Caduceus Dennis Bardens

Dennis Bardens was a prolific journalist, author and broadcaster. He was founder of the BBC current affairs television progamme Panorama. He wrote books about politics, law and also the supernatural. He was particularly interested in precognition, E.S.P. (especially in animals) and hauntings. He was a good friend of Austin Osman Spare. He died in February aged 92. The following books are acquired from his estate. All will be supplied with a free copy of:- Dennis Bardens, Ghosts, privately published 2002, 8pp leaflet with Austin Osman Spare illustrations and coloured embellishments. Also (unless otherwise requested) one of Mr. Bardens address labels will be placed in each book to confirm the provenance

for latest editions to the Caduceus catalougue and artwork from Michael Berteaux visit Webpages http://www.caduceusbooks.com http://www.occultartgallery.com

The International Journal of Erotica

5th Issue - OUT NOW !!!
Wonderful photography from Italy's Maurizio Mauri, Canada's Stan Funk,
Greece's Manolis Tsantakis and France's Andy Metal.
Stunning erotic art from UK's Paul Woods
Sensual erotic writing from Chris Cumo and Joshua Leverett (USA),
Roger Ireland (UK), Stan C Eneva (Bulgaria)
Provoking editorials from Maxim Jakubowski and Rhea Silva
Poetry from Mexico, USA and UK
Film Review of Greece's new controversial film "Hardcore"
Book review and more !!

www.DiversePublications.co.uk

Featured Website

Erotic India

Journal for the Academic Study of Magic
Issue 2

19.99 ISBN 1869928-725 ISSN 1479-0750 392pp

General editor: Dave Evans plus various

A multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed print publication, covering all areas of magic, witchcraft, paganism etc; all geographical regions and all historical periods.

Contents
Alien Selves: Modernity and the Social Diagnostics of the Demonic in ‘Lovecraftian Magick’: Woodman/
Wishful Thinking Notes towards a psychoanalytic sociology of Pagan magic: Green/
A Shell with my Name on it: The Reliance on the Supernatural During the First World War. Chambers/
The Metaphysical Relationship between Magic and Miracles: Morgan Luck/
Demonic Possession, and Spiritual Healing in Nineteenth-Century Devon: Semmens/
Human Body in Southern Slavic Folk Sorcery: Filipovic Rader/
Four Glasses Of Water: Snell/
The Land Near the Dark Cornish Sea:. Hale/
Kenneth Grant and the Magickal revival: Evans/
Magic through the Linguistic Lenses of Greek mágos, Indo-European *mag(h)-, Sanskrit màyà and Pharaonic Egyptian heka: Cheak/
The symbolism of the pierced heart: Froome/Nicholas Roerich: McCannon/
Book Review, etc.

Return of 'the old gits

In the 1970s occult publishing was dominated by writers such as Stephen Skinner, Francis King, Neville Drury et al. It was their books that first introduced many contemporary magicians to magical history and the basic skills. Many of their stars have since faded, to be superceded by younger voices, but even so there are much essential and well written material to be found in occultism's back list.

These books often rise again, as in a recent batch of broadsheet publicity for a 'new biog' of Aleister Crowley from 'Left field' Creation press. Actually its a reissue of the late Francis King's lively study 'The Magickal World of Aleister Crowley' which first saw the light of day in 1977 but is here given the makeover as 'Megatherion'. Perhaps not the most uptodate material - what with the current glut of Crowley studies which actually have added very little to the debate and whose major functions appears to be prop up the imprimatur of a bunch of impostors.

Feral House have picked up another Francis King classic - 'Sexuality, Magick and Perversion', which is a title that ought to fire the imagination. Francis intended to give the title a full revision but died before he could complete the task. Even so it remains a classic insight into the magick of the 1970s, there ain't too many contemporary authors with the bottle for a chapter title 'A Dildo for A Witch' or 'A Whip for Aradia' ??

'Feral House has quite a challenging list of titles including the classic biog of 'kitch' film maker Ed Wood - author/director of cult classic 'Plan Nine From Outer Space' - recently filmed with Jonny Depp in the leading role. Check out the original book, now published in UK by Faber Faber.

AMOOKOS Lectures - London

Treadwell's Lecture-Seminar Series
Updated Programme Autumn 2004
34 Tavistock Street, Covent Garden
To reserve seats for any lecture-seminar email us on info@...
Web Address http://www.treadwells-london.com

Tantra 3: THE SYMBOL OF THE SRI YANTRA
25 October (Monday)
Tracey Edwards and Maria Strutz, The London Tantra Study Group
7.15 for 7.30 pm - £5.00


Tantra 4: ORIGINS OF THE CHAKRAS
8 November (Monday)
Phil Hine, The London Tantra Study Group 7.15 for 7.30 - £5.00

Andrew Chumbley Celebrates his 'Greater Feast'

As you may already have heard, Andrew died last Wednesday 15th September due to complications following an asthma attack. By way of an obituary I am reprinting Jan Fries' review of Andrew's groundbreaking first book, with which he burst onto the magical scene at the Thelemic Symposium back in the 1990s. A respected wiccan friend, who met him at that event, responded that 'he really was a genius, particularly as he seemed . . . to single handedly drag "trad" craft out of pointless retrospective w**king over folk history and fake cunningmen and give it a real contacted, magical spooky starlight ethos all of its own, single handedly plugged it in again, springboard for the 'Witchas' of this world, and a creative genius who carried on the work of Spare.

