fail to be perceived that the changes of the moon occurred regularly; the same number of days always e

vants, framed to give it light. of the stars, some were beneficent existences that brought with them spring-time and fruits and flowers--some, faithful sentinels, advising them of coming inundation, of the season of storm and of deadly winds; some heralds of evil, which, steadily foretelling, they seemed to cause. to them the eclipses were portents of evil, and their causes hidden in mystery, and supernatural. the regular returns of the stars, the comings of arcturus, orion, sirius, the pleiades, and aldebaran, and the journeyings of the sun, were voluntary and not mechanical to them. what wonder that astronomy became to them the most important of sciences; that those who learned it became rulers; and that vast edifices, the pyramids, the tower or temple of bel, and other like erections ev

the human form he never ceases to be the supreme being "the foolish (he says, in bhagavad ghita "unacquainted with my supreme nature, despise me in this human form, while men of great minds, enlightened by the divine principle within them, acknowledge me as incorruptible and before all things, and serve me with undivided hearts "i am not recognized by all" he says again "because concealed by the supernatural power which is in me; yet to me are known all things past, present, and to come; i existed before vaivaswata and menou. i am the most high god, the creator of the world, the eternal poorooscha (man-world or genius of the world. and although in my own nature i am exempt from liability to birth or death, and am lord of all created things, yet as often as in the world virtue is enfeebled

MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS E

aditions. in order to exemplify this, let us suppose that orpheus, the son of apollo, so renowned for his extraordinary musical powers, had existed at the present day. we should no doubt have ranked him among the greatest of our musicians, and honoured him as such; but the greeks, with their vivid imagination and poetic license, page 9 exaggerated his remarkable gifts, and attributed to his music supernatural influence over animate and inanimate nature. thus we hear of wild beasts tamed, of mighty rivers arrested in their course, and of mountains being moved by the sweet tones of his voice. the theory here advanced may possibly prove useful in the future, in suggesting to the reader the probable basis of many of the extraordinary accounts we meet with in the study of classical mythology. a

for the hand of his daughter. on the eve of the race, pelops repaired to the sea-shore and earnestly implored poseidon to assist him in his perilous undertaking. the sea-god heard his prayer, and sent him out of the deep a chariot drawn by two winged horses. page 263 when pelops appeared on the course, the king at once recognized the horses of poseidon; but, nothing daunted, he relied on his own supernatural team, and the contest was allowed to proceed. whilst the king was offering his sacrifice to zeus pelops set out on the race, and had nearly reached the goal, when, turning round, he beheld oenomaus, spear in hand, who, with his magic steeds, had nearly overtaken him. but in this emergency poseidon came to the aid of the son of tantalus. he caused the wheels of the royal chariot to fly

g child. he awoke with a cry, and grasping a snake in each hand, strangled them both. alcmene and her attendants, whom the cry of the child had awakened, rushed to the cradle, where, to their astonishment and terror, they beheld the two reptiles dead in the hands of the infant heracles. amphitryon was also attracted to the chamber by the [235]commotion, and when he beheld this astounding proof of supernatural strength, he declared that the child must have been sent to him as a special gift from zeus. he accordingly consulted the famous seer tiresias, who now informed him of the divine origin of his stepson, and prognosticated for him a great and distinguished future. when amphitryon heard the noble destiny which awaited the child intrusted to his care, he resolved to educate him in a manne

eus freed the country from this inhuman monster by serving him as he had done his unfortunate victims. the hero now continued his journey, and at length reached athens without meeting with any further adventures. when he arrived at his destination he found his father a helpless tool in the hands of the sorceress medea, whom he had married after her departure from corinth. knowing, by means of her supernatural powers, that theseus was the king's son, and fearing that her influence might be weakened by his presence, she poisoned the mind of the old king against the stranger, whom she represented as being a spy. it was accordingly arranged that theseus should be invited to a banquet, and a strong poison mixed with his wine. now theseus had resolved to reveal himself at this feast to the fathe

NAGEL CARL AMAZING SECRETS OF OCCULT POWER

king man. slowly raised its arm and pointed at him. then abruptly it was gone. there was something special and very familiar about the mysterious entity and its actions. but from the view of the people who were with me that day, something very unusual (unusual, that is, for them) had happened. they had never before been confronted in the middle of the afternoon by a tall gray entity of apparently supernatural origin. they knew nothing about it or the reasons for its presence so they were forced to speculate. why would a ghostlike apparition suddenly appear in their midst? the society was like a second home to me in those days. i had a few friends there. one of them, ralph a government employee with an interest in paranormal phenomena was with me that day. he had been given the task of runn

turn is examined, the ancient man takes pity on him, and gives him a magical liqueur that puts the wounded man back on his feet. he follows the old man into the pyramid, and discovers a world of magic. there are vast halls and endless galleries, subterranean chambers piled high with treasures, apparitions of blazing lamps, legions of familiar spirits and there, also, is the black pullet. it is a supernatural version of aladdin with an inner meaning of astaroth. the sage himself proves to be the sole heir of the ancient magi and is himself, in quest of an heir for he feels he is about to pass away. in time the french officer, seeing that his protector possesses a talisman that confers immediate proficiency in all tongues, is instructed in the powers and wonders of twenty-two talismanic fig

ar in a dream. if no dream of him comes he is not to be hers. the children of the night the art and practice of witchcraft goes hand in hand with eerie legends of mysterious, evil creatures that are seen by the light of a full moon. these legends have existed through the centuries and are as old as man. it is difficult to separate the two. they are all part of the same thing: the unknown world of supernatural forces. i have included here three of the most enduring of these legends. zombies, the dead that walk, raised from their graves to work as mindless slaves for powerful voodoo exponents who, in order to obtain their wishes, would call upon baron samedi, the voodoo god of the dead, to summon the zombies into their presence. zombies< were afraid of fire and were destroyed when their mast

NAUDON PAUL THE SECRET HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY

roup that was assembled for religious or charitable purposes, placed under the protection of one or more patron saints, and established in the chapel of a church. the brotherhood was thus subject first and foremost to ecclesiastical authority. long before the community, it was the first form of trade organization, reflecting the craft's traditional and spiritual elements. while labor retained the supernatural values it had held since time immemorial, religious bonds closely committed the members to god and their fellows in the fulfillment of their daily tasks. we have seen that in many regions and for a long time there were no trade communities, but only brotherhoods. these also remained the sole professional organizations of the francs metiers. when both groups coexisted, as was the case

PHILIP NEIL MYTHS LEGENDS EXPLAINED

he battle dead in his paradise hall of valhalla. world tree odin once hanged himself on the world tree, yggdrasil, for nine days and nights. pierced with a spear, he sacrificed himself to himself, in a magic rite to bring him hidden knowledge. on the ninth day, he saw magic runes below him. when he managed to lift them, they set him free and filled him with power. the valkyries the valkyries were supernatural women who had several roles: they lived with odin in the golden hall of valhalla, where they served ale to the shades of dead warriors; they also rode into battle in armor, wielding spears, and allotting victory and defeat valkyrie literally meaning chooser of the slain. two valkyries, gunn and rota, chose men for death, accompanied by skuld (necessity, the youngest of the norns, one

and allotting victory and defeat valkyrie literally meaning chooser of the slain. two valkyries, gunn and rota, chose men for death, accompanied by skuld (necessity, the youngest of the norns, one of the three fates who shaped men s lives. the valkyries may have had a special relationship with the warriors known as berserks who, inspired by odin s battle fury, flung off their armor to fight with supernatural strength. certainly the beserks were likely to die in battle, and so win a place in valhalla, where they split their time between fighting and drinking. valhalla was envisaged as a vast golden hall, with a roof of shields, a frame of spears, and 540 doors, through each of which 800 warriors would be able to march abreast at the last battle of ragnarok. the norse gods 69 freyr, god of

, as here, divine powers may aid the righteous. henry the fowler the emperor henry the fowler was a real historical figure, the first non- carolingian ruler of the german reich (916-36. his wife matilda was a descendant of widekund, the pagan ruler who led the saxon resistance to charlemagne, and although after her death she was venerated as a christian saint, she was also feared for her supposed supernatural powers. friedrich here, elsa s challenger, friedrich, is shown humbled at the hands of lohengrin. in keeping with his knightly courtesy, lohengrin did not take his life; instead the emperor condemns friedrich to be beheaded. in wagner s opera, lohengrin kills friedrich in a later combat. thr fairy melusine t he melusine legend mirrors that of lohengrin. melusine was said to be the da

cross-legged surrounded by animals; it is suggested that this indian deity represents shiva in his role as lord of the beasts (see pp. 112 13. bull horned bulls are often shown in association with cernunnos, as for instance on a stone relief from rheims, france, in which cernunnos holds a sack from which coins flow down to a bull and a stag. many irish myths center around the attempted thefts of supernatural bulls, most notably the t in b cuailnge, whose hero is cuchulain, son of the sun god lugh. the two bulls whose battle is the climax of the t in are said to have originally been divine swineherds even after undergoing many transformations, they can still reason like human beings. vegetation cernunnos was primarily a god of nature, fertility, and abundance, and is associated with fruit

