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.

Fairies: Now Available!

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This little work is a dense collection of folklore about fairies (although it does include some content referring to elves, brownies, and similar beings)- part of it relates to poetry, some to prose both ancient and then-modern. It is a quasi-romanticist effort, openly encouraging the promulgation of such folk material as an alternative to the cold, secular boredom of industrial living. It also seems to insinuate that such beings are real, albeit otherworldly.

35 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 Supernatural In Romantic Literature: Now Available!

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This fairly short work was initially full length and 169 pages long; formatting in that era was often quite interesting. It's an extremely dense overview of many hundreds of bits of literature, the main point of which is to correlate and compare literary tropes, objects, and subjects across books and poetry. The author himself tries to restrain the lore to mostly the medieval and then-modern but gets dragged into some content from the Norse and Hindu systems of religion nonetheless.

As an occultist I see this as a very valuable work, more for its massive number of secondary sources to be used as a starting point to dig deeper into folklore and its cryptozoological and magical offshoots, than any value stemming from its own analysis; although the prevalence of Arthurian legend and the "Arabian Nights" and their enormous influence on then contemporary works is notable.

89 pages.

Modern Vampirism: Now Available!

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This is one of the flat-out weirdest works I've ever edited; a short work, it treats on poetry and prose related to vampires, details both blood drinking and psychic attack, and altogether appears to endorse the concept that literal vampires- that is, in the strain of Dracula, able to keep a corpse semi-alive or appear in apparitional form- are both real and very dangerous. Cautionary in part, it warns the reader to be mindful and not utilize ouija boards or seances or hypnotism, to avoid elemental spirits from parasitizing them.

Alluding to both fiction and supposed nonfiction accounts of injury and death from energetic vampirism, it also suggests hanging around extremely optimistic people in order to fight such otherworldly forces.

49 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.

Vampires and Vampirism: Now Available!

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This work is one of a number of interesting titles on the subject of vampirism that come in the late premodern period. Many works even from that interesting early 20th century academic era only fixate on vampires as the bloodsuckers of specifically southeastern European lore- this work manages to extend its scope to Asia and Russia as well and includes a number of interesting poems and stories. In the most amusing inclusion, it classes Bram Stokers' "Dracula" as an exciting modern romance- this being amusing only because the work dates to over a century ago.

Only a small proportion of works I edit actually grab my attention fully whilst being edited- this is one of those books and I highly recommend it.

113 pages.

Folklore, Cryptozoology, and Mythology Books for Sale

The following is a continuously edited list of books about folklore, cryptids, and mythology which I have edited and released. All links are to Amazon, where I have self published my works.

THE BOOK OF WEREWOLVES
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A fine work by Baring-Gould on lycanthropes, cannibalism, and berserkers. 

LORE OF THE UNICORN
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Shepard's great work on the history, symbolism, and legend of the unicorn.

THE MAGIC OF THE HORSE SHOE
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An interesting folkloric look at the use of horse shoes, salt, and animals in superstition.

DRAGONS AND DRAGON LORE
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An extremely good look at Chinese, Hindu, and European dragon lore.

THE BOOK OF HALLOWEEN
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A good compilation of history and folklore related to Halloween and its prior counterparts.

MAGIC OF THE MIDDLE AGES
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A good look at the witch trials, cryptids, and ritual magick by Rydberg.

MESMERISM, SPIRITUALISM, WITCHCRAFT, AND MIRACLES
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A nice work by Putnam on spirits, Salem, mesmerism, and other related paranormal topics from a dedicated spiritualist perspective.

ANIMISM THE SEED OF RELIGION
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An interesting booklet categorizing the evolution of folklore and spiritual systems.

GHOSTLY PHENOMENA
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A collection of ghostly reports by the author and others, with some opinions about psychic and spiritual phenomena like mediums and automatic writing.

WERWOLVES
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A lengthy work containing dozens of folk tales on the topic of lycanthropes.

FLOWER LORE
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An excellent work showing the use of flowers in folklore and religious myth.

SCOTTISH FOLKLORE
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A collection of stories from the authors' childhood in Scotland, some with a religious or cryptozoological bent.

THE DWARFS OF MOUNT ATLAS
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A short work dealing with reports of pygmies with magical properties in mountains central Morocco.

ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND USAGES OF IRELAND
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A rabidly pro-Irish nationalist text that contains spooky stories, proverbs, herbal remedies, and more.

SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT ANIMALS
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A mixture of stories, poetry, and more, regarding animals often in supernaturalmanners, as well as some cryptids.

CELTIC RELIGION
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A short work on the basics of the Celtic religion including the Druids.

CELTIC MYTHOLOGY
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A somewhat linguistic work on Celtic spiritual systems.

APPARITIONS GHOSTS HOBGOBLINS AND HAUNTED HOUSES
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An obtusely titled but excellent series of short tales involving various paranormal misidentifications and hoaxes.

SIGNS, OMENS, AND SUPERSTITIONS
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A compilation of divination, simple folklore, good and bad luck charms, and much more.

