The Final Literary Update of the 2010s!

Alright literary world.

The year (and the 2010s) is almost over, and because of travel I have not gotten any new editing done in a few days; that means it's time to wrap up the year and make a few happy announcements!

First: Paperback sales have continued to generally grow over the last couple of years and this gives a considerable incentive to continue editing pretty much on a permanent basis. Now that the idea of POD exists I can't see it ever disappearing even if Amazon were to go kaput tomorrow (unlikely.) This is great for the self published.

Second: The virtually inexhaustible amount of material available for editing is limited almost solely by copyright, not by actual mass of work. Over the coming decade, virtually all of the good latter day works of Theosophy and post-Victorian occultism will become public domain works; latter day Hall, Steiner, etc, along with a host of 1930s era works in the lead up to the apocalyptic, sometimes sci-fi themed, UFO-tainted works post Wing Anderson with the Second World War and rise of the Atomic era. I am extremely excited for the next twenty or so years- I figure I should have 500 or more works easily available over the course of the next decade alone and as many as a thousand in the subsequent one if things go well. That would be a massive library of works.

Third: I am (finally) going to get back to a bit of my own writing- I have a couple rough ideas already for short works but I want to re-edit my main longer works and release sequels to several of them.

Happy New Year!

American Medicinal Flowers: Now Available!

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This short bulletin is a handy little guide to North American species wild-gathered for medicinal purposes in its era. It has been illustrated by Rita Metzner because my own renditions would not be appropriate for a work meant to be roughly a short field guide. I've released a couple of these agricultural pieces before by the same author and have another lined up being edited as we speak.

The species are common; datura, elder, raspberries, and so forth; for each a basic description of usage is given- it should be noted that the apothecarian recipes derived from such herbal material are still in use in folk medicine, homeopathy, and in the third world.

29 pages.

The New Burning Times: Now Available!

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As we say farewell (or good riddance) to the 2010s and prepare to enter the twenties- which I hope will be filled with flappers and art deco- it is time to release the final work of the decade. I literally got the idea a couple days ago when the news broke about the usual miscreants of the furthest "left" whining about extremist hand signals among army navy cadets- a tale told over and over by the modern day zealot authoritarians which peskily bother everyone else because of their own opportunism, fear, and boredom. The 2010s are significantly similar to the witch trials- the ignorance, false appeals to authority, self evidence of the claims, and culpability of the public that stands by and does nothing as their fellow humans are intellectually abused- it's not with joy but with sardonic observation that I crafted this little booklet.

These days more and more material is rendered proprietary and temporal by convoluted and obviously ill-omened contracts and hardware in computer systems. A computer ten years ago was mainly designed for local storage, able to connect to a broader network. Now, a computer is designed for exterior storage with a few internalized apps to communicate with it. This inefficient concept only exists because tech firms and their cronies wish to "own" all material and snuff it out at a Stalinesque whim.

As always I am 100% opposed to all censorship and all ignorance- todays "activist" haranguing about "extremism" on the internet is no less stupid and evil than some man in a long wool cloak with a copy of the Malleus Maleficarum centuries ago. It's the same superstitious nonsense, the same abuse as before.

Final Update of the 2010s!

For the tldr crowd just watch the video!

It's almost the end of the year and of the 2010s ("good riddance" many will say!) so it's time for the last general update!

When I first began my foray into literature it was the middle of the 2010s and I had little idea what I was doing. Spurred on partly by necessity and partly by mere interest, I decided to take advantage of publishing on-demand services and release a few basic works to the world. Now, as I look back, I see how wise it was even though I was discouraged from this move by part of my audience and even some people in my private life.

Since the first of January, 2018 (KDP doesn't allow me to go back further to see 2016 or 17 sales sadly) I have sold over 68,000 paperback copies of my work. I didn't bother to check KDP sales since ebook versions are not available for half of my works and the per-copy income is somewhat lower. It's still in the many thousands, but not nearly as high as paperback sales. I always like to be able to put a book on the shelf, literally speaking; I don't own a kindle reader or a tablet of any kind. Too much eye strain. The only digital books I work with are scans of original documents.

As of writing this the best seller is the Book of Forbidden Knowledge (which you can purchase here.) The best selling work of my own manufacture is Occult Memetics, available here.

Over the next decade I plan to more than double the books I have available while also writing some more; I have some ideas for a vaguely humorous, steampunk-adjacent sword and sorcery series and I want to release Morbid Stories II and the next edition or two of SIH. The work load is enormous. I constantly have a half dozen works half completed. I wouldn't be surprised to hit 600 editions by 2030 assuming that POD is still around and so is Amazon. Since Bezos is the only Silicon Valley billionaire not destroying his own empire by censoring everything I feel "reasonably confident" sticking with their services.

This massive expansion of work attends a redoubling of effort with regards to video; I got a (much) better webcam I'll be hooking up in mere days and I plan to begin streaming again, possibly as an audio podcast.

Onward to the twenties!

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.

The Heart of Things: Now Available!

