Secret Chiefs (London)

8th October - Jocelyn Chaplin, "The Wisdom Of Diotima"
Jocelyn, a psychotherapist, artist, teacher of goddess spirituality and author of 'Love In An Age Of Uncertainty' and 'Feminist Counselling In Action', relates the teachings on life and love of Diotima, a 5th Century BC Greek priestess, hetaira, philosopher and tutor of Socrates (as featured in Plato's 'Symposium')

5th November - Mark Ramsden
"The Sacred Blood" Mark Ramsden is a virtuoso saxophonist and the author of an acclaimed trilogy of novels which take a humorous look at S/M. the occult and ritual murder. He is also the inventor of Fetish Morris Dancing. Tonight he will discuss cross-dressing, ketamine and contemporary sexuality.

The Secret Chiefs meet fortnightly on Wednesday evenings in the upstairs room of the Princess Louise on High Holborn (50 yds from Holborn tube). The room opens at 7pm and the talk starts at 8.30pm. Admission is £2 (£1 concs). All are welcome.

Spirit of Peace – 20 Sept (review)

Slow burn but a fantastic atmosphere by the end. Kicked off with John ‘celtic shaman’ Matthew’s foray into channelling, which I guess it where all of us have to go at some point. A well oiled talk which was, to my mind a bit lacking in content. I follow the William James line of thought on this, that you can only judge the value of such things pragmatically and I was left wondering if there was anything in this that was new or not just a projection of John’s obviously nice psyche? Emma Restall Orr also spoke well from the heart and there was nothing with which to diaapgree although it would be interesting to one day hear a Druid develop a less introductory magical theme? Next came what for me and many others was the highpoint of the day, the understated and IMO profound Sufi troubadour Latif Bolat. Later in the cool of the evening when the audience had been decamped (or was it driven) outside by some pretty awful singing and storytelling, Latif sat on a bench beneath the waning moon and sang spiritual songs, accompanying himself on the Lute. It was definately one of those privileged situations.

But before that we heard Karen Ralls on the Templars and the Grail, which if you’ve read ‘Holy Blood Holy Grail’ had few surprises, (Karen kept saying she was keeping those for the book). Karen is obviously very authoritative and has some unique information. I just wish she had dared to lift the veil a little more and show the slides from Roslyn chapel as promised, perhaps next time. Steve Wilson always speaks well but to my mind his description of the Mandean philosophy and its relevance to modern magi, could do with sharpening up a bit – but lots of new stuff there. Interesting too was Colin Low’s talk ‘Emanation and Ascent in QBL’. Such a change to hear an interesting talk on Kabalah rather than yet another cosmic filing cabinet trip. He reminded me something I’ve always believed, Hermeticism is essentially a form of Egyptian temple magick and that the whole doctrine of the Path of Return, Evolution and Ascent is very much part of the Egyptian POV. Altogether an excellent and stimulating day both inside and outside the hall, and one that I hope will be a regular part of the magical calendar. – Mogg

PS: Templar Maze in Oxford "Recreation of Templar Labyrinth at Oxfordshire Record Office, St Luke's Church, Cowley Part of the initiation into the Knights Templar required the walking of the path of a labyrinth. The Temple Cowley labyrinth was the only four circuit labyrinth known to have existed in the British Isles. It was destroyed in 1852, but the plan survived and has been redrawn to the original scale in the grounds of Oxfordshire Record Office.

The Record Office holds historic records relating to the county of Oxfordshire and is open 9 - 5, Tuesday to Saturday. For further information contact: ."

198. Heptameron of Peter Abano together with the Arbatel of Magick.

The Heptameron is an indispensable text for the library of all who have interest in magic philosophy during the period of the Renaissance. Originally translated by Robert Turner this edition of the Heptameron is accompanied by the Arbatel of Magic, giving access to two popular manuals of magic long beyond the reach of contemporary readers. This Ouroboros Press edition of the Heptameron has been entirely re-set using Renaissance style typefaces. The original woodcut angelic sigils have been preserved and are accompanied by decorative ornaments reminiscent of the grimoires of past eras.

Trade Cloth Edition: 1,000 copies only. Small Octavo. Full ebony cloth with gilt titles and device. With printed dust jacket. 182 pages, includes portrait of Abano, engraved initial letters and Italian woodcuts of planetary figures and sigils. $35.00

197. International Journal of Erotica.

Not “In your face” blatancy, but erotica for a more inquiring, discerning, perhaps academic mind. In the first issue we feature photography from Switzerland, Russia, US, Italy and South Africa and sensual well written fiction (gay, lesbian and straight) and poetry from around the world.

196. 3rd Annual Witchcraft Seminar, Camelot Castle in Tintagel, Cornwall

195. Austin Spare

Images and Oracles of Austin Spare has been such an overwhelming success that its pretty much out of print within a month of publication. Images tells a fascinating tale of magical art and sorcerous battles in the post war British occult revival. If you're one of the lucky ones who've read their new copy you will at some point be wondering about the nature of the 'Zoetic Grimoire of Zos'. And for that bit of the jigsaw you need to take a look at Kenneth Grant's sequel to Images - Zos Speaks, Encounters with Austin Osman Spare, of which there are still copies available although not unlimited, so don't delay. Fulgur books rarely stay in print for very long, Gavin Semple's crucial Zos Kia, is incredibly rare and only available in Roberto Migliussi's fine Italian edition. In the meantime Gavin has just released a memoire of Austin Spare's friend and patron, Frank Letchford. For information on attaining any of these books email me mogg@...

