English Fairy Tales: Now Available!

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This nice volume is a compilation of fairy tales from England (as its title suggests) but it also contains a lengthy and helpful dissertation on the etymology of the fairy, its linguistic origins in Italian antiquity, and its similarity to the genii, the lamia, and the nymph. It is partly anthropological, therefore, and contains a number of allusions especially to Reginald Scott's "Discoverie of Witchcraft" in which the European adaptation of such folklore is noted to have affected adults, not just children, and that such superstitions as "Robin Goodfellow" and fellow beings was rife for centuries.

171 pages.

Identity of the Religions Called Druidical and Hebrew: Now Available!

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This little work of religious history delves into the cultural as well as the linguistic, with its main focus being on correlating ritual and language between the Druids and Hebrews, positing a common prior origin, Antediluvian in nature. It goes into some detail about other contemporary spiritual and cultural groups as well, and while this kind of theory has largely been discarded in modern academia, it is more because of its religious connotations than any prevailing counter evidence.

70 pages.

Hebrew Idolatry and Superstition: Now Available!

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This present book is a work mainly of religious history, seeking to categorize the various "idolatrous" practices of the ancient Hebrews, claiming most of them can be established to have had a prior origin, and that they therefore did not originate with Judaism. Some of the claims here are anthropologically outdated but many have been continuously confirmed (sacred groves and witchcraft definitely predate Judaism and probably came from interactions with other regional tribes, for example.) The number of individual stories involving witchery, totems, etc, are profuse, and the work is a great springboard for further study.

51 pages.

A Brief History of Witchcraft: Now Available!

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This little work is a strictly academic entry, compiling, mainly, primary source materials from the Northampton witch trials, including some of the most bizarre accusations which can be gleaned from the period involving familiar spirits and the supposed practices of witches. Five people were the main victims of this particular outbreak of hysteria- it should be noted that I have left the primary source snippets intact in their (very) Old English form. Some adjacent hysteria and accusations are touched upon as well.

37 pages.

Human Ordure and Human Urine: Now Available!

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This most interesting work ties hand in hand with the contemporary study of phallicism and the first real effort to breach the moral taboos of anthropological study of prior years, when if reproduction or sin were discussed at all, it was with marked vehemence and plenty of superfluous language.

While the title of the work involves human feces and urine, it goes far beyond this, into sexual rituals, the consumption of foul, decomposed matter, of the use of animal dung and urine both in and outside of religious ritual, and is heavily sourced with references ranging from Torquemada to the US military of the late 19th century. It is an exceptional anthropological study of the topic, and covers dozens of cultures- tribes in India and in the Americas, the then-modern French peasantry, Persians, and more.

80 pages.

Sex Worship: Now Available!

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This intriguing work is, in my opinion, the best broad introductory guide to the fascinating (and expansive) subject of the worship of the human genitals and of reproduction, as the basis for (or a basis of) religion and religious practice. The subject can be sub-divided into various subtopics such as serpent veneration, archaeological remains of generative type, the cultus arborum, and so forth- this work briefly describes them and provides a good index to further reading, going to (painstaking and great) lengths to repeatedly disavow "obscenity" and "debauchery" and assuring the reader in typical early 20th century fashion that it intends itself only as an academic work. It is as amusing in its dryness towards the subject as it is historically interesting. The topic of the degree of influence the lingam and yoni had on the development of human religion is still hotly debated today, though some of the claims of the era have been widely accepted even by adherents.

102 pages.

Birds in Legend and Folklore: Now Available!

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This is a full length work dedicated to a fairly exhaustive treatment of hundreds of cultures spanning thousands of years in their use of birds in a folkloric capacity. The density of the book is high, owing to its academic, rigorous nature, and those intrigued by ornithology will probably enjoy this work as well as cryptid lovers and folklore buffs.