RABBI MOSHE WISNEFSKY APPLES FROM THE ORCHARD THE ARIZAL ON THE PARASHAH

araoh fs] heart and nullify him in order that [the forces of evil] not gain a foothold through him, and in order that the jewish people be able to be freed from his dominion. therefore, it was not enough that he acknowledged the name havayah only in its manifestation in judgment. pharaoh had to acknowledge the masculine aspect of the name havayah as well, i.e, the aspect of mercy, which is openly supernatural. 5 exodus 9:27. the arizal on parashat bo 3 therefore it is said, g cin order that i place these signs of mine within him. h [the word for gsign h (ot) also means gletter. h the word for gsigns of mine h (ototai) may be split into the word for gsigns h (otot) and the letter yud. since the numerical value of the letter yud is ten] the mystical meaning is thus: g cin order that i place

with a yud. ignoring the yud, however, the word can be seen as a permutation of the two words for gox h (shor) and gdescended h (nachat: tacharishun: tav-chet-reish-(yud)-shin-vav-nun. shor: shin-vav-reish. nachat: nun-chet-tav .translated from sha far hapesukim, likutei torah, and sefer halikutim parashat beshalach [third installment] when the egyptians realized that they were being attacked by supernatural forces at the red sea, they said, gi must flee from the presence of israel, for g-d [havayah] is fighting for them against egypt. h1 as you know, pharaoh derived sustenance entirely from immature divine consciousness [mochin d fkatnut, which is alluded to by the word gend. h the words usually translated as gred sea h (yam suf) really mean greed sea, h and can also be read as if they w

h, etc. in contrast, the number 8 signifies overcoming this struggle. therefore scripture decrees that gon the eighth day he shall be circumcised, h for he has then escaped the power of the sevens, and entered the realm of eight. circumcision on the eighth day means that the newborn jew has transcended the power of 7, of nature, of the animal within him, and entered the realm of the transcendent, supernatural power of holiness. 16 psalms 90:10. 17 shabbat 33a; ketubot 8b. 18 shabbat 63a. 19 ibid. 119b. the arizal on parashat tazria (2) 458 .translated and adapted from sefer halikutim 459 parashat tazria [third installment] in this parashah, we are given the laws of the various skin diseases (types of tzara fat, usually and incorrectly translated as gleprosy h) that can render a person spir

REGARDIE ISRAEL THE COMPLETE GOLDEN DAWN

them the mage could always determine "where she is" and thus never be lost, a most horrible fate. today, however, this system functions exponentially, and it provides a baseline of information and technique for reference. all too often at the neo-pagan festivals one overhears hushed whispers 'well, in the g.d. they 'not "demonology" in the common usage of evil spirits; rather duemonology concerns supernatural beings (including even the holy guardian angel) intermediate between humanity and god. c.lw. 69 7 698 the golden dawn we hear in the opening of the neophytes "by names and images are all powers awakened and reawakened" dion fortune rightly notes that these thought-forms or structures of mind are vessels of power and the means of communication with the powers. as these structures endur

RELIGIOUS TENANTS OF THE YEZIDI

to send teachers to the different districts. the present incumbent possesses considerable property, and engages in extensive agricultural pursuits. twice a year he visits most of the villages in the neighbourhood to collect contributions in the shape of free-will offerings, and he commissions deputies to the more distant provinces for the same purpose. the yezeedees believe him to be endued with supernatural powers, and his mediation is often sought to heal obstinate diseases in men and cattle, to make the barren fruitful, to crown a journey or other undertaking with success &c. which he affects to do by charms and other occult means. mohammed, mr. rassam's kawass, or orderly, who is a strict and sincere mussulman, and cordially hates all unbelievers, especially such as possess no books

RITUEL ET DOGME DE LA HAUTE MAGIE BY ELIPHAS LEVI PART I

one of which christianity has inscribed its name. we have therefore no wish to attack christianity: far from it, we seek to explain and accomplish it. intelligence and will have exercised alternately their power in the world; religion and philosophy are still at war with one another, but they must end in agreement. the provisional object of christianity was to establish, by obedience and faith, a supernatural or religious equality among men, to immobilize intelligence by faith, so as to provide a fulcrum for virtue which came for the destruction of the aristocracy of science, or rather to replace that aristocracy, then already destroyed. philosophy, on the contrary, has laboured to bring back men by liberty and reason to natural inequality, and to substitute wits for virtue by inaugurating

hings, we shall return to this subject in our fifteenth chapter; at the present moment we are concerned only with evocation of the dead. in the spring of the year 1854 i had undertaken a journey to london, that i might escape from internal disquietude and devote myself, without interruption, to science. i had letters of introduction to persons of eminence who were anxious for revelations from the supernatural world. i made the acquaintance of several and discovered in them, amidst much that was courteous, a depth of indifference or trifling. they asked me forthwith to work wonders, as if i were a charlatan, and i was somewhat discouraged, for, to speak frankly, far from being inclined to initiate others into the mysteries of ceremonial magic, i had shrunk all along from its illusions and w

RITUEL ET DOGME DE LA HAUTE MAGIE BY ELIPHAS LEVI PART II

thought which sustains our courage and enables us to face all the perils of this enterprise, possibly the most dangerous which it has been permitted the human mind to conceive and carry out. magical operations are the exercise of a natural power, but one superior to the ordinary forces of nature. they are the result of a science and a practice which exalt human will beyond its normal limits. the supernatural is only the natural in an extraordinary grade, or it is the exalted natural; a miracle is a phenomenon which impresses the multitude because it is unexpected; the astonishing is that which astonishes; miracles are effects which surprise those who are ignorant of their causes, or assign them causes which are not in proportion to effects. miracles exist only for the ignorant, but as the

y grade, or it is the exalted natural; a miracle is a phenomenon which impresses the multitude because it is unexpected; the astonishing is that which astonishes; miracles are effects which surprise those who are ignorant of their causes, or assign them causes which are not in proportion to effects. miracles exist only for the ignorant, but as there is scarcely any absolute science among men, the supernatural can still obtain, and does so indeed for the whole world. let us set out by saying that we believe in all miracles because we are convinced and certain, even from our own experience, of their entire possibility. there are some which we do not explain, though we regard them as no less explicable. from the greater to the lesser, from the lesser to the greater, the consequences are relat

ROBERT KIRK WALKER BETWEEN WORLDS

wn in from other sources, though these are abundant. 1. there is another world or dimension that mirrors our own: it is located underground. the cycle of energies and events in that place is a polarized image of our own, thus they have summer when we have winter, day when we have night, and so forth. 2. the inhabitants of this world are real beings in their own right, and have certain substantial supernatural powers. 3. certain people, mainly male seers, are gifted with the ability to see such beings from the mirror or underworld, and to receive communications from them. 4. the subterranean people are able through signs and mimicry or dramatic actions to show seers what will come to pass in the human world. it is up to the seer to develop means of interpretation. 5. humans can and do physi

classical orders of entities, spirits, heroes, daemons, commentary 74 and so forth. these are described in a number of sources, and as kirk had a concept of this sort in mind as he wrote, it is worth quoting a typical example of the many that might be considered. in de mysteriis egyptorum, the work of iamblichus written in the fourth century ad, we find a very precise description of the orders of supernatural beings (this text, http//www.dreampower.com/kirk_wbw/pg_72.htm (2 of 10 [10/9/2001 12:35:48 am] robert kirk- walker between worlds(pages 72-81) incidentally, translated and published in 1547 in europe, seems to have influenced the prophetic development of nostradamus, as his own techniques of attaining vision are drawn, in part, from iamblichus) in relatively modern magical or esoteri

//www.dreampower.com/kirk_wbw/pg_72.htm (2 of 10 [10/9/2001 12:35:48 am] robert kirk- walker between worlds(pages 72-81) incidentally, translated and published in 1547 in europe, seems to have influenced the prophetic development of nostradamus, as his own techniques of attaining vision are drawn, in part, from iamblichus) in relatively modern magical or esoteric arts the orders or hierarchies of supernatural beings are frequently called 'inner-world' beings, which tends to imply, quite falsely, that they are merely constructions of the imagination. in collective tradition there is no doubt whatsoever as to the reality of the entities, and in kirk's text their reality is repeatedly affirmed and described in detail, particularly in the context of their physical nature, which he compares in

tary 75 spirits of the dead, and simulacra or images of human beings which are sent by fairy communicants to seers (see pages 24, 28 and 31. in iamblichus' de mysteriis (ii.4) we find a comprehensive description of the otherworldly beings, which fits well with divinatory and invocatory practices from the most ancient times to the present day. the author is discussing epiphanies, the appearance of supernatural beings, a subject which also appears extensively in celtic tradition preserved in early literature from wales and ireland, though generally in a less formalized http//www.dreampower.com/kirk_wbw/pg_72.htm (3 of 10 [10/9/2001 12:35:48 am] robert kirk- walker between worlds(pages 72-81) presentation, due to the influence of dominant christianity. in the case of gods and goddesses they s

atory journey through the underworld in the ballad and the romance poem of thomas rhymer, deriving from a thirteenth-century historical poet, who uttered many local prophecies, some of which seem to have come true.17 in thomas's vision, the underworld or elfland contains rivers of blood and water, vast plains, a magical tree of life, and beautiful halls. it is lit not by the sun or moon, but by a supernatural light, or in some versions by the light of the stars shining within the earth (b) perpetual fires or lamps, a subject which kirk returns to later (page 37, and from which he derives the term lychnobious people to describe the fairies (see kirk's own glossary beginning on page 165, were kept burning in ancient temples. the great example in celtic culture was the perpetual fire at the s

usually shows negative events that will come to pass, such as injuries, deaths, disasters, and so forth. we need to exercise the same careful judgment of this as kirk himself, for he states elsewhere in his text that the fairies may offer these visions to warn men and to lead them to better lives, rather than out of spite. the spiteful element is, however, widespread in folk tradition concerning supernatural beings, so we cannot pretend that all is sweetness and light: the subject is related to the attitude or spiritual or emotional state of the seer, as we have discussed above, and as kirk discusses on page 57. http//www.dreampower.com/kirk_wbw/pg_82.htm (8 of 10 [10/9/2001 12:36:03 am] robert kirk- walker between worlds(pages 82-91) page 27 they are said to have many pleasant toyish boo

