01.06.2022

“(h)Auroræ: The recalling or the retelling of the many Pasts made Present & Whole again” by Gabriel McCaughry

Magick Matters
"(h)Auroræ: The recalling or the retelling of the many Pasts made Present & Whole again" by Gabriel McCaughry
"(h)Auroræ is a mystifying, albeit utterly profound journey. Part ontological synthesis, philosophical rambling, magickal diary, visual grimoire, inspired mystical poem, revelatory/individuation process, and part alchemical vessel of expression, the book exists under the umbrella of what the author refers to as Gnostic Luciferianism. First and foremost, however, (h)Auroræ exists as an act of eternal remembrance. "This alchemical treatise walks us through a startling expression of emotive gnosis… (h)Auroræ seeks beyond and above the all-too-human condition in order to understand it, and advance it vis-à-vis a sensual Sophianic psychology, witnessed in cogitation. Mind in tandem with vision, incorporates a veiled process of subtle Jungian analysis leading to a Grail quest, of intent to remove the blindfold...>>
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01.06.2022

“Shapeshifting: Shamanic Techniques for Global and Personal Transformation” by John Perkins

Magick Matters
"Shapeshifting: Shamanic Techniques for Global and Personal Transformation" by John Perkins
"The New York Times bestseller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man documents John Perkins’ extraordinary career as a globe-trotting economic hit man. Perkins’ insider’s view leads him to crisis of conscience—to the realization that he must devote himself to work which will foster a world-wide awareness of the sanctity of indigenous peoples, their cultures, and their environments. Perkins’ books demonstrate how the age-old shamanic techniques of some of the world’s most primitive peoples have sparked a revolution in modern concepts about healing, the subconscious, and the powers each of us has to alter individual and communal reality. Many indigenous cultures practice shapeshifting. Native American hunters take on the spirit of their prey to ensure a...>>
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31.05.2022

“Laboratories of Art: Alchemy and Art Technology from Antiquity to the 18th Century” edited by Sven Dupre

Magick Matters
"Laboratories of Art: Alchemy and Art Technology from Antiquity to the 18th Century" edited by Sven Dupre
"This book explores the interconnections and differentiations between artisanal workshops and alchemical laboratories and between the arts and alchemy from Antiquity to the eighteenth century. In particular, it scrutinizes epistemic exchanges between producers of the arts and alchemists. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the term laboratorium uniquely referred to workplaces in which ‘chemical’ operations were performed: smelting, combustion, distillation, dissolution and precipitation. Artisanal workshops equipped with furnaces and fire in which ‘chemical’ operations were performed were also known as laboratories. Transmutational alchemy (the transmutation of all base metals into more noble ones, especially gold) was only one aspect of alchemy in the early modern period. The practice of alchemy was also about the...>>
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31.05.2022

“Korean Shamanism: The Cultural Paradox” by Chongho Kim

Magick Matters
"Korean Shamanism: The Cultural Paradox" by Chongho Kim
"Shamanism has a contradictory position within the Korean cultural system, leading to the periodical suppression of shamanism yet also, paradoxically, ensuring its survival throughout Korean history. This book examines the place of shamans within contemporary society as a cultural practice in which people make use of shamanic ritual and disputing the prevalent view that shamanism is 'popular culture', a 'women's religion' or 'performing arts'. Directly confronting the prejudice against shamans and their paradoxical situation in a modern society such as Korea, this book reveals the cultural discrepancy between two worlds in Korean culture, the ordinary world and the shamanic world, showing that these two worlds cannot be reconciled. This unique study of shamanism offers...>>
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31.05.2022

“Technology as Magic: The Triumph of the Irrational” by Richard Stivers

Magick Matters
"Technology as Magic: The Triumph of the Irrational" by Richard Stivers
"What gives the mass media, particularly advertising and television, their extraordinary power over our lives, so that even the most jaded and sophisticated among us are troubled and fascinated by their allure? The secret, according to Richard Stivers, in this brilliant new book, lies in the curious relationship between technology and magic. Stivers argues the two are now related to one another in such a way that each has taken on important characteristics of the other. His contention is that our expectations for technology have become magical to the point that they have generated a multitude of imitation technologies that function as magical practices. These imitation technologies flourish in the fields of psychology, management...>>
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