Magick Matters

“Mojo Workin’: The Old African American Hoodoo System” by Katrina Hazzard-Donald

"In this book, Katrina Hazzard-Donald explores African Americans' experience and practice of the herbal, healing folk belief tradition known as Hoodoo. Working against conventional scholarship, Hazzard-Donald argues that Hoodoo emerged first in three distinct regions she calls "regional Hoodoo clusters" and that after the turn of the nineteenth century, Hoodoo took on a national rather than regional profile. The first interdisciplinary examination to incorporate a full glossary of Hoodoo culture, Mojo Workin': The Old African American Hoodoo System lays out the movement of Hoodoo against a series of watershed changes in the American cultural landscape. Throughout, Hazzard-Donald distinguishes between "Old tradition Black Belt Hoodoo" and commercially marketed forms that have been controlled, modified, and...>>

“A Republic of Mind and Spirit: A Cultural History of American Metaphysical Religion” by Catherine L. Albanese

" This path-breaking book tells the story of American metaphysical religion more fully than it has ever been told before, along the way significantly revising the panorama of American religious history. Catherine L. Albanese follows metaphysical traditions from Renaissance Europe to England and then America, where they have flourished from colonial days to the twenty-first century, blending often with African, Native American, and other cultural elements. The book follows evolving versions of metaphysical religion, including Freemasonry, early Mormonism, Universalism, and Transcendentalism—and such further incarnations as Spiritualism, Theosophy, New Thought, Christian Science, and reinvented versions of Asian ideas and practices. Continuing into the twentieth century and after, the book shows how the metaphysical mix has...>>

“The House Your Stars Built: A Guide to the Twelve Astrological Houses and Your Place in the Universe” by Rachel Stuart-Haas

"So you know your sun sign, rising sign, and moon sign…but what about the rest of your birth chart? It’s no longer enough to just to know you’re a Scorpio or read your horoscope. After all, delving deeper into our natal charts and the nuances of the astrological world can offer us a rich, exciting tapestry of our innate preferences, relationships, choices, and destiny For those in the know, the zodiac calendar is divided into twelve houses, each ruled by a different sign (Aquarius, Scorpio, Gemini, etc.) and said to govern a particular set of traits. When we’re born, where the planets were stationed relative to those houses inform our natural tendencies. Understanding each house...>>

“The Blackwinged Night: Creativity in Nature and Mind” by F. David Peat

"What does the creation of matter in the universe have to do with humanity's creative spirit? What is the connection between, on the one hand, art, literature, and music, and, on the other hand, mathematical theorems and scientific theories? Taking an overarching scientific view of the universe and our place in it, scientist-philosopher F. David Peat explores the incredible similarities and connections between the Universe's "creativity," which reveals itself in the laws of nature, and the creativity of human consciousness. He provides an unparalleled view of the origins of the universe and asks: What acts to transform matter into art? And how does creativity enter into the lives of each of us? Brilliant and...>>

“Saints and Madmen: How Science Got Religion” by Russell Shorto

"In Saints and Madmen, bestselling author Russell Shorto explains how modern science is beginning to reconcile centuries of religious experiences with current psychiatric theories. Psychotic patients sometimes believe they’re developing mystical powers, speaking to animals or conversing with God during their episodes. As one patient said, psychosis can be life’s greatest joy, and also its worst hell. Traditional psychiatry has approached the existence of these occurrences as a treatable medical problem, a case of unbalanced chemicals in the brain. But could it be more? In Saints and Madmen, Shorto writes about the scientists who reject the Freudian view of religious experience as narrow-minded, and shows us how their findings could change how we understand...>>