RUBY TABLET OF SET

orphic, with essentially human motives and desires which were manifest through the forces of nature. the generally harsher and more unpredictable elements in mesopotamia may partially explain the generally harsher and more unpredictable personalities of the mesopotamian gods in contrast to the egyptian neteru. like egypt, the ancient near east shows a blending of the scientific and the emotional. supernatural beings were thought to be intimately involved with human fortunes on a daily basis. hence the "life experience" of a mesopotamian was as much magical as it was rational. whereas the egyptian political system was strongly centralized and monarchic, the earliest mesopotamian cultures tended to be localized and democratic, with kings or military leaders being selected by elders when emer

station of physis; they are conventions of human experience. in dark ages greece the universe was an unknown quantity, superior to all gods, who are "humans writ large" within it and who govern the fortunes and the passions of mankind [consider the active involvement of the gods in the iliad and odyssey] in the "golden age" of athenian culture, the universe was thought not to be a function of any supernatural, conscious will. rather it was conceived as a highly complex, logically intelligible machine which may be understood through reason. basic divisions in this reason were the materialism of such individuals as anaximander and democritus("atoms, and the panpsychism of thales (ca. 640-546) of the agean island of miletus, who had been schooled in egypt. panpsychism teaches that every livin

in deceit and oppositions of science falsely so-called, and have recourse to the old testament" a generation after he published his famous principia, newton was still trying to discover the exact plan of solomon's temple, which he considered the best guide to the topography of heaven. thomas hobbes (1588-1679) took a scientific, materialistic approach to the objective universe, asserting that the supernatural or subjective universe was beyond rational understanding. politics belongs wholly to the realm of the rational and natural. impressed by mathematics and geometry, hobbes postulated human behavior as similarly structured. he thus sought to understand the "mechanics" or "laws" of human political behavior. hobbes departed from aristotle and the medieval tradition by denying that man is a

etariat and to the establishment of a classless society. karl marx (1818-1883) was strongly influenced by hegel, but believed that hegel had made a fundamental mistake in using nations as the basis for his dialectic and in relating it to a divine manifestation or purpose. marx considered the dialectic to be a function of economic struggle between social classes, and he denied the existence of any supernatural intelligence, calling all religion "the opiate of the masses" classification: v2- 102- 17 author: michael a. aquino vi date: october 1, xix revision: january 1, xxiv html revision: oct 13, 1997 ce subject: philosophy reading list: 16a, 16l, 16m according to marx, one cannot choose one's social class. rather one is forced into a particular class by the forces of economics, particularly

ot yet ended, for the master continues "hearken, therefore, now further, o my disciples, while i tell you the whole gnosis of the mystery of the ineffable" it is the gnosis of pitilessness and compassion; of destruction and everlasting increase; of beasts and creeping things, and metals, seas, and earth, clouds and rain, and so on working downwards from man into nature and upwards through all the supernatural realms. 4. the degrees of the mysteries the saviour answers that every one who receives a mystery of light, any one of them, shall after death find rest in the light-world appropriate so his mystery, but no one who has not become a christ will know the gnosis of the whole pleroma, for "in all openness i am the gnosis of the whole pleroma" so he who receives the first mystery of the fi

say to the following quote from the statesman? he turns to page #1082. stranger: when there arises in the soul of men a right opinion concerning what is good, just, and profitable, and what is the opposite of these. an opinion based on absolute truth and settled as an unshakable conviction. i declare that such a conviction is a manifestation of the divine occurring in a race which is in truth of supernatural lineage. young socrates: it could no be more suitably described. the chimaera (dryly: he would probably say that, since sphinxes and chimaeras do not really exist, nothing we say is to be taken seriously. the sphinx: so, where plato is concerned, a great deal hinges upon the basis for mathematics itself. is it acquired through reason or through mystical vision, so to speak? the chimae

SALMANRUSHDIE THESATANICVERSES

nto the air, fell down on its side, and- o-ho- into a thousand and one pieces, smashed. believe don't believe, babasaheb mhatre told his charge, but thenandthere i learned my lesson: don't meddle, mhatre, in what you do not comprehend. this story had a profound effect on the consciousness of the young listener, because even before his mother's death he had become convinced of the existence of the supernatural world. sometimes when he looked around him, especially in the afternoon heat when the air turned glutinous, the visible world, its features and inhabitants and things, seemed to be sticking up through the atmosphere like a profusion of hot icebergs, and he had the idea that everything continued down below the surface of the soupy air: people, motor-cars, dogs, movie billboards, trees

only your body. when you are free of him, return and claim your immortal spirit. it flourishes in the garden" the handwriting in these letters altered over the years, changing from the florid confidence that had made it instantly identifiable and becoming narrower, undecorated, purified. eventually the letters stopped, but saladin heard from other sources that his father's preoccupation with the supernatural had continued to deepen, until finally he had become a recluse, perhaps in order to escape this world in which demons could steal his own son's body, a world unsafe for a man of true religious faith. his father's transformation disconcerted saladin, even at such a great distance. his parents had been muslims in the lackadaisical, light manner of bombayites; changez chamchawala had see

ne another's arms and howled with delight. chamcha wanted to speak, but was afraid that he would find his voice mutated into goat--bleats, and, besides, the policeman's boot had begun to press harder than ever on his chest, and it was hard to form any words. what puzzled chamcha was that a circumstance which struck him as utterly bewildering and unprecedented- that is, his metamorphosis into this supernatural imp- was being treated by the others as if it were the most banal and familiar matter they could imagine "this isn't england" he thought, not for the first or last time. how could it be, after all; where in all that moderate and common--sensical land was there room for such a police van in whose interior such events as these might plausibly transpire? he was being forced towards the c

right hand and his overcoat over his left arm. even after that he came back: and she opened the door and went straight upstairs as though nothing had happened. pamela's taboos: jokes about her background, mentions of whisky-bottle "dead soldiers, and any suggestion that her late husband, the actor saladin chamcha, was still alive, living across town in a bed and breakfast joint, in the shape of a supernatural beast. these days, jumpy- who had, at first, badgered her incessantly about saladin, telling her she should go ahead and divorce him, but this pretence of widowhood was intolerable: what about the man's assets, his rights to a share of the property, and so forth? surely she would not leave him destitute- no longer protested about her unreasonable behaviour "i've got a confirmed report

SAPPHIRE TABLE OF SET MAIN

ly "getting" and then demonstrating the lesson of his guru. this exchange is beyond what can be had reading about a philosophical concept, however helpful, or engaging in debate and discussion with well-meaning enlightened people. georges dumezil once pointed out "within the corporate body of sorcerers, the disciple is just as important as his master as concerns the continued transmission. of the supernatural knowledge that is its commonwealth and its justification. each needs the other (cited in david gordon white's _the alchemical body: siddha traditions in medieval india *initiation is real-world testable. primates appear to be hard-wired to travel in packs, and a good deal of our "ritual" behavior is there to make us fit in. secret societies and initiatory schools are both aided and re

SAPPHIRE TABLET OF SET

ly "getting" and then demonstrating the lesson of his guru. this exchange is beyond what can be had reading about a philosophical concept, however helpful, or engaging in debate and discussion with well-meaning enlightened people. georges dumezil once pointed out "within the corporate body of sorcerers, the disciple is just as important as his master as concerns the continued transmission. of the supernatural knowledge that is its commonwealth and its justification. each needs the other (cited in david gordon white's _the alchemical body: siddha traditions in medieval india *initiation is real-world testable. primates appear to be hard-wired to travel in packs, and a good deal of our "ritual" behavior is there to make us fit in. secret societies and initiatory schools are both aided and re

SATANIC RITUALS

haracter and setting. it is frequently said that, once one has read lovecraft, one disdains the efforts of the competition. this statement has been consistently difficult to refute. as might be expected, lovecraft was lionized and extensively imitated by a number of writers whose imaginations were sparked by his celebrated "cthulhu mythos"-a term commonly given to a series of stories based upon a supernatural pantheon of lovecraft's own invention. he had a firm conviction that reference to the classical mythologies would undermine the atmosphere of cyclic and spatial disorientation he sought to create. lovecraft created his own beings, whose prehistoric activities on earth set in motion the forces of man's civilization and genius, as well as the horrors of his educated imagination. while f

SATANICON

mitive heritage; our inherited and gradually-developed mental and physical characteristics; instinctual proclivities; thought and action; social customs and the like, which were not inherited from god. i regard satan and god as mythical beings created by man; man the creator, man the god, has created a fiction which is not only antithetical to himself, but vastly superior in its powers. this is a supernatural something which he chooses to believe can finally save him from a consequence of his natural life: eternal death. god is considered an authority which man, in times of need or indecision, can appeal to for guidance when there are no acceptable answers to the questions which have always plagued him. the supposed path to integrity, morality and immortality lies with adherence to superfi

