06.12.2023

“Magus: The Art of Magic from Faustus to Agrippa” by Anthony Grafton

Magick Matters
"Magus: The Art of Magic from Faustus to Agrippa" by Anthony Grafton
🕵️🐷🕵️ zero-day🕵️🐷🕵️ "A revelatory new account of the magus—the learned magician—and his place in the intellectual, social, and cultural world of Renaissance Europe. In literary legend, Faustus is the quintessential occult personality of early modern Europe. The historical Faustus, however, was something quite different: a magus—a learned magician fully embedded in the scholarly currents and public life of the Renaissance. And he was hardly the only one. Anthony Grafton argues that the magus in sixteenth-century Europe was a distinctive intellectual type, both different from and indebted to medieval counterparts as well as contemporaries like the engineer, the artist, the Christian humanist, and the religious reformer. Alongside these better-known figures, the magus had a transformative impact on...>>
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06.12.2023

“The Secret of the Five Rites: In Search of a Lost Western Tradition of Inner Alchemy” by John Michael Greer

Magick Matters
"The Secret of the Five Rites: In Search of a Lost Western Tradition of Inner Alchemy" by John Michael Greer
"An investigation of The Eye of Revelation, a system of inner alchemy meant to awaken the subtle powers of the human body and mind. This book examines in detail a short book, often referred to as The Five Tibetans that was published in 1939 teaching a simple yet effective set of five exercises for health and longevity, the Five Rites. Certain dietary rules and lifestyle principles accompanied the Rites, so did a Sixth Rite that worked the diaphragm muscles and redirected sexual energies, and also a set of teachings about seven energy centers or vortices in the body, though not the same as the well-known seven chakras along the spine. These vortices are among the most...>>
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06.12.2023

“A Year in Practice: Seasonal Rituals and Prompts to Awaken Cycles of Creative Expression” by Jacqueline Suskin

Magick Matters
"A Year in Practice: Seasonal Rituals and Prompts to Awaken Cycles of Creative Expression" by Jacqueline Suskin
🕵️🐷🕵️ zero-day🕵️🐷🕵️ "The seasons and cycles of nature have incredible power to affect everything in our lives―especially our creativity", says poet Jacqueline Suskin. "The Earth shows us when our creative reserves might wax and wane. When we listen and follow nature’s lead, we tune in to an inexhaustible source of imagination, inspiration, and beauty". With A Year in Practice, this inspiring teacher shares holistic practices to help creatives of all sorts access the limitless potential that flows with the rhythms of nature. Set in sync with the progression of the seasons, A Year in Practice is a program of techniques and journaling prompts to guide the creative seeker all year long. Four seasonally themed chapters keep...>>
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05.12.2023

“Theurgy: Theory and Practice: The Mysteries of the Ascent to the Divine” by P.D. Newman

Magick Matters
"Theurgy: Theory and Practice: The Mysteries of the Ascent to the Divine" by P.D. Newman
🕵️🐷🕵️ zero-day🕵️🐷🕵️ "Connects the magical practice of theurgy to the time of Homer • Explores the many theurgic themes and events in the Odyssey and the Iliad • Analyzes the writings of Neoplatonists Porphyry and Proclus, showing how both describe the technical ritual praxis of theurgy in Homeric terms • Examines the methods of telestikē, a form of theurgic statue animation and technique to divinize the soul, and how theurgy is akin to shamanic soul flight First defined by the second century Chaldean Oracles, theurgy is an ancient magic practice whereby practitioners divinized the soul and achieved mystical union with a deity, the Demiurge, or the One. In this detailed study, P. D. Newman pushes the roots of theurgy all...>>
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05.12.2023

“The Evil Creator: Origins of an Early Christian Idea” by M. David Litwa

Magick Matters
"The Evil Creator: Origins of an Early Christian Idea" by M. David Litwa
"This book examines the origins of the evil creator idea chiefly in light of early Christian biblical interpretations. It is divided into two parts. In Part I, the focus is on the interpretations of Exodus and John. Firstly, ancient Egyptian assimilation of the Jewish god to the evil deity Seth-Typhon is studied to understand its reapplication by Phibionite and Sethian Christians to the Judeo-catholic creator. Secondly, the Christian reception of John 8:44 (understood to refer to the devil's father) is shown to implicate the Judeo-catholic creator in murdering Christ. Part II focuses on Marcionite Christian biblical interpretations. It begins with Marcionite interpretations of the creator's character in the Christian "Old Testament", analyzes 2 Corinthians...>>
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