February 10, 2017

A Typical Academic Occultist, Pennick has varying areas of expertise British writer Nigel Campbell Pennick was born in Guilford, Surrey, England in 1946.  Over the years as an artist and illustrator, he has worked in many mediums in addition to the medium of writing.  growing up in England surrounded by its magical history provided Pennick with first hand insight into the folkloric practices of Great Britain.  As an author, he has published over 50 titles in English and German; many... Read more

February 6, 2017

  A Complete Guide of Historical Plant-Based Practices-Science, Medicine and the Occult Paul Huson, British-born author and artist residing in the U.S. Huson has also worked extensively in the television and film making industry.  Born in 1942, Huson entered the Slade School of Fine Art at the University of London, until 1963.  While attending Slade, Huson studied Qabalah and the Western Esoteric tradition with Dion Fortune’s Society of Inner Light.  His influential work Mastering Witchcraft was published in 1970.  Mastering... Read more

February 3, 2017

Popular Magic vs Learned Magic The 15th and 16th centuries were full of people both commoners and nobility who had a fascination with magic.  The superstitious era of the Middle Ages, and the propaganda of the Inquisition eventually gave way to the Renaissance combining intellectual and spiritual pursuits with a reverence for classical antiquity.   The magic of the medieval period was filled with faeries, fantastic beasts, and the denizens of the natural world.  Natural magic was considered the highest form... Read more

January 29, 2017

Science, Occultism, and Heresy During the time of the Inquisition, free thinkers of all kinds were put on trial for various forms of heresy.  Numerous men and women were tried and put to death for their crimes.  By the 16th and 17th centuries the Church’s fear of heresy had reached a peak.  Not only were they concerned about heretics within diverse Christian groups, they also had to contend with the growing number of educated free thinkers.  Many books and ideas... Read more

January 23, 2017

A Deed Without a Name: Unearthing the Legacy of Traditional Witchcraft Written By Lee Morgan, Illustrations by Brett Morgan.  Published by Moon Books. The Tradition of Witchcraft Those of us who claim to be traditional witches or identify with the idea of pre-modern traditional witchcraft, enjoy our scholarly books with research done by academics using primary sources.  We enjoy the hunt for books written by shadowy masters unknown to the mainstream.  Morgan’s vision was to weave together the most prominent of... Read more

January 17, 2017

Just a couple of months ago my partner and I decided to go through with something we have wanted to do for a few years now; get married.  We have been together for five years, and it finally felt like the time was right for both of us.  We began planning our ceremony and reception, deciding to keep it small and simple, with immediate family, close friends, and homemade food.  Things couldn’t have went better, and I wanted to share... Read more

January 9, 2017

Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities This guide to poisonous plants is a little bit different.  It is a novelty for those of us who are interested in the strange often dangerous world of botanical poisons.  The author, Amy Stewart writes with a tongue-in-cheek humor, which keeps this dark topic lighthearted.  However, all joking aside Stewart is a well-researched enthusiast of the secrets of nature.  A gardener herself, Amy tends her own poison garden... Read more

January 2, 2017

  Verdant Gnosis: Cultivating the Green Path Edited by Catamara Rosarium, Marcus McCoy, and Jenn Zahrt, PhD. Viridis Genii Symposium Verdant Gnosis is a collection of essays and articles from presenters at the Viridis Genii Symposium, which is a yearly gathering of magical practitioners, alchemists, ethnobotanists and anyone interested in learning more about working with the spirits of the Green Realm.  The annual Symposium is centered around herbal magic and esotericism, offering a multidisciplinary approach to the study of plants... Read more

December 31, 2016

The Witches’ Ointment: The Secret History of Psychedelic Magic, by Thomas Hatsis   A well-researched synthesis of obscure materials dating back 500yrs This original work explores the concept of the witches’ ointment which is central to the understanding of European witchcraft.  The witches’ ointment, or unguentum lamiarum, has shown up in various forms throughout human history.  It is the medieval witches’ flying ointment that is of particular interest, and Hatsis has painstakingly pieced together information from various primary sources in... Read more

December 26, 2016

  “Poison is a glyph for magical power itself: complex, concentrated, liberated in the hands of the elect and disastrous in the hands of the fool.”  – Daniel Alvin Schulke, Veneficium   Veneficium: Magic, Witchcraft and the Poison Path by Daniel Alvin Schulke This book authored by the current magister of the Cultus Sabbati, is indispensable to the traditional magical practitioner, and poisoner alike.  In antiquity there existed a close relationship between the practice of witchcraft and the poisonous arte... Read more


Browse Our Archives