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

is shared by a group and that gives its members an object of devotion someone or something sacred to believe in, such as a god or a spiritual concept. religion also involves a code of behavior or personal moral conduct by which individuals may judge the personal and social consequences of their actions and the actions of others. most of the time, religion also deals with what might be called the supernatural or the spiritual, about forces and a power beyond the control of humans. in this function, religion attempts to answer questions that science does not touch, such as the meaning of life and what happens after death. perhaps one of the most amazing things about religion is that there is no commonly held way of looking at it. yet most of the world s population participates in it in one

true god. amaterasu: the sun-goddess. amesha spentas: the bounteous immortals, aspects, or sides, of ahura mazda. amrit: a solution of water and sugar, used in the ceremony when sikhs are initiated into the faith. xv amrit sanskar: the initiation ceremony for young sikhs. anand karaj: the sikh wedding ceremony. animism: the worship of trees, rocks, mountains, and such, which are believed to have supernatural power. anthropomorphism: attributing human shape or form to nonhuman things, such as the gods. apathia: stoic belief that happiness comes from freedom from internal turmoil. apeiron: anaximander s term for the first principle, an undefined and unlimited substance. arche: the beginning or ultimate principle; the stuff of all matter, or the building block of creation. arihant: an enligh

oshiach: the expected messiah in jewish belief. muezzin: the person who issues the call to prayer. murti: image of a god. muslim: a follower of islam, from the arabic phrase bianna musliman, meaning submitted ourselves to god. myth: a legendary story, often with no basis in historical fact, that frequently tells of the actions of deities and helps to explain some naturally occurring event or some supernatural occurrence. mythology: the collected stories of a culture or religion, especially those dealing with the origins, heroes, gods, and beliefs of a group of people. naam karam: the naming ceremony for children. namaskar: the basic prayer of jainism, recited each morning and at night before bedtime. neo-paganism: a term referring to modern religions based on ancient pagan religions. nirva

spot where the buddha s ashes were buried. rock pillars carved with the words of the buddha are also sometimes called stupas. sufism: a trend in or way of practicing islam; characterized by an ecstatic, trancelike mysticism. sunnah: the example of the prophet muhammad, containing the hadiths, or sayings; provides guidance to everyday questions of faith and morality. sunni: the main sect of islam. supernatural: that which is beyond the observable world, including things relating to god or spirits. supreme being: the central god responsible for creating the cosmos. sura: any chapter in the qur an. susano-o: the shinto god of violence and the ruler of the oceans. svetambara: literally, white-clad; one of the two main sects of jainism. swastika: a pictorial character that symbolizes the eterna

a group and that gives its members an object (or objects) of devotion, someone or something sacred to believe in, such as a god or a spiritual concept. religion also involves a code of behavior or personal moral conduct by which individuals may judge the personal and social consequences of their actions and the actions of others. most of the time, religion also deals with what might be called the supernatural or the spiritual, about forces and powers beyond the 1 control of humans. in this latter area, religion attempts to answer questions that science does not address, such as the meaning of life and what happens after death. in addition, religion deals in one form or another with salvation. this can include saving the souls of humans either in a literal fashion, with a heaven after death

s major religions range in size from christianity, with 2.1 billion members, to rastafarianism and scientology, with about 1.5 million members each. words to know deity: a god or goddess. monotheism: a religion having one god. myth: a legendary story, often with no basis in historical fact, that frequently tells of the actions of deities and helps to explain some naturally occurring event or some supernatural occurrence. pagan: pre-christian or non-christian; also referring to those who worship many gods. pantheon: the class or collection of all gods and goddesses in a system of belief. polytheism: a religion worshiping many gods. shaman: in indigenous tribes, an intermediary between the gods and the tribal members; also one who controls various spiritual forces, can look into the future

SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON ZANONI A ROSICRUCIAN TALE

ed' taking refuge in delusions as degrading as any of the so-called dark ages" it was the revolt from the chilling materialism of the age which inspired the mystic creations of "zanoni" and "a strange story" of these works, which support and supplement each other, one is the contemplation of our actual life through a spiritual medium, the other is designed to show that, without some gleams of the supernatural, man is not man, nor nature nature. in "zanoni" the author introduces us to two human beings who have achieved immortality: one, mejnour, void of all passion or feeling, calm, benignant, bloodless, an intellect rather than a man; the other, zanoni, the pupil of mejnour, the representative of an ideal life in its utmost perfection, possessing eternal youth, absolute power, and absolute

rtist, nicot, icy, soulless atheism, believing nothing, hoping nothing, trusting and loving nothing; and in the beautiful, artless viola, an exquisite creation, pure womanhood, loving, trusting and truthful. as a work of art the romance is one of great power. it is original in its conception, and pervaded by one central idea; but it would have been improved, we think, by a more sparing use of the supernatural. the inevitable effect of so much hackneyed diablerie of such an accumulation of wonder upon wonder is to deaden the impression they would naturally make upon us. in hawthorne's tales we see with what ease a great imaginative artist can produce a deeper thrill by a far slighter use of the weird and the mysterious. the chief interest of the story for the ordinary reader centres, not in

hich he introduced airs and symphonies that excited a kind of terror in those who listened. the names of his pieces will probably suggest their nature. i find, for instance, among his mss, these titles "the feast of the harpies "the witches at benevento "the descent of orpheus into hades "the evil eye "the eumenides" and many others that evince a powerful imagination delighting in the fearful and supernatural, but often relieved by an airy and delicate fancy with passages of exquisite grace and beauty. it is true that in the selection of his subjects from ancient fable, gaetano pisani was much more faithful than his contemporaries to the remote origin and the early genius of italian opera. that descendant, however effeminate, of the ancient union between song and drama, when, after long ob

to ascertain the causes" somewhat to the above effect were the first thoughts of clarence glyndon on quitting zanoni. but clarence glyndon was no "rational inquirer" the more vague and mysterious the language of zanoni, the more it imposed upon him. a proof would have been something tangible, with which he would have sought to grapple. and it would have only disappointed his curiosity to find the supernatural reduced to nature. he endeavoured in vain, at some moments rousing himself from credulity to the scepticism he deprecated, to reconcile what he had heard with the probable motives and designs of an imposter. unlike mesmer and cagliostro, zanoni, whatever his pretensions, did not make them a source of profit; nor was glyndon's position or rank in life sufficient to render any influence

SIR WALLIS BUDGE EGYPTIAN MAGIC

friend. p. vii preface. a study of the remains of the native religious literature of ancient egypt which have come down to us has revealed the fact that the belief in magic, that is to say, in the power of magical names, and spells, and enchantments, and formula, and pictures, and figures, and amulets, and in the performance of ceremonies accompanied by the utterance of words of power, to produce supernatural results, formed a large and important part of the egyptian religion. and it is certain that, notwithstanding the continuous progress which the egyptians made in civilization, and the high intellectual development to which they eventually attained, this belief influenced their minds and, from the earliest to the latest period of their history, shaped their views concerning things tempo

ld only be obtained by wheedling, and p. ix cajolery, and flattery, or by making use of an amulet, or secret name, or magical formula, or figure, or picture which had the effect of bringing to the aid of the mortal who possessed it the power of a being that was mightier than the foe who threatened to do evil to him. the magic of most early nations aimed at causing the transference of power from a supernatural being to man, whereby he was to be enabled to obtain superhuman results and to become for a time as mighty as the original possessor of the power; but the object of egyptian magic was to endow man with the means of compelling both friendly and hostile powers, nay, at a later time, even god himself, to do what he wished, whether the were willing or not. the belief in magic, the word be

ignorant to distinguish the spiritual conceptions which lay at their root--to meet the religious needs of such people the magician, and in later times the priest, found it necessary to provide pageants and ceremonies which appealed chiefly to the senses, and following their example, unscrupulous but clever men took advantage of the ignorance of the general public and pretended to knowledge of the supernatural, and laid claim to the possession of power over gods, and spirits, and demons. such false knowledge and power they sold for money, and for purposes of gain the so-called magician was ready to further any sordid transaction or wicked scheme which his dupe wished to carry out. this magic degenerated into sorcery, and demonology, and wit craft, and those who dealt in it were regarded as

ich were employed by the egyptians, and later by other nations, to protect the human body, either living or dead, from baleful influences, and from the attacks of visible and invisible foes. the word "amulet" is derived from an arabic root meaning "to bear, to carry" hence "amulet" is "something which is carried or worn" and the name is applied broadly to any kind of talisman or ornament to which supernatural powers are ascribed. it is not clear whether the amulet was intended first of all to protect the living or the dead body, but it seems that it was originally worn to guard its owner from savage animals and from serpents. as time went on the development of religious ideas and beliefs progressed, and as a result new amulets representing new views were invented; and the objects which wer

STEINER RUDOLF CHRISTIANITY AS MYSTICAL FACT

lly on the ground of natural appendix 173 science itself indeed, particularly in that instance. there is a profound satisfaction to be gained from viewing the sequence of living beings from microscopic creatures to homo sapiens, and considering the relatedness of all life from the perspective of the evolutionary process. to many of us, haeckel s natural history of creation means far more than any supernatural account of things. yet those with deeper natures feel, with painful dissatisfaction, the contradiction between what rosa mayreder calls, in illuminating words, the life of nature according to darwinian theory, and the goal of the furtherance of human development. 1 anyone who looks beneath the surface of modern ideas cannot fail to see the gulf that yawns between two components in con

SZYMANSKI GREG SEARCHING FOR THE ILLUMINATI DEEP WITHIN THE BOWELS OF THE VATICAN

faith, and who were highly enlightened. but what they teach the illuminati children is that then this prophet of the enemy, who was a prophet of god, came and foretold their destruction if they didn't change their ways. they were definitely occultists. they were luciferians on atlantis. that was the religion. and in fact, a lot of the advances that atlantis enjoyed was passed down to them through supernatural means. that is what i will say. so they laughed at the prophet. in fact they killed him. and, he. i guess sometime afterward, we were taught that a few inhabitants escaped, but that tragically the great city was lost. the illuminati to this day mourn the loss of atlantis, because they feel that these were. that the few survivors that left were among the great people who helped found t

see, now this, now i didn't go there in this interview. you start telling wackos, you start discussing things like that. but in the spiritual side, they very much teach things like time travel, traveling out of body, you know, psychic battling, things like that- things that cannot be explained by logic. and i saw things that i cannot explain through human intellect or reasoning, that were highly supernatural, and involved all of that. and more [svali has reported in 2-3 different articles seeing a group of people levitate an animal and choke it to death, though here she seems to refer to more than just that] hp: okay, great. pleasure to speak with you, ma'am, and god bless you. sv: okay, god bless you too. gs: okay, i think we have dave wilcox called in. i think you know dave through emai

