14.04.2022

“Dark Mirrors: Azazel and Satanael in Early Jewish Demonology” by Andrei A. Orlov

Magick Matters

"Dark Mirrors is a wide-ranging study of two central figures in early Jewish demonology—the fallen angels Azazel and Satanael. Andrei A. Orlov explores the mediating role of these paradigmatic celestial rebels in the development of Jewish demonological traditions from Second Temple apocalypticism to later Jewish mysticism, such as that of the Hekhalot and Shi'ur Qomah materials. Throughout, Orlov makes use of Jewish pseudepigraphical materials in Slavonic that are not widely known. Orlov traces the origins of Azazel and Satanael to different and competing mythologies of evil, one to the Fall in the Garden of Eden, the other to the revolt of angels in the antediluvian period. Although Azazel and Satanael are initially representatives of rival...>>

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14.04.2022

“Evidence for Psi: Thirteen Empirical Research Reports” edited by Damien Broderick and Ben Goertzel (incomplete)

Magick Matters

"Psi is the term used by researchers for a variety of demonstrable but elusive psychic phenomena. This collection of essays provides a detailed survey of the evidence for psi at the level of scientific examination. Key features of apparent psi phenomena are reviewed, including precognition and remote perception (knowledge of future or distant events that cannot be inferred from present information), presentiment (physiological responses to stimuli that have not yet occurred), the effects of human emotions on globally dispersed machines, the possible impact of local sidereal time on psi performance, and the familiar feeling of knowing who is calling on the phone. Special attention is given to those phenomena that make it difficult for...>>

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13.04.2022

“The Scientific Counter-Revolution: The Jesuits and the Invention of Modern Science” by Michael John Gorman

Magick Matters

"Jesuit engagement with natural philosophy during the late 16th and early 17th centuries transformed the status of the mathematical disciplines and propelled members of the Order into key areas of controversy in relation to Aristotelianism. Through close investigation of the activities of the Jesuit 'school' of mathematics founded by Christoph Clavius, The Scientific Counter-Revolution examines the Jesuit connections to the rise of experimental natural philosophy and the emergence of the early scientific societies. Arguing for a re-evaluation of the role of Jesuits in shaping early modern science, this book traces the evolution of the Collegio Romano as a hub of knowledge. Starting with an examination of Clavius's Counter-Reformation agenda for mathematics, Michael John Gorman traces...>>

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13.04.2022

“Iamblichus: On the General Science of Mathematics” edited by John Dillon and J.O. Urmson

Magick Matters

"On the General Science of Mathematics is the third of four surviving works out of ten by Iamblichus (c. 245 CE–early 320s) on the Pythagoreans. He thought the Pythagoreans had treated mathematics as essential for drawing the human soul upwards to higher realms described by Plato, and downwards to understand the physical cosmos, the products of arts and crafts and the order required for an ethical life. His Pythagorean treatises use edited quotation to re-tell the history of philosophy, presenting Plato and Aristotle as passing on the ideas invented by Pythagoras and his early followers. Although his quotations tend to come instead from Plato and later Pythagoreanising Platonists, this re-interpretation had a huge impact on...>>

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13.04.2022

“Mediumship: An Introductory Guide to Developing Spiritual Awareness and Intuition” by Gordon Smith

Magick Matters

"The function of a medium is to be a conduit between this life and the afterlife or the spirit world. Every medium is intuitive or psychic, but not every psychic is a medium. This book explores: How to still the mind to enable spirits to communicate with you Sitting in the power and opening up to authentic messages Working with the aura and reading the signs and symbols that surround people Connecting to your spirit guide and learning their signature or calling card The three faculties of mediumship: clairvoyance, clairaudience and clairsentience How to set up a...>>

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