MAGIC AND MYSTERY
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A skeptics' look at homeopathy, fairies, and various superstitions.

THE VEIL OF ISIS
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A lengthy expose on the Druids, Isis worship, Phallism and folklore from ancient and then-modern times.

THE FAIRY MYTHOLOGY OF SHAKESPEARE
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A short work detailing the history of fairy lore as applied to Shakespeares' works.

THE POWER OF GEMS AND CHARMS
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A laundry list of charms, talismans, and good luck symbols, and their usages.

A BOOK OF GIANTS
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A work on giants in mythology from the Norse, Homer, the middle ages, and more.

THE SUPERNATURAL IN ROMANTIC FICTION
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A very dense compilation of folklore, including Arthurian and ancient as well as then-modern.

POEMS OF PAGANISM
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A compilation of poetry with a pagan twist. Mostly romantic and quasi-folkloric.

BIRDS IN LEGEND AND FOLKLORE
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A long work compiling centuries of avian folklore from a hundred or more cultures.

POPULAR HOME REMEDIES AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
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A dense collection of superstition, some derived from Hohmans' "Pow Wows" and the "Egyptian Secrets" of Albertus Magnus.

FOLKLORE, SUPERSTITION, AND CHARMS
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A compilation of material from dozens of sources covering folk rites, hexes, talismans, folklore about luck and prognostication, and more.

SYMBOLIC MYTHOLOGY
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A work on symbol usage in religion and spiritual systems, including lore about animals, pillars, rings, etc.

IN GHOSTLY JAPAN
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A collection of folk tales, mythology, and proverbs from pre-modern Japanese culture.

A WORLD OF WONDERS
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A compilation of folklore and myth ranging from alchemy to lycanthropy, from astrology to pseudoscience.

POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS OF THE HIGHLANDERS OF SCOTLAND
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A compilation of Scottish ghost stories, cryptozoology, and superstitions.

ENGLISH FOLKLORE
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A collection of folk tales and superstitions, plus ghost stories and more, from peasant England.

FAIRIES
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A slightly romanticist compilation of poetry and prose involving fairies, but also elves and other such beings.

BEGINNINGS: OR GLIMPSES OF VANISHED CIVILIZATIONS
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A collection of lore from Greece, Rome, Egypt, Vedic writings, and the work of Donnelly, heavily related to Atlantis and seeking to describe the origins of civilization.

CONTENTIONS WITH GOD
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A compilation of mostly humorous examples of people suing the Jewish god or complaining of contradictions in Torah and similar law.

AMERICAN INDIAN FREEMASONRY
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A short booklet relating some native myths and their spiritual overlap with Masonic concepts.

ENGLISH FAIRY TALES
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A work containing an anthropological dissertation on fairy folklore and etymology, plus some classic fairy tales.

FISHES OF FANCY
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A compilation of aquatic folklore, from fishes and crabs to dolphins and more.

JEWISH FOLKLORE IN THE MIDDLE AGES
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A short work by Moses Gaster. One part short folk tales, one part analysis of the same.

CISTERCIAN LEGENDS OF THE 13TH CENTURY
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A fine collection of Cistercian folk tales ranging from the pedestrian to the supernatural.

CURIOSITIES OF OLDEN TIMES
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A large collection of interesting and strange folklore, by Sabine Baring-Gould.

HISTORIC GHOSTS AND GHOST HUNTERS
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A compilation of spirits and ghosts in folklore. Strange stories.

Short Update Re: Ebooks

It's time for a short announcement for several important pieces of information for my readers here.

1. I have transferred the files and information for the last 20ish works I have released to kdp. Soon they will be available on kindle as ebooks. I tend to drag my heels for months at a time on such things (because I myself do not like ebooks and tablets, I want physical copies of literary works) and then do them in spurts like this. This includes works like "The Piasa", "The Roman Index of Forbidden Books", and "Is the Devil a Myth?" among others.

2. Soon I will add links for both paperback and ebook copies to the category lists. For a few titles there will be no ebook because kindle's platform has slightly different terms of service from Createspace for paperback works.

3. I have obtained a dozen new works to work on; some titles on alchemy, a few psychic works, and some mesmerism and other pseudoscience.

4. The tenth category will soon be added; "Folklore, Mythology, and Cryptozoology." A new "Mysticism and Spirituality" category will absorb some works from other categories and replace the folk magic category.

General Update For July

As of right now I am juggling several good projects; Puckle's "Funeral Customs" is first on the list, rapidly approaching completion, and will be available probably within a week, indeed possibly two or three more days if I continue editing at the rate I have been for some time.

I have obtained several new works that fit within the herbal and homeopathic category; I still have the South Sea Herbal to work on as well, so that makes three more entries within that category for the fairly near future; one is a longer work, the South Sea Herbal is rather short, and another that is about 60 pages in length, a simple hand guide to some herbal species.

The tenth category to be added to this blog (specifically for cryptids and folklore) will be made subsequent to the next title being finished that will fit into the same category. I may eliminate the folk magic category and create a new one specifically for mysticism which requires shuffling a few titles around as well- into that category will go works like the Sepher Bahir, along with a few works currently in the Divination category which are more spiritual as opposed to some of the routine fortune-telling titles.