TEXE MARRS CODEX MAGICA SECRET SIGNS MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS AND HIDDEN CODES OF THE ILLUMINATI

minati exert a strong force. foster bailey, 33, in the spirit of freemasonry, explains: a symbol veils or hides a secret, and it is that which veils mysterious forces. these energies when released can have a potent effect.16 to the man whose entire life is immersed in magical symbols, signs, and codes, and who has taken a solemn oath to maintain secrecy in fear of disclosure, the world takes on a supernatural, paranoid quality. indeed, such men are schizophrenic in tendency, being torn between their role in the normal everyday world and their underground existence in the sordid world of their occult fraternity. illuminists are, indeed, very dangerous men. ancient origins babylonian now it is important to understand that almost all the symbols and signs of the elite are very ancient in orig

eishaupt and baron von knigge in 1776, divided its rites into three principal classes and the second of the second class of rites was the fellow craft, 2 .1 reinforcing the authoritative coil's masonic encyclopedia is the work of other masonic and occult researchers who report that the fellow craft degree was awarded in the 2 of the order of the illuminati. in the book, witchcraft, magic, and the supernatural, published in great britain, we find information about sir francis dashwood, leader of britain's 18th century "hell fire club" it is said that dashwood, a notorious yet rich rosicrucian magician, greatly influenced america's visiting benjamin franklin, who frequently sought him out for occultic advice and information. indeed, some believe that dashwood was as important to the illumini

ting benjamin franklin, who frequently sought him out for occultic advice and information. indeed, some believe that dashwood was as important to the illuminist 82 codex magica sir francis dashwood, leader of england's 18th century "hell fire club" practiced the dark side of magic. the nobility and rich frequented his group and called on him for rituals and advice (from: witchcraft, magic and the supernatural, london: octopus books, 1974, p. 33. cause on the isle of great britain as adam weishaupt was on the european continent.2 the cunning vs. those of lesser wit the late sovereign grand commander (scottish rite, dr. albert mackey, 33, in his classic encyclopedia reference book, says that the fellow craft degree implies "mutual trust" among the "brethren" of the order. but he notes it is

and actress were given "golden globe" awards, indicating how hateful hollywood and the tv networks have become. the series depicted angels having sex with homosexuals and blasphemously mocked god. it praised communist spies like ethel rosenberg (photo: newsweek, november 17, 2003) eight secret handshakes of the illuminati t h e secret hand signs of illuminists are thought to work magic, to evoke supernatural beings, and, of course, to communicate messages. for example, the higher degree mason, rosicrucian, or other illuminist can discern at what ritual level a brother in the craft is 'at by testing his handshake, or grip. it is, therefore, an important mode of recognition. the commonly used phrase "get a grip" has masonic origins. the handshake, or grip, is a sign of unity, oneness of pur

rst sign, or due guard" with his hands upright "in the manner of giving the grand hailing sign of distress" compare this with the image inscribed on the cave stone above. this goddess statuette was on display in the chambers of alex sanders, well-known british warlock (witch) as he led a witchcraft ritual. witches worship both the goddess and the horned, male god (photo: witchcraft, magic and the supernatural, octopus books, hong kong, 1974) a show of hands 187 instructional material for educators in the fort worth, texas, independent school district included this drawing of 13 goddess worshippers (13 comprise a witches coven) on a succession of six circle platforms paying homage to the sun. the illustration originally came from an italian foundation dedicated to the work of new age evolut

ckens are cropped off and blood sprinkled around "magic cords" of specific color are worn on the wrist as miracle-working bracelets; magic water is used to heal; magic symbols are objects of trance-like mediation; and mantralike chants are repeated over and over. the 22 letters of the hebrew alphabet are touted as religious idols of great magical powers. even their shapes are studied and accorded supernatural powers. angels, archangels, grimoires, devas, and elementals are worshipped and feared. there are "gods" and more "gods" but only a mysterious, hazy supreme deity behind everything. this supreme deity is a pantheistic god who fills up the whole universe. in fact, he is the macrocosm, the universe. of course, as in all illuminist magic, there's the double-minded theology of "as above

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL 1

tolerance, not power is the true underlaying strength of the pagan path! merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again! pageot introduction xiii understanding the unknown the belief in a reality that transcends our everyday existence is as old as humanity itself and it continues to the present day. in fact, in recent years there has been a tremendous surge of interest in the paranormal and the supernatural. people speak freely of guardian angels, a belief in life after death, an acceptance of extrasensory perception (esp, and the existence of ghosts. in a gallup poll released on june 10, 2001, the survey administrators found that 54 percent of americans believe in spiritual or faith healing; 41 percent acknowledge that people can be possessed by the devil; 50 percent accept the reality

accounts of ghostly entities. of course, not everyone agrees on the exact nature of ghosts. some insist that the appearance of ghosts prove survival after death. others state that such phenomena represent other dimensions of reality. and then there are the skeptics who group most ghost stories in the category of urban legends, those unverifiable stories about outlandish, humorous, frightening, or supernatural events. in some instances, the stories are based on actual occurrences that have in their telling and retelling been exaggerated or distorted. other urban legends have their origins in people misinterpreting or misunderstanding stories that they have heard or read in the media or from actual witnesses of an event. there is usually some distance between the narrator and his tale; all u

ctions or words will bring the practitioner luck or ward off evil. ancient superstitions survive today in such common practices as tossing a pinch of salt over the shoulder or whispering a blessing after a sneeze to assure good fortune. the earliest traces of magical practices are found in the european caves of the paleolithic age, c. 50,000 b.c.e. in which it seems clear that early humans sought supernatural means to placate the spirits of the animals they killed for food, to dispel the restless spirits of the humans they had slain, or to bring peace to the spirits of their deceased tribal kin. it was at this time that early humans began to believe that there could be supernatural powers in a charm, a spell, or a ritual to work good or evil on their enemies. practices, such as imitating t

to life after such an experience also speak of a life-review of their deeds and misdeeds from childhood to the moment of the near-death encounter. prophecy and divination the desire to foresee the future quite likely began when early humans began to perceive that they were a part of nature, subject to its limitations and laws, and that they were seemingly powerless to alter those laws. mysterious supernatural forces sometimes benign, often hostile appeared to be in control of human existence. divination, the method of obtaining knowledge of the future by means of omens or sacred objects, has been practiced in all societies, whether primitive or civilized. the ancient chaldeans read the will of the gods in the star-jeweled heavens. the children of israel sought the word of the lord in the j

bring good fortune, such as an article of clothing that was worn when some great personal success was achieved or an amulet that has been passed on from generation to generation. in addition to such items of personal significance, some individuals have prized objects that reportedly brought victory or good fortune to heroes of long ago. still others have searched for mysterious relics filled with supernatural attributes that were credited with accomplishing miracles in the past. no physical evidence is available to determine that such an object as the ark of the covenant ever existed, but its present location continues to be sought. the holy grail, the cup from which jesus drank at the last supper, is never mentioned in the bible, but by medieval times it had been popularized as the holies

eling any seemingly unorthodox religion as a cult, for what is regarded as anti-social or blasphemous expression by some may be hailed as sincere spiritual witness by others. secret societies and conspiracies there will always be envious individuals who believe that wealthy and powerful members of society have been able to acquire their position only because of secret formulas, magical words, and supernatural rituals. rumors and legends of secret societies have fueled the imaginations, fears, and envy of those on the outside for thousands of years. many secret societies, such as the assassins, the garduna, the thuggee, and the tongs, were made up of highly trained criminals who were extremely dangerous to all outsiders. others, such as the knights templar, the illuminati, and the rosicruci

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL 3

ngton hills, mi 48331-3535. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d xii preface introduction xiii understanding the unknown the belief in a reality that transcends our everyday existence is as old as humanity itself and it continues to the present day. in fact, in recent years there has been a tremendous surge of interest in the paranormal and the supernatural. people speak freely of guardian angels, a belief in life after death, an acceptance of extrasensory perception (esp, and the existence of ghosts. in a gallup poll released on june 10, 2001, the survey administrators found that 54 percent of americans believe in spiritual or faith healing; 41 percent acknowledge that people can be possessed by the devil; 50 percent accept the reality

accounts of ghostly entities. of course, not everyone agrees on the exact nature of ghosts. some insist that the appearance of ghosts prove survival after death. others state that such phenomena represent other dimensions of reality. and then there are the skeptics who group most ghost stories in the category of urban legends, those unverifiable stories about outlandish, humorous, frightening, or supernatural events. in some instances, the stories are based on actual occurrences that have in their telling and retelling been exaggerated or distorted. other urban legends have their origins in people misinterpreting or misunderstanding stories that they have heard or read in the media or from actual witnesses of an event. there is usually some distance between the narrator and his tale; all u

ctions or words will bring the practitioner luck or ward off evil. ancient superstitions survive today in such common practices as tossing a pinch of salt over the shoulder or whispering a blessing after a sneeze to assure good fortune. the earliest traces of magical practices are found in the european caves of the paleolithic age, c. 50,000 b.c.e. in which it seems clear that early humans sought supernatural means to placate the spirits of the animals they killed for food, to dispel the restless spirits of the humans they had slain, or to bring peace to the spirits of their deceased tribal kin. it was at this time that early humans began to believe that there could be supernatural powers in a charm, a spell, or a ritual to work good or evil on their enemies. practices, such as imitating t

to life after such an experience also speak of a life-review of their deeds and misdeeds from childhood to the moment of the near-death encounter. prophecy and divination the desire to foresee the future quite likely began when early humans began to perceive that they were a part of nature, subject to its limitations and laws, and that they were seemingly powerless to alter those laws. mysterious supernatural forces sometimes benign, often hostile appeared to be in control of human existence. divination, the method of obtaining knowledge of the future by means of omens or sacred objects, has been practiced in all societies, whether primitive or civilized. the ancient chaldeans read the will of the gods in the star-jeweled heavens. the children of israel sought the word of the lord in the j

bring good fortune, such as an article of clothing that was worn when some great personal success was achieved or an amulet that has been passed on from generation to generation. in addition to such items of personal significance, some individuals have prized objects that reportedly brought victory or good fortune to heroes of long ago. still others have searched for mysterious relics filled with supernatural attributes that were credited with accomplishing miracles in the past. no physical evidence is available to determine that such an object as the ark of the covenant ever existed, but its present location continues to be sought. the holy grail, the cup from which jesus drank at the last supper, is never mentioned in the bible, but by medieval times it had been popularized as the holies

eling any seemingly unorthodox religion as a cult, for what is regarded as anti-social or blasphemous expression by some may be hailed as sincere spiritual witness by others. secret societies and conspiracies there will always be envious individuals who believe that wealthy and powerful members of society have been able to acquire their position only because of secret formulas, magical words, and supernatural rituals. rumors and legends of secret societies have fueled the imaginations, fears, and envy of those on the outside for thousands of years. many secret societies, such as the assassins, the garduna, the thuggee, and the tongs, were made up of highly trained criminals who were extremely dangerous to all outsiders. others, such as the knights templar, the illuminati, and the rosicruci

