Tankhem: meditations on Seth magick (draft edition)

Mogg Morgan isbn 1869928555, 184pp £10.99

Ancient Egypt and the ‘Typhonian’ deity Seth, how to find out more? Followers of later cults obliterating Seth’s monuments, demonising and neglecting his cult. A possible starting point in the quest for the ‘hidden god’ is an examination of the life of Egyptian King Sety I (‘He of Seth’) also known as Sethos.

When looking for an astral temple that included all of the ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses, the Temple of Sety I proved itself worthy of examination. Many secrets began to reveal themselves. The essence of the real philosophy of the Sethian and indeed what Satanism is, stems from the author’s astral wanderings in this temple.

The temple is a real place and like any temple no part of its design is accidental. It is a record in stone and paint of the Egyptian mythos. It is also fits quite well with the Thelemic mythos and tells lots of interesting things about the ancient Seth cult - if you have the eye to see it.

Contents: Prolegomena to Egyptian magick; Setanism; Tankhem, Egyptian Magick and Tantra; Sexual Magick; Twenty Eight; North; The Crooked Wand

The author has published numerous articles, short stories and books, principally Ayurveda: Medicine of the Gods, The English Mahatma (a Tankhem novel) and as ( ‘Katon Shual’) Sexual Magick

PS: Some may remember my championing of Norman Mailer's long out of print epic novel of Egyptian magick and family intrique, Ancient Evenings. I've just heard its to be reissued next month by Time Warner at UKP10.99

Secret Chiefs

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. She has a subtly different perhaps more occult vision of 'Druidry' - that involves a personal quest not so different to some thelemic ideas. 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: ruth.imeson@...."

Karen Ralls book 'The Templars and the Grail' is published by Quest Books at $22.95, which translates as 19 pounds in UK. (Importers of books to UK do better than the bankers!! - which reminds me - has anyone noticed how the price of crowley books is spiraling out of control? I'd remind you that due to capricious court rulings - Crowley can not be published in the land of his birth - and therefore for the next 15 years pretty much all crowley books have to be imported from the USA at inflated prices and editions. )

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!