The Azoetia by Andrew Chumbley

The Azoetia is a work of rare originality. Opening its pages, the reader encounters pictures and prose of truly draconian darkness, elaborate sigils, spells, sorcery and oracles, giving the ‘sacred alignments’ of a unique magical system. How can we approach a book of such virtues? The Azoetia is not a compendium of household sorceries. Each book being a spirit, the Azoetia spirit is of the dramatic and refined sort that invites the reader to enter a bizarre magical thought and belief system. As the cover of the work informs us the Azoetia is a grimoire, which means, in the original sense of the word, a grammar. A grammar is a structure that organises language. Grammars don’t tell you what to say - the words you speak are a matter of your will - but it tells you how to say it. In the same sense, the Azoetia offers you workable formulas, evokes atavistic obsessions and makes the mind’s cauldron bubble merrily. What use you make of these is your own affair.

As a ‘grimoire’ the Azoetia gives a unique, efficient and congruent system of Magick. Like the Goetia, the Book of Pleasure and Liber Al vel Legis, the Azoetia weaves a fabric of thought, belief and creative inspiration that can be understood, applied and experienced in many ways. Each of these grimoires is a highly original example of what used to be called ‘inspired writing’, meaning that the material they offer is recognised by the author as coming from beyond the realms of ordinary consciousness. This sort of thing has quite a long tradition - think of Myrrdin or Taliesin, who used to prophesy in ecstatic trance states.

Where in other cultures a medium, shaman or priest is obsessed by some spiritual agency and proceeds to divine, exorcise, heal or bless, Andrew Chumbley sets out to draw and write the visions that come through. On close examination, the drawings which grace the Azoetia, are the work of an artist with little formal art training. No matter, these images were produced without conscious intent and the material pulses with rich and eldritch life. The influence of Spare, Lovecraft and Grant can be detected - yet Chumbley’s work goes beyond this and explores cells of dreams and instinct that have yet to be discovered. It is this original quality which upsets many casual readers, lacking the guts to try out what us suggested, they try to compare the work with other traditions and run into trouble as so much of the Azoetia stuff is new and unique. It is, indeed the sort of source text that may one day become the basis for an entirely new tradition.

iDscussing the Azoetia with friends, I was surprised at the unease which many magicians expressed concerning ‘inspired writings’. Where a dozen years ago these were met with interest, today’s occult book market is flooded with vapid ‘pure white lights’ literature. Given the quality of ‘channelled messages’, it seems rather natural that more serious magicians shy away from them. When they receive ‘inspired texts’ today, many are reluctant to say so let alone ready to publish the stuff. Yet the reason for so many forgeries is that the genuine phenomena exists. Imagine how Crowley’s Liber Al would be received today or Spare’s Focus of Life? It hardly seems surprising that many good mages hide their ‘inspired writings’ in the wardrobe and leave the field of ‘channelled literature’ to hare-brained morons who think too positively to evaluate their output, Who knows how much good material is never published! When Chumbley collected materials of his Azoetia and set out to earth the work in published form, he had to save up and to publish it at his own expense, which gave you an idea of his sense of commitment and dedication. As a result, the Azoetia is exactly as the author and his spirits willed it. Conceived in dreams and trance visions, perhaps the book is most easily discovered by dreaming into it. You may be surprised to know that passages which made little sense the other day sparkle with meaning to you today. What comes out of the Azoetia for you depends on what you put into its discovery. Like many of the grimoires, Chumbley’s book requires a measure of empathy. Its value depends on your involvement with the work and can be judged by the insights, dreams inspirations and the changes you experience.

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Groups

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Conferences

Witchcraft Seminar (Cornwall)

Annual Witchcraft Seminar at Camelot Castle, Tintagel. Friday 22nd-Sunday 24th October 2004 Spend an exciting informative weekend in the romantic baronial surroundings of Camelot Castle. Speakers from the pagan community will cover a variety of subjects include Pete Jennings, Dianne Firmin, Jan Brodie, Maxine Sanders, Dave Evans, Mogg Morgan, Levannah Morgan, Marian Green, Ralph Harvey Nathaniel J. Harris. Visit our web site at www.witchcraftseminar.com or ‘phone Adrian on 01749 674712 but as the number of places are limited, we advise you to book early to avoid disappointment.

Gnosis, a festival of light, life, love liberty