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL

main entries are designated by bold page numbers while images are denoted by italics. a abgar (king of edessa, 1:237 abominable snowman. see yeti abramelin magick, 2:49 51 abyssinia, alleged location of ark of the covenant, 2:203 ace (one. see one, symbolism of acrophobtiunusual and unexplained (geuu) presents comprehensive and objective information on unexplained mysteries, paranormal abilities, supernatural events, religious phenomena, magic, ufos, and myths that have evolved into cultural realities. this extensive three-volume work is a valuable tool providing users the opportunity to evaluate the many claims and counterclaims regarding the mysterious and unknown. many of these claims have been brought to the forefront from television, motion pictures, radio talk shows, best-selling boo

ngton hills, mi 48331-3535. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d xii preface introduction xiii understanding the unknown the belief in a reality that transcends our everyday existence is as old as humanity itself and it continues to the present day. in fact, in recent years there has been a tremendous surge of interest in the paranormal and the supernatural. people speak freely of guardian angels, a belief in life after death, an acceptance of extrasensory perception (esp, and the existence of ghosts. in a gallup poll released on june 10, 2001, the survey administrators found that 54 percent of americans believe in spiritual or faith healing; 41 percent acknowledge that people can be possessed by the devil; 50 percent accept the reality

ounts of ghostly entities. of course, not everyone agrees on the exact nature of ghosts. some insist that the appearance of ghosts prove survival after death. others state that such phenomena represent other dimensions of reality. and then there are the skeptics who group most ghost stories in the category of gurban legends, h those unverifiable stories about outlandish, humorous, frightening, or supernatural events. in some instances, the stories are based on actual occurrences that have in their telling and retelling been exaggerated or distorted. other urban legends have their origins in people misinterpreting or misunderstanding stories that they have heard or read in the media or from actual witnesses of an event. there is usually some distance between the narrator and his tale; all u

ctions or words will bring the practitioner luck or ward off evil. ancient superstitions survive today in such common practices as tossing a pinch of salt over the shoulder or whispering a blessing after a sneeze to assure good fortune. the earliest traces of magical practices are found in the european caves of the paleolithic age, c. 50,000 b.c.e. in which it seems clear that early humans sought supernatural means to placate the spirits of the animals they killed for food, to dispel the restless spirits of the humans they had slain, or to bring peace to the spirits of their deceased tribal kin. it was at this time that early humans began to believe that there could be supernatural powers in a charm, a spell, or a ritual to work good or evil on their enemies. practices, such as imitating t

to life after such an experience also speak of a life-review of their deeds and misdeeds from childhood to the moment of the near-death encounter. prophecy and divination the desire to foresee the future quite likely began when early humans began to perceive that they were a part of nature, subject to its limitations and laws, and that they were seemingly powerless to alter those laws. mysterious supernatural forces.sometimes benign, often hostile.appeared to be in control of human existence. divination, the method of obtaining knowledge of the future by means of omens or sacred objects, has been practiced in all societies, whether primitive or civilized. the ancient chaldeans read the will of the gods in the star-jeweled heavens. the children of israel sought the word of the lord in the j

bring good fortune, such as an article of clothing that was worn when some great personal success was achieved or an amulet that has been passed on from generation to generation. in addition to such items of personal significance, some individuals have prized objects that reportedly brought victory or good fortune to heroes of long ago. still others have searched for mysterious relics filled with supernatural attributes that were credited with accomplishing miracles in the past. no physical evidence is available to determine that such an object as the ark of the covenant ever existed, but its present location continues to be sought. the holy grail, the cup from which jesus drank at the last supper, is never mentioned in the bible, but by medieval times it had been popularized as the holies

THE GOLDEN ESSENCE

fic form of renewal or regeneration, which they summed up as a belief in resurrection. their notion was of a very personal experience of regeneration, called resurrection, which was usually seen as being a gift from god specifically to humankind (as animals and plants had no souls) and they saw their idea of resurrection as not being a natural, normal part of reality, but a divine gift, a divine, supernatural occurrence based on the salvific activity of a single historical savior, to whom it was necessary to bond one s self, if a person wanted to take part in the resurrection. this narrow view of the regeneration included an ultimate vision of a new and perfected world, which would emerge after the apocalypse, but not a world that anyone except faithful christians would get to share in. th

THE KEY TO THE MYSTERIES

ion in the same hopes and in the same love. isolated beliefs are only doubts: it is the bond of mutual confidence which, by creating faith, composes religion. faith does not invent itself, does not impose itself, does not establish itself by any political agreement; like life, it manifests itself with a sort of fatality. the same power which directs the phenomena of nature, extends and limits the supernatural domain of faith, despite all human foresight. one does not imagine revelations; one undergoes then, and one believes in them. in vain does the spirit protest against the obscurities of dogma; it is subjugated by the attraction of these very obscurities, and often the least docile of reasoners would blush to accept the title of "irreligious man" religion holds a greater place among the

piece of bread is not only a god, but a real human body with its bones and its veins, its organs, its blood; such, in short, that you make of your children who eat this bread a little race of cannibals. faith. there is not a single christian who would not be revolted by what you have just said. that sufficiently proves that they do not understand my teachings in this positive and gross sense. the supernatural which i affirm is above nature, and consequently could never oppose itself to her; the words of faith are understood only by faith; science has only to repeat them to pervert their proper sense. i employ these 93 words because i have no others; but since you find my remarks absurd, you should conclude from that that i give to the same words a meaning which escapes you. when the saviou

reign of force, and its eternal antagonism, from above to beneath, and from beneath to above "the glorification of tyranny and of revolt "the hieroglyphic sign of the unclean rite, with which, rightly or wrongly, the templars were reproached; it is the sign of disorder and of eternal despair" such, then, are the first revelations of the hidden science of the magi with regard to these phenomena of supernatural manifestations. now let it be permitted to us to compare with these strange signatures other contemporary apparitions of phenomenal writings, for it is really a brief which science ought to study before taking it to the tribunal of public opinion. one must then despise no research, overlook no clue. in the neighbourhood of caen, at tilly-sur-seulles, a series of inexplicable facts occ

ed a week in the midst of an obscene orgy which would have discouraged the lust of pietro di aretino; st. theresa felt herself carried away living into hell, and there suffered, between walls which ever closed upon her, tortures which only hysterical women will be able to understand. all that, one will say, happened in the imagination of the sufferers. but where, then, would you expect facts of a supernatural order to take place? what is certain is that all these visionaries have seen and touched, that they have had the most vivid feeling of a formidable reality. we speak of it from our own experience, and there are visions of our own first youth, passed in retreat and asceticism, whose memory makes us shudder even now. 205 god and the devil are the ideals of absolute good and evil. but ma

he medium, are evidently not proofs of a tacit or formal pact between these degenerates and intelligences of the abyss. these signs have served from the beginning to express astral vertigo, and remain in a state of mirage in the reflections of the divulged light. nature also has its recollections, and sends to us the same signs to correspond to the same ideas. in all this, there is nothing either supernatural or infernal "how! do you want me to admit" said to us the cure charvoz, the first vicar of vintras "that satan dares to impress his hideous stigmata upon consecrated materials, which have become the actual body of jesus christ" we declared immediately, that it was equally impossible for us to pronounce in favour of such a blasphemy; and yet, as we demonstrated in our articles in the "

THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES

nly place me in the frame of reference they knew best the religious. bearded men in city dress simply did not turn up on isolated back roads in the middle of the night. in fact, they didn't even turn up on the main streets of ohio valley towns in broad daylight! so a perfectly normal event (normal, that is, to me) was placed in an entirely different context by the witnesses. the final proof of my supernatural origin came three weeks later when two of the people i had awakened were killed in the bridge tragedy. some future investigator of the paranormal may wander into those hills someday, talk with these people, and write a whole chapter of a learned book on demonology repeating this piece of folklore. other scholars will pick up and repeat his story in their books and articles. the presen

microscopic viewpoint. but our modern electronic communications and sophisticated press agentry have given present-day prophets tools the ancients lacked. ideas, no matter how bizarre or fallacious, can span the world in a flash. and there are always people ready to rally to any banner, no matter how absurd. in recent years we have seen a worldwide revival of interest in psychic phenomena and the supernatural. stern no-nonsense scientists now drag their beards to loch ness to search for the -monster, while others comb the woods of the northwest seeking the sasquatch, and still others soberly discuss robots from outer space with mississippi fishermen. but gradually all these men are being drawn closer and closer to ontology; to an examination of the question that lies beyond the simplistic