It is very much worth noting the symbolic significance of some birds over others; the crow, eagle, peacock, and dove stand out as the true "A-listers" of the avian world. It is not often that I am engrossed in the same work I am editing but this was definitely one of those happy times- the differential treatment of the Phoenix by a half dozen nations in the olden days is fascinating.

256 pages.

The Mythologies of Ancient Mexico and Peru: Now Available!

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This is yet another edition from the creation series of the early 20th century; and indeed it is one of the best pieces within the set.

The entire first chapter meanders through the concept of pre-columbian Nordic or Irish influence on Northeastern tribes in the Americas and then differentiates that with the Mexican )Aztec) and Peruvian (Inca) cultures. The two are then expounded on at length and largely contrasted; for example while the Aztecs probably sacrificed hundreds of thousands of people during their extremely brief period of existence as a local empire, the Inca rarely engaged in the practice. At all times this work compares both cultures to Christianity (as was the habit in the early 1900s) and exhibits a somewhat sympathetic view towards both cultures.

55 pages.

The Idea of God in Early Religions: Now Available!

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This work is one of the main texts crafted by FB Jevons; a relatively well known academic in his day, who managed to create, here, a work which would remain relevant after a century- it is a combination of strict religious history with linguistic anthropology; a fascinating field that most would benefit from studying at least in a basic sense.

Religious evolution is explored here; the development of polytheism, the difference between a "god" in the community sense and the personal daemon or fetish, and other related topics. It refers to numerous other works and is rigorously academic.

116 pages.

The Indigenous Drugs of India: Now Available!

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This intermediate-length medical work is one part anthropological text, one part recipe book, and one part good medical history. About 90% of the entries here are herbal; but it lists some minerals and chemical compounds and even a couple of insect species, all of which were apparently sold through the Indian subcontinent as medical materials in the 1860s.

The fascinating blend of scientific rigor with what amounts to folklore here is spectacular; I'm a bit of a sucker for such works since I studied anthropology myself; the occultist may find this text useful since it is basically derived from a blend of ayurvedic, islamic, and pan-european medical practices and explicitly involves the spiritual side of life (which tends to be the case whenever mortality is addressed.) It contains both local and Latin terminology.

135 pages.

Special teachings From the Arcane Science: Now Available!

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"Special Teachings" is the first of three works in Farnsworths' series of occult compilations. The topics within are highly variable and presented from a Theosophical perspective. It notably includes content regarding Karma, Kali Yuga, the concept of time from an occult perspective, and various treatments on science and supernatural topics. It is, of the three works in the series, the best written and least rushed, and is comprised of about fifty sections.

144 pages.

Editing Begins Anew!

Alright everyone!

I have finally begun editing new works; I decided to start with a basically rationalist work entitled "A Treatise on Magic" and will proceed through dozens of works through the year. I'd like to have released the 250th edition before New Years' day.

Some of these works will be illustrated- a couple of herbals, a work by Hall, etc. I am proceeding in whatever order I feel appropriate but there will be a large amount ahead.

Praise Stolas!

Phallic Miscellanies: Now Available!

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This work is one of a number that comprised the phallic series, purportedly crafted by Hargrave Jennings anonymously to skirt censorship due to the taboo nature of the subject; it titillates the reader by rendering the solar, phallicist worship of the linga etc to degenerated status, then refusing to flesh out the more lurid parts of cultish ritual. Indeed the work isn't inaccurate per se, it just fails sometimes to mention the scarcity of the phallic cult in the East, the left hand path of sex worship and indulgence.

It contains hundreds of quotes from secondary sources and from Hindu scriptures and delves a bit into Islamic and Buddhist lore as well, albeit less. It is important to note that Jennings (or whoever the author of this lengthy series was) believed that solar and phallic worship spawned all religion.

130 pages.

The Veil of Isis: Now Available!

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If it's folklore you want it's folklore you get! This work starts out as a slightly dry, historical look at the druids, before becoming almost a completely different work which combines a bit of Masonic and Catholic pagan symbolism (the kind you find on the 'weird' side of the internet) with then-modern folklore both in and out of the British Isles. Considering the dedication passage it is likely that the work was written in two stages, accounting for this.

