The Use of Bathing in Medicine: Now Available!

 

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This little work details some of the herbs used in a medicinal setting pertinent to bathing throughout time, with a special focus on the practices of ancient Greece and Rome. It compares these usages to practices in vogue in then-modern (18th century) England.

The processes detailed are often presented in such a manner that some of the recipes used in both hot and cold bathing- especially aromatics and astringents pertinent to the theory of the four humors proposed initially by Galen but still believed in until relatively modern times with the rise of early standardized systems in organic medicine.

Fully illustrated.

37 pages.

The Principles of Occult Healing: Now Available!

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This work was compiled by multiple Theosophists and ruminates on the general idea of healing with methods outside of the generally orthodox such as pills and so forth. "Drugless healing" is discussed at length- that is, the use of mesmerism, etc, as pain relief, or of using autosuggestion. Indeed, some of the methods here for the purposes of psychological disturbance are still employed- such as the use of certain music to create relaxation, stress reduction being important in a medicinal context.

102 pages.

A Treatise on Animal Magnetism: Now Available!

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This intermediate length work is presented here partially for cautionary reasons; Mesmer and his school of thought were briefly accepted as miraculous and spiritually significant until the fraudulent nature of some of his practices were exposed. That being said, this text is mostly a compilation of testimonial work regarding the efficacy of magnetic bathing and associated practices within a medical context. No less important than studying the claims of those involved with the witch trials (also self evidently true, or so the people then living believed at the time!) the claims of this era with regards to some of the fantastical medical movements of the day are of import to any serious student of occultism genuinely speaking, teaching the often hard lesson to question things, even if they are presented as self evident, scientific, or miraculous.

103 pages.

The Remedial Uses of Hypnotism: Now Available!

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While extremely short this work needed to be released in a modern edition because it is perhaps one of the best examples of claims made by proponents of hypnotism in its era; its efficacy at treating certain disorders is now beyond question but claims here that it works almost invariably and can cure everything from tuberculosis to asthma of course are now rendered into the same family as bloodletting and electroshock.

The arguments made against the comic use of mesmerism as entertainment, and its words about the use of hypnotism in crimes are both quite a good read.

24 pages.

The Family Nurse: Now Available!

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This excellent work is at once a manuscript of folk medicine, an apothecarian work, a recipe book, and a compilation of basic life tips from the 1830s; indeed, it is one of those "receipt books" from the era which, in domestic work, displaced some of the more odd content of the prior eras' cosmopolitan grimoires. Gone is the alchemy in favor of more rational medicinal workings.

Containing a fairly lengthy herbal remedy section and recipes for ointments and salves as well, it's surprising how much of the content is still utilized today- it humorously refers to the banes of both alcohol and opium while suggesting sometimes a little kick of gin should be added to a recipe or two, to solve for "patient discomfort."

163 pages.

Magic Plants: Now Available!

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"Magic Plants" is not an herbal, strictly speaking, although it treats on the use of herbs in a sorcerous context in some primary sources it lists. Rather, it is a general treatise on the philosophy behind such use within the context of natural magic.

Translated from "De Vegetabilis Magicis" by Goldsmid in the mid 1800s, it is a dense little work, which, in its appendix, adds a tract detailing some witch trial material (almost surely to show the reader the torments applied for an understanding of natural healing and science in the burning times, especially to those who did not even practice sorcery) which speaks of herbalism insofar as witching ointment and a Satan-bestowed "mysterious black powder" used to harm cattle and people is concerned.

28 pages.

Hohman's Pow Wows (or; Long Lost Friend)

Now that the Universal Fortune Teller of Mrs. Bridget is complete, it's time for a new edited work; and thankfully this time it's in semi-modern English and comes from the United States.

Hohman's "Pow Wows" has nothing at all to do with Mesoamerican ritualism; which is funny given the connotations of the title- instead, it's a fusion system between German ritualism (influenced, as I will explain, by French ritualism) and Americana, a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition from the dawn of the 1800s.

The work itself is about the same length as, and contains some material similar to, the Petit Albert of 1700s era French renown- in my estimation the French cycle has influenced the content of this work, based on its eerie level of similarity- although it is within the realm of possibility that the similarities are due to traditions which were simply popular enough to have spread around Europe; after all, there's no certainty that all content in the Petit Albert originated in France (indeed, it mentions Hungary and other regions explicitly for a few of its passages.) It's broken into similar sections and covers similar maladies such as the bite of mad dogs (rabies of course) and headaches, hysteria, and other conditions.

One part herbal, one part prayer/incantation booklet, and one part folkish tradition, this rivals the Petit Albert for "most in depth ritual system" I have ever edited. It is likely that I will list this with the grimoires, since that is essentially what it is, even if it is also technically a work of folk magick.

I expect that it will be around 110 to 120 pages when completed, and it's quite a nice work.