THE NECRONOMICON SIMON VERSION

ly run down only moments ago, i came across yet another of the dark priests, in identical condition to the first. i kept walking, passing more of the robes as i went, not venturing to overturn them any longer. then, i finally came upon the grey stone monument that had risen unnaturally into the air at the command of the priests. it now upon the ground once more, but the carvings still glowed with supernatural light. the serpents, or what i had then though of as serpents, had disappeared. but in the dead embers of the fire, now cold and black, was a shining metal plate. i picked it up and saw that it also was carved, as the stone, but very intricately, after a fashion i could not understand. i did not bear the same markings as the stone, but i had the feeling i could almost read the charact

THE PATH OF KABBALAH

orrection of the souls. in this generation the egoism grows so intensely that it awakens needs not only for every corporeal thing that exists, but primarily to know and control the spiritual world. for that reason we are witnessing a growing importance and interest in certain mystical sciences. bookstores are loaded with books, films and magazines about extraterrestrials and 269 of 273 other such supernatural phenomena. but these are merely midway-stations on the way to the ultimate question: what is the meaning of my life? this question was asked in the past too, but never as intensively as it is asked today. the temple represents the corrected state of the soul because it correlates to the state of the temple. it is said that the temple will be built only when relationships between peopl

THE STAR IN THE WEST BY CAPTAIN FULLER A CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE WORKS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY

sires which are natural to all healthy adult beings. h* the reason for this idea of uncleanliness though certainly obscure is traceable more particularly to the utter mystery man saw in this supreme function, and also, that all hygienic laws being unknown to him, any disease resulting from the act was attributed indirectly to the woman. instead of to his own want of knowledge. and directly to the supernatural manifesting its wrath through her as a medium; for the supernatural to primitive man fs understanding invariably took the shape of malevolent and not benevolent powers. this and the periodic functions of the woman, as well as, as westermarck says, gthe instinctive feeling against intercourse between members of the same family or household, h developed the conception of uncleanliness i

powers. this and the periodic functions of the woman, as well as, as westermarck says, gthe instinctive feeling against intercourse between members of the same family or household, h developed the conception of uncleanliness in. an act which has been rightly stated by geoffrey mortimer as being gthe eternal symbol of love and life, and the purest of human joys, h and which act being attributed to supernatural powers came under the authority of religion, and fell into the hands of an interested priesthood, giving them an immense power over women, and through women over men; an influence that has been exercised in every land, and every age, by these spiritual leaders: an influence by which they have in so many cases ruled the minds of men, and by which for so many centuries they have blighte

ethod of true science, the great white magic of the black goddess: gape wide, o hideous mouth, and suck this heart fs blood, drain it down, expunge this sweetening life of mire and muck! squeeze out my passions as a sponge, till nought is left of terrene wine but somewhat deathless and divine *gargoyles, vol. iii, p. 98. huxley continues: gthe day-fly has better grounds for calling a thunderstorm supernatural than has man, with his experience of an infinitesimal fraction of duration, to say that the most astonishing event that can be imagined is beyond the scope of natural causes. h* and that there is no such thing as the violation of the laws of nature, but merely a violation of that understanding which falsely interprets a gsomething h which reason alone cannot grasp *huxley fs hume, p

13. these two men had glimpses into total consciousness, of which clear consciousness, as ribot says, is but a small portion, just as distinct vision is but a small portion of total vision *vide note science and buddhism, vol. ii, p. 258. the mystic, as the yogi, sets out to know the unknowable, and as git is just as grave an illusion to attribute morality to a stone as it is to think to find the supernatural in the world of phenomena, h*1. so in the inmost depths of the ego alone, itself unthinkable, lies the source of all mystic experience. gi live, yet not i, but god in me. h this is the suspense of job, the sleep of solomon, the silence of st. john, arrived at by fixing the mind upon one single object of thought, so that the treasures of representation which lie dormant in the memory

TURNER ROBERT ARBETEL OF MAGICK

ose two were, who were sent to overthrow sodom and gomorrha, and the places adjacent, examples whereof the holy scripture witnesseth. some are the watch-men over kingdoms; others the keepers of private persons; and from thence, anyone may easily form their names in his own language: so that he which will, may ask a physical angel, mathematical, or philosophical, or an angel of civil wisdom, or of supernatural or natural wisdom, or for any thing whatsoever; and let him ask seriously, with a great desire of his minde, and with faith and constancy and without doubt, that which he asketh he shall receive from the father and god of all spirits. this faith surmounteth all seals, and bringeth them into subjection to the will of man. the characteristical maner of calling angels succeedeth this fai

TYSON DONALD NEW MILLENNIUM MAGIC

ilosophy turns to negromancy. hence it is that mag- ick lies under disgrace, and they who seek after it are vulgarly esteemed sorcer- ers; wherefore the brethren thought it not fit to style themselves magicians (maier, laws of the fraternity of the rosie crosse [themis aureu, 16181 [1656, philosophical research society, los angeles, 1976, pages 91 -2. the church derived much of its authority from supernatural events. these were always termed "miracles" when moses cast down his rod before pharaoh and turned it into a serpent, it was a miracle; but when the egyptian priest also changed a staff to a snake it was nothing but foul sorcery. a monk to whom these miracles fre- quently happened was sure to be called a saint. a layman who produced the exact same events would be burned at the stake

ected against magic. modern religion has been transformed into a social institution and is perceived by the self-anointed intelligentsia to have a value in controlling the mindless passions of the mob. it truly has become one of the opiates of the people. it is tolerated so long as it toes the rationalistic line. to their eternal dishonor, the clergy have participated in gutting from religion all supernatural elements. priests and ministers are now little more than social workers. magic, which has no perceived social value, and which has blithely come down through the centuries unchanged, receives savage smear attacks in the printed press and electronic media. theurgists and pagans are accused of everything from eating feces to killing babies. despite the relaxation of the laws against mag

an end. the action of magic is in defiance of the laws of chance. each magical act is a miracle, even those that appear mundane. magic uses physical coincidence, or luck, to accomplish its purposes. just as water chooses the easiest course to the sea, so does magic disturb the balance of proba- bility as little as it may. if natural means fail to serve, it calls upon what is com- monly termed the supernatural, but only after all natural solutions are frustrated. all scientific laws are founded on the naive assumption that the cosmic scale of probability never tips. magic is built on the opposite conviction that the pivot of the scale is not fixed and can be acted upon by human will effectively directed. the balance of chance is delicately hung; when it is upset the results can be startling

d it is empty. even when filled with people, there is a sense that something necessary is miss- ing, as though a reception has been prepared for a very important dignitary who failed to arrive, and the embarrassed guests were painfully going through the motions. that missing guest is magic. without magic, religion is a farcical mockery. all religions are magical in essence. they must be. god is a supernatural being. all religions are based on the worship of god. to deny magic in religion is to deny god. the church then becomes a social meeting house, a useful place for carrying out archaic customs such as marriage and christening, but devoid of any central reason for being. it is no outrage when a church is sold and turned into a theater or a private dwelling or a barn. the offense was com

TYSON DONALD THE POWER OF THE WORD

er, carrying with them not only the conception of the mind, but also the virtue of the speaker with a certain efficacy unto the hearers, and this oftentimes with so great a power, that oftentimes they change not only the hearers, but also other bodies, and things that have no life. now those words are of greater efficacy than others, which represent greater things, as intellectual, celestial, and supernatural, as more expressly, so more mysteriously. also those that come from a more worthy tongue, or from any of a more holy order: for these, as it were certain signs, and representations, receive a power of celestial, and supercelestial things, as from the virtue of things explained, of which they are the vehicula, so from a power put into them by the virtue of the speaker (agrippa, three b

nd dwell within it, lending it the power of the spirit, which the possessor of the ring commands; or the ring derives its efficacy from its occult correspondences with the heavens; or the ring gets its power from natural objects possessing occult virtues such as stones, herbs, or parts of beasts; or it derives power from a symbolic shape or pattern or image that embodies the authority of a potent supernatural being. usually this symbol is the name of that being, or an image representing its name. the first great river of power that flowed through solomon's ring issued from the ineffable name of god inscribed into it, which solomon was able to employ during his early years for holy works because he lived according to the law of the torah. in the folktales and legends of solomon, he loses th

UNLEASHING THE BEAST

e part around the concept of shakti- power or energy, in all its many forms. shakti is the power that creates, sustains and destroys the entire universe, but it is also the power that flows through the social and political world, as well. tantric ritual seeks to harness and exploit this power, both as a mean to spiritual liberation and as a means to this-worldly benefits, such as wealth, fame and supernatural abilities. as douglas brooks summarizes "the tantrika conceives of the world as power. the world is nothing but power to be harnessed."lxv sexual union (maithuna) is indeed used in some traditions as one method to awaken and harness this power; but it is by no means the only, or even usually the most important, technique employed in tantric ritual. and even when it is used, it is typi

WALLIS BUDGE E A LEGENDS OF THE EGYPTIAN GODS

and promised that he would depart to the place whence he came, provided that the prince of bekhten would celebrate a festival in his honour before his departure. meanwhile the prince and his soldiers stood by listening to the conversation between the god and the devil, and they were very much afraid. following the instructions of khensu pa-ari-sekher the prince made a great feast in honour of the supernatural visitors, and then the devil departed to the "place which he loved" and there was general rejoicing in the land. the prince of bekhten was so pleased with the egyptian god that he determined not to allow him to return to egypt. when the statue of khensu pa-ari-sekher had been in bekhten for three years and nine months, the prince in a vision saw the god, in the form of a golden hawk

WESTERN MANDALAS OF TRANSFORMATION SR AL

h of pluto represents the universalized upreach of soul embracing the circle of spirit while resting on the cross of matter (see figure 12-c. at the singularity matter leaves the physical universe altogether and influences emanating from it are beyond the power of science to predict in any figure 12-c way, even theoretically. it is the closest thing science has discovered to something akin to the supernatural. yet it is this wheel upon which turns all of the others. jacob boehme, the famous mystic, once said "this wheel has seven wheels one in another, and one nave, and all seven wheels turn on that one nave" if any sephira can be compared to the ain soph, it is daath, because both represent this unimagined territory, which religious philosophers of all traditions have said is the true nat