It speaks at length about all things druid for the first two sections before meandering into very interesting multi-page compilations of simple lore, with some poetry and folk magic included. The section on pins used in divination was of especial interest since this tradition indeed managed to find its way into multiple fortune telling works I myself have already edited.

152 pages.

The Dwarfs of Mount Atlas: Now Available!

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This is a nice little anthropological booklet that details the presumed existence of a tribe of abnormally small tribe of individuals living in some of the mountainous regions of the Atlas range in central Morocco. Funnily, it is technically possible such a group existed at the time, potentially having splintered off genetic pygmy groups in Central Africa. If such is the case, sadly, it is entirely likely the group succumbed to genocide or disease.

This tribe was apparently, if real at all, worshiped by some of the local inhabitants and was considered to have various magickal qualities including the imparting of good luck to locals when present. A fairly important bit of lore for those of us who are inclined to believe in the spiritual; things are not always entirely as they seem.

48 pages.

Werwolves; Various Folklore: Now Available!

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This is an excellent book, full length and in depth, produced by Elliott O'Donnell, a rather well known figure from the era- indeed, I just got done editing another of his works on spirits.

The lore here takes, mostly, the form of various folk tales from various cultures as far ranging as the Netherlands, France, and Siberia- some of them are quite entertaining short stories, and the author (who claims to have experienced several phenomena spoken of herein) mostly stands aside in general approval of the idea of lycanthropes while the stories tell themselves verbatim.

196 pages.

Animism, the Seed of Religion: Now Available!

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This is of interest potentially to two groups of people; the occultist will here find some interesting folk tales and spiritual rites from cultures then being actively studied at the height of the colonial era, and the history buff will find in these pages an interesting but sometimes outdated colonial perspective on non-European cultures. It focuses mostly on African lore but also on India and makes some mention (in the naturalistic period post-animism but prior to semimodern religion, as the theory then held) to the Mesoamericans. The categorical system isn't entirely accurate, but it is applicable and useful.

60 pages.

Psychedelic Spirituality Second Edition: Now Available!

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This work was one of my favorites to write- deviating partly from the academic and geared more towards my own anecdotes of psychedelic usage, I crafted this book not so much as an educational guide as a compilation of shorter sections which deviate in purpose and look to the historical, the spiritual, and sometimes the legal.

It is substantially similar to the first edition save for a slightly different format, some cleaning up of a few typos, and the removal or addition of a few portions which relate to the relatively significant political and legal differences between the year 2015 (when the first edition was released) and the present as 2018 matures and prepares to give way to the final year of this decade.

If you're interested in my own shamanic experiences, or a broad overview of the drug war, medicine, historical psychedelic usage, and more, you'll enjoy this work, I believe.

198 pages.

Demonism Verified and Analyzed: Now Available!

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This work is an excellent look at some of the christian conceptions of demonology from its era, in the roaring twenties. Based on field work in China and India, mostly by the author but referencing other missionaries as well, it purports to prove that demons exist, that evil is the agency of Satan, and that mesmerism and psychology play a role in possession.

It contains several hundred of these anecdotes and speaks of strange idolatrous practices in typical early 20th century form, while listing polytheism and similar things as spiritually hazardous. Oddly, while proposing government moralism, it decries literal suppression of such beliefs in favor of mere coercion and education. It also attacks spiritualism.

140 pages.

Funeral Customs: Now Available!

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This extremely interesting work is sadly little-known despite its scope; several thousand years of human history and a dozen or so cultures, with all funerary rites they're associated with- from the memento mori and then-modern practices back through embalming, interring, or burning corpses.

The greatest part of this work is its general mention of the slow (or occasionally mono-generational) process of change over time as applied to funeral customs. Nowhere is this as intrinsic as with the black death and the necessity of abandoning more elaborate and single-member graves and services in favor of mass burial, water burial, and expedited blessings.

238 pages.