Over the coming months I hope to return to works of divination and, once the South Sea Herbal is illustrated and released, it will finally be time to unleash a stand-alone variant of the Ars Goetia on the world and, after that, a version of the Lesser Keys of Solomon; the most famous of all grimoires.

Dragons and Dragon Lore: Now Available!

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This is one of the better and more complete works made on the subject of dragons through over a century of time; Ingersoll's work covers so many cultures that it would be fruitless to list them all, but the inclusion of the Hindu nagas and their lore is certainly worth mention.

As far as academic occultism goes this book is good; as far as cryptozoological primary sources go it's even better.

166 pages.

Magic of the Horse Shoe: Now Available!

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This is one of the greater compilations of folklore I have encountered; written by Robert Means Lawrence, it compiles an extremely long and detailed bit of information related to the symbolism and use of horse shoes in the context of good luck and superstition, along with elaborate side topics like the similar superstitious use of salt, or of animals.

Not content to study one culture or time period, Lawrence helpfully decided to span several thousand years of human history in this text, and ruminated on the similarity and overlap between such traditions in dozens of cultures both extinct and then-modern. Those interested in the history of witchcraft, or of certain cryptozoological aspects, will also find a great deal of compiled material here.

252 pages.

Lore of the Unicorn: Now Available!

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This work is pure rationalism circa the early 20th century. Penned by Odell Shepard, it goes to great lengths in being as detailed as possible, not limiting itself by time period or region. Speaking of lore as separate as that of Africa and India, the tale of the unicorn (or alicorn) is rendered not simply to a misunderstood and real beast here, but takes on a wider symbology and meaning.

The most interesting component of Shepard's work here though is medicinal and related to medieval folklore; the unicorn horn (variously the horn of a rhinoceros or narwhal, and sometimes that of an antelope or even a chunk of petrified wood) was rumored in those days to sweat in the presence of any poison and to act as a souped-up sort of bezoar taken internally. The content is at times dense, and it draws on many primary sources both antiquated and then-modern.

216 pages.

General Update Time!

I have completed the editing of "Lore of the Unicorn" and it will be available today and of course posted about here. This is just the first of several more folklore-and-cryptid style works I wish to release in a fairly short span of time. Those two herbals have not been forgotten; I think I'll bend to pressure and pay someone a flat fee and put their name on the works in exchange for not having to draw up the illustrations there personally; it means it might take a year or so for the works to pay themselves off (they're not top tier works, popularity-wise) but it's worth it to have them done and to expand the herbal category.

Which brings me to the goal of creating a new category sometime this summer for a new style of work which doesn't currently fit in any other category; folklore and cryptozoology. This will likely be the last category created for this year, although I could plow away at some works on ghosts and psychic lore and craft that one as well. I haven't decided yet!

Good times ahead!

The Magic of the Middle Ages: Now Available!

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This work is Rydberg's finest- an academic compilation of subjects ranging from a treatment of the burning times, and of religious philosophy (dualism, specifically) to short passages on some cryptids of note, to various meanderings through the high ritual magick and alchemy of the era spoken of. Clearly hostile to Catholic lore, Rydberg manages to choke back his disdain of that church long enough to give it a fair shake at explaining its constant pogroms through especially the era of King James.

Its third section is a strange sort of quasi-fictional tale involving a group of men time traveling to the dark ages and confronting a sorcerer who is under the belief that he himself conjured them, written partly in the first person.

114 pages.

General Update Time!

Tomorrow I anticipate finishing a very good academic work entitled "The Magic of the Middle Ages"- it combines some cryptid lore with a short of short story involving an alchemist and mage and a group of Victorian men traveling back in time with black magic. Added to this is an extensive treatment of the burning times especially the cultural and religious effects of the Malleus Maleficarum (the 'witch hammer'.) With some of the largely useless notes removed and in its new format it runs about 110 pages altogether.

I am also editing a work on Telepathy, and with a few more works along those lines the final category will be created; one specifically for the psychic arts and related concepts.

While these two works are being finished off I have temporarily halted the two herbals I have sitting there in different levels of completion; as the weather grows warmer I predict that I will have more interest in plants and botanical medicine and their related sub-topics, as my spring fever erupts in full scale.

The first two chapters of a political manuscript I have been working on are also complete.

The Book of Werewolves: Now Available!

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"The Book of Werewolves" is a slightly ominously-titled work from the mid 1800s by the somewhat eccentric genius Sabine Baring-Gould. It covers far more than just your typical tales of lycanthropy and delves deeply into berserker (bear-serker) lore, Hindu tradition, and cannibalism among other things, titillating the reader with rather lurid depictions of criminal behavior.

Baring-Gould helpfully acknowledges both the spiritual and secular explanations for various historical tales along these general lines and manages to cram an enormous amount of lore into this work- which might be the pinnacle of such literature in man's realm of study.

174 pages.