WHO ARE THE DRACONIANS

"hybrid" projects? so then, how did lucifer/satan gain the serpents' compliance? perhaps he/it began to use deception on this king of the animal realm as he/it had done with the fallen angels? for instance "i know how you feel, in that jehovah gave adam a superior position of dominion than you. you deserve better than that. allow me and my angels to indwell you and your seed and we will give you supernatural powers over man and nature, but first we must destroy adam's connection with his god from which his dominion-power comes. we will use his mate in order to do so, and adam who will not be deceived like his mate will be, shall nevertheless reject his god and do as we desire for fear of losing the love of his mate" these may not be the exact words used to gain the serpent's cooperation

nnection with his god from which his dominion-power comes. we will use his mate in order to do so, and adam who will not be deceived like his mate will be, shall nevertheless reject his god and do as we desire for fear of losing the love of his mate" these may not be the exact words used to gain the serpent's cooperation, however it was probably something very similar. so then, once adam lost his supernatural dominion and innocence, his connection with his creator having been severed by the dark cloud of guilt which adam had allowed himself to create- the divine dominion-flow having been severed at the human level- nature began to turn wild, harmony turned to chaos, love turned to selfishness, and the spirit of the world became a slave to the material. everything went out of balance, veget

d done since edenic times. however, back to eden, once the evil-one was in residence within the mind and body of the "serpent, the weak will of this beast was quickly overcome. the serpent had offered itself and also its "seed" to the luciferians, and they were intent on taking full advantage of this and in not giving up any ground. it is not too hard to imagine that the serpent may have acquired supernatural powers over humanity and nature, yet at the horrible price of losing all semblance of individuality and free will and identity over to the "luciferian hive. the reptilian or serpent race was highly mutable and adaptable. this had nothing to do with the "theory" of ascending evolution but everything to do with the fact of lateral mutation. or rather, not the creation of the genetic cod

feed on us like emotional, psychic and bioplasmic vampires and work to destroy our spiritual life and thus individuality until we are assimilated into their hive via psionic implants just as they have done with many other humans beyond this world, many within the underground military-industrial networks, and with many of the "abductees" of recent years. and not only psychic assimilation, but also supernatural possession [by repoltergiest parasites] and also genetic assimilation as well. what if these "wer-dracs "repti-poltergiests "demon-aliens, or whatever one might wish to call these serpentine sorcerers, had became adept over time at superficial molecular shape shifting as the indwelling "poltergiest" or "astral parasite" literally absorbed, consumed, devoured, or assimilated the reptil

pecially when the 2nd law of thermodynamics and the laws of entropy are brought to bear. instead of 'evolving' from a far less complex form, it is in fact far more likely that the serpent race mutated via atrophication, natural selection, environmental adaptation, survival of the fittest and most intelligent, and possibly a bit of superficial molecular shape-shifting if as some believe regressive supernatural entities have been involved in guiding the 'evolution' of the 'serpent race' down through history. into it's various known and unknown branches, from a complex bi-pedal single species which originally inhabited the earth in ancient times- branton..i had developed this hypothesis considerably" steiger continues..so i was delighted when i received word that dale russell and ron seguen o

8 [8/25/2000 17:20:00] seen enough and he again placed his hand over my eyes. i awoke from my bed and it was morning [note: some have suggested that the "mind control" and "paralysis" induced by the greys is equivolent to psychic attack, voodoo, black witchcraft, or sorcery, and that these reptilians have a symbiotic relationship with astral parasites who empower the reptilian sorcerers with dark supernatural powers, thus explaining why many "abductions" seem to possess both material and paraphysical aspects. however, through divine intervention this symbiotic connection between reptilian host and astral parasite can be broken, thus rendering the "alien" essentially powerless and/or disoriented and vulnerable due to its utter dependence on the motivating astral entity and the astral "colle

WICCA EIGHT SABBATS OF WITCHCRAFT

ted to abolish halloween parties on the grounds that it violates the separation of state and religion. speaking as a pagan, i would be saddened by the success of this move, but as a supporter of the concept of religion-free public education, i fear i must concede the point. nonetheless, it seems only right that there should be one night of the year when our minds are turned toward thoughts of the supernatural. a night when both pagans and non-pagans may ponder the mysteries of the otherworld and its inhabitants. and if you are one of them, may all your jack-o'lanterns burn bright on this all hallow's eve. midwinter night's eve: y u l e= by mike nichols our christian friends are often quite surprised at how enthusiastically we pagans celebrate the 'christmas' season. even though we prefer t

WICCA WITCHCRAFT TODAY

ople that it was not. in short, i believe that people may perform black masses at times for a thrill, or with evil intent; but i do not believe that these people are witches, or know anything about witchcraft. incidentally, i met more than one witch in rome, though witches have to keep underground, and they knew nothing of this black mass. being initiated into the witch cult does not give a witch supernatural powers as i reckon them, but instructions are given, in rather veiled terms, in processes which develop various clairvoyant and other powers, in those who naturally possess them slightly. if they have none they can create none. some of these powers are akin to magnetism, mesmerism and suggestion, and depend on the possibility of forming a sort of human battery, as it were, of combined

WICCA MAGICK OCCULT THREE GREEN BOOKS DRUIDISM

ind what it is that i have elucidated, and what it is that i have not elucidated. and what have i not elucidated? i have not elucidated that the world is eternal; i have not elucidated that the world is not eternal. and why have i not elucidated this? because this profits not, nor has it to do with the fundamentals of religion, nor tends to aversion, absence of passion, cessation, quiescence, the supernatural faculties, supreme wisdom, and nirvana; therefore i have not elucidated it. selections from: henry clarke warren. buddhism, in translation. new york, atheneum (19, 1963. p. 117. sayings from the buddhist sutras (the rain cloud) it is as if a cloud rising above the horizon shrouds all space (in darkness) and covers the earth. that great rain-cloud, big with water, is wreathed with flas

ges never required the same ability from all creatures or made them all do the same thing. names should stop when they have expressed reality, concepts of right should be founded on what is suitable. this is what it means to have command of reason and good fortune to support you. swimming boatmen yen yuan said to confucius, i crossed the gulf at goblet deeps and the ferryman handled the boat with supernatural skill. i asked him, can a person learn how to handle a boat? and he replied, certainly. a good swimmer has acquired his ability through repeated practice. and, if a man can swim under water, he may never have seen a boat before and still he ll know how to handle it! i asked him what he meant by that, but he wouldn t tell me. may i venture to ask you what it means? confucius said, a go

WILLIAM WESCOTT NUMBERS THEIR OCCULT POWER AND MYSTIC VIRTUES

ences are as follows -10 men were necessary to form a legally convened meeting at the synagogue. in london, as much as 1000 (british pounds) a year has been spent in providing spare men for this duty. ten curses were pronounced against eve. see talmud, eiruvin, 100. 2. ten things were created during the twilight of the first sabbath eve. consult pesachim, 54. 1. ten facts proved the presence of a supernatural power in the temple. yoma, 21.1. 98. the rabbis taught that a man should divorce his wife if for 10 years she had no offspring. at funerals, condolences were recited by 10 men, and at weddings by ten men including the bridegroom. ten cups were drunk at a funeral party three before supper, three at supper and four after the meal at the recitation of the four blessings. numbers--th eir

WOLFSON ELLIOT ALEF MEM TAU KABBALISTIC MUSINGS ON TIME TRUTH AND DEATH

and female. none, however, could have comfortably interpreted the matter somatically, presuming thereby that jesus was conceived in a womb fertilized by semen discharged physically by an actual man.45 but it is precisely this view that underlies the bahiric explication of the double nun in the name yinnon, offering a naturalistic conception of the birth of the messiah that is antithetical to the supernatural understanding implied in the doctrine of the incarnation.46 the polemical point is sharpened when we examine more carefully the symbolic value assigned to the letter, for the parabolic approach deployed by the kabbalists responsible for the (relatively final) redaction of sefer ha-bahir is predicated on the hermeneutical assumption that the inner core safeguards and solidifies the ext

ng the effaced, pp. 56 57. 4. on rosenzweig s conception of the metahistorical status of judaism, which removes jews from the turmoils of historical time, see altmann, franz rosenzweig, pp. 194 214; funkenstein, perceptions, pp. 120, 253, 291 295. 5. in this matter, one can discern the influence of nietzsche s doctrine of the eternal recurrence of the same, which denies the timeless eternity of a supernatural being (in the platonic-christian tradition) and a rms the eternity of the ever-creating and destroying powers in nature and man. see pfeffer, nietzsche, pp. 130 131; strong, friedrich nietzsche, pp. 260 293; sugarman, rancor against time, pp. 56 96; l with, nietzsche s philosophy; lukacher, time-fetishes, pp. 7 8, 116 138. to be sure, in contrast to, and perhaps even as a response to

WORKBOOK FOR GRADE 0 VOID AND THE ABYSS

er own will. lilith is thus revealed as babalon, the goddess of death, blood, passion and life itself! let her mysteries be revealed to those through enflamed invocation! the sigil of infernal union, created by levi and used originally in maurice bessey s 1961 encyclopedia of the occult "histoire en 1000 images de la magie, and re-issued in english later on as a pictorial history of magic and the supernatural. this symbol, adopted by anton szandor lavey and the church of satan in 1966, removed the samael and lilith inscriptions and redrew the symbol, titling it the sigil of baphomet. the sigil of infernal union, as we choose to call it, uses the original names, which surround the goat head. they are, samael and lilith. many have pondered over the 22 reasoning for the hebraic sea dragon and

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