194. Is Crowley soundtrack a fake?

The British Library National Sound Archive has several copies of the so-called Crowley soundtrack - but according to the archivist the way the sound is textured on the CD suggests it is a fake!

193. Occulture (review)

If you imagine the country as a great tree, with its roots sunk deep in the English Channel, and if you shake that tree until many of the nuts fall out, then they would land somewhere around Brighton. Curiously enough this peculiar poetic allusion seems to represent rather well the Occulture 2003 event held on Saturday the 19th of July. Hundreds of magicians, witches and voyagers into the unknown congregated at an impressive venue, which offered a main stage, pleasure dome, gardens and a screening room for the world's first occult film festival.

Whilst the main stage was graced by a selection box of alternative glitterati, such as noted authors Colin Wilson Paul Devereux, and documentary maker Jon Ronson, my companion and I perambulated gently about the stalls and strange adventures in the gardens and found our natural level in the stately pleasure dome. This genteel haven represented the world of ritual magic, and was beautifully decorated with the traditional Thelemic wall hangings called Lams. Brightly coloured and incorporating the genuine symbols of magick these designs are usually reserved for temples. There is no other platform that exists in the world for the art, literature and psycho-drama of ritual magic (sometimes spelt magic with a k, to emphasise its distance from the work of the stage conjuror).

The shade of Aleister Crowley would surely have looked on with approval as the packed marquee was graced by nine speakers from all around the country. Subjects covered were rich and diverse, from Mary Hedger's highly charged Arousal Enlightenment, through Mogg Morgan's learned and challenging research on the ancient Egyptian rebel god Set, to the old English folkways explained by Michael Clarke in his talk on Toad Magic. It is perhaps something of an achievement that Lancaster's own local pagan society has been graced by two of the pleasure dome big names. Jaq Hawkins, detailing her experience of magic as entity, a trickster figure described in her most recent book as The Chaos Monkey, was talking in our fair city back in May, and Ramsey Dukes, often referred to as The Patron Saint Of Chaos Magic, was the draw for people from as far afield as Barrow and Leeds at a special gathering on the university campus last November. At Occulture he spoke eloquently and with great humour, under the heading 4 Glasses of Water - Post-Secular Angst and the Denial of Magic, arguing that rationalist defensiveness has created a hole in our culture and that we are in danger or falling into it. Without the awareness of the culture of magic, we are forced to view parts of our experience as 'bad' science, 'bad' art and 'bad' religion. Anyone intrigued by this would do well to seek out a copy of his underground classic SSOTBME, read by wizards, witches, archaeologists and rocket scientists…and that's just in Lancaster!

The film festival featured a screening of that old favourite Haxan, a groundbreaking Danish movie from 1919 that peers down into the murky world of the witches' sabbat through a deliciously medieval gothic lens. Many a modern documentary maker has pinched stock background footage from here without crediting their source. The flagellating nuns are an unexpected treat, but it is the wonderfully realised demons that steal the show. Contemporary special effects are perhaps prettier, but the raw edge of the unknown is largely smoothed down for the modern moviegoer. The main thrust of the festival was new work however. Carrie Kirkpatrick presented a very personal film, featuring an interview with the late Gerald Suster, a provocative and outspoken magician and gentleman who died suddenly in 2001 at the age of 49. The footage was interleaved with shots of ritual drama performed by his friends and companions, and by candid comments from those who knew him best. A film attracting a lot of comment was Earth: Inferno, a short based on the 1904 work of the same name by Edwardian artist and sorcerer Austin Osman Spare, and produced by students at the Buenos Aires University Of Cinema. A fantastic illustrative banner for international co-operation in this area, the film will be made available on dvd shortly and anyone interested should email dvd@... or visit www.fulgur.org.

An unforgettable day, perhaps unrepeatable. Nevertheless, there are plans afoot for a northern cousin. Watch this space!

Be seeing you,
Vlad Kiosk

Vlad Kiosk is an independent occult scholar with no axe to grind but his own. He was last seen drinking Turkish coffee and admiring the new murals in Daemon Books.
Plans are already in hand for occulture 04 - suggestions for next year's pleasure dome welcome now to mandrake@...

191. Current 93

The Current 93 disc, "A Little Menstrual Night Music" was created as introductory music for their two sold-out performances in San Francisco, using the original recordings of 1986's "In Menstrual Night" as source material, manipulated and reworked by Steven Stapleton.

Stapleton's own Nurse With Wound disc, "Chance Meeting of a Defective Tape Machine and Migraine" showcases his classic Dadaesque humor with a full length 'chance' remix of the infamous "Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table of a Sewing Machine and Umbrella" from 1979. Both discs are co-released by Anomalous Records and United Durtro, and are being offered for distribution while supplies last. Release information and prices are listed below.

Related items of interest which are currently available for distribution are David Tibet's "Hypnogogue" book + CD set, which is limited to 300 signed and numbered copies, special Current 93 enamel badges (made for the San Francisco shows), limited gatefold LP edition of Nurse With Wound's "She and Me Fall Together Like Free Death", and the folk/ethereal Pantaleimon LP "Trees Hold Time". We also carry the backcatalogues of Current 93 and Nurse With Wound, as well as related artists/friends such as The Legenday Pink Dots, H.N.A.S., Coil, Mimir, Organum etc.

190. Liminal Space