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The second volume of lore in Edward Farnsworths' three part series, "Heart of Things" is much like "The Deeper Mysteries." the content is a bit less variable and more focused on astrological, zodiacal, categorical materials. It speaks at some length on dreams, spirits, the meaning of life, the dimensions, and many other subjects, usually in three or four pages apiece.

197 pages.

The Deeper Mysteries: Now Available!

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This intermediate-length work is actually the third of three works written by Farnsworth over the course of a decade, containing various new age material from a surprisingly large number of sub-topics within the spiritual. It touches on Swedenborg, Blavatsky, levitation, the categorization of spirits and creatures, and many other tidbits. It should be noted that the author was certainly not inclined to editing as a trade since I had to redact dozens of errors in the work, and this was a laymans' sort of guide comprised more of short, discrete sections than one overarching, flowing work.

Some of the content is secondary and comes from Theosophical figures, not just Blavatsky but other "masters" also.

138 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.

The Ancient Mysteries and Modern Masonry: Now Available!

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This work is actually a transcription of a series of lectures given by Charles Vail- notable as a minister, mason, and political figure in his era. The subjects of the lectures are all about Freemasons, but range from its symbols and their meanings, to its rites (especially of initiation) and the underlying history of the Masons in their modern incarnation dating to the 18th century.

It is interesting as well for its frequent use of quotes and allusions to secondary sources, and thus provides a potential springboard for further study.

165 pages.

The Evil Eye, Thanatology, and Other Essays: Now Available!

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And now comes the first release in quite a while- a compilation of essays and speeches given by the author on medical subjects, mostly of an occult character- it's a fascinating book, with highly variable subtopics.

Perhaps the most interesting material here is on the history of the concept of the evil eye and counter-measures, but the history of the Knights Hospitaller and the history of anesthesia both include surprisingly large amounts of spiritual lore- religious fighting, occultism, underground movements, and more than a little heresy. It speaks at length as well on Giordano Bruno among other notable characters and ends with advocacy for cocaine as a pain reliever so that should give a decent idea of the exotic content.

268 pages

General Update Time!

Alright literary world!

I am now in the Netherlands, and taking a short break from actual literary work; having edited 250 different editions, I figure it's a good time to take a week or so to just focus on exploring a new and unfamiliar area. It's warmer here than in my native Vermont so I am enjoying an extended season of "no frost and daytime temperatures well into the 50s."

That is not to say the work has ended, though! It never will!

Over the next few days I intend to try and obtain a a few dozen new books and booklets to edit; I need fifty, of course, to attain my ultimate goal of 300 editions, which I hope to complete by the end of 2020. I already organized my work files, and I'll begin #251 fairly soon- but I also need to cull a few editions since some works are easier or more relevant than others. I start getting antsy if I don't do my editing or writing for extended periods. To me, a vacation is when you do the same work but in a new location, so expect new releases before October ends and, if I have my 'druthers, #260 before Christmas.

Initiation Human and Solar: Now Available!

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This is one of the foremost works of all Theosophy- from the well known Alice Bailey, an initiatory work which describes the various levels of spiritual refinement which are required on the path to Theosophical mastery. It should be noted that some of the obtuse terminology is explained at the end of the text in a decently sized glossary.

I highly recommend this work for those who intend to delve into the occult; one need not be a Theosophist themselves to understand that the spiritual path requires a trial by fire of sorts- withstanding temptation, renunciation of certain vices (voluntarily, in most paths) and more. This particular work intriguingly suggests that to attain the higher levels of this mystery tradition requires vegetarianism and, for some, essentially veganism.

A fitting 250th edited work!

211 pages.

Clairvoyance and Thought Transference: Now Available!

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The notable L W deLaurence returns to this blog with another excellent work, this time compiling a laundry list of phenomena together (telepathy, spiritualism, somnambulism, mesmerism, and clairvoyance) to analyze them and draw them together while explaining, basically, their function and use. As usual, the notable (notorious?) author manages to remain collected enough to sometimes express skepticism, or at least to denote his opposition to others' theories within each subtopic. It should be noted that this work references several secondary texts which can be consulted for further reading on these topics.

112 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.

A Book of Giants: Now Available!

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Mythology and legend is a great component of the occult and the study of the same arguably one of the more enjoyable. What could be better than tales of Norse giants? Tales of Norse giants alongside tales of giants in Homers' works and in the middle ages, twain with a short but sweet section at the end of this work on "real" giants (some lore of which is perfectly accurate!)

Technically speaking this work is fiction, but the recounting it does spills over into the specifically occult in its then-modern musings about the subject matter, and primarily comes from works either explicitly or implicitly religious in nature and overtone.

252 pages.

Hypnotism, Personal Magnetism, Physical Culture, Health Breathing, and Magnetic Bathing: Now Available!

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And now the award for most obtusely titled booklet goes to!...

Zach Shed is an interesting individual; I can't seem to find any info about him other than that he authored this booklet at the dawn of the 20th century; originally, it was horizontally aligned (wider than tall) and its title beckons the question "why?" Nonetheless, it's a good work overall; it suggests the use of healthy breathing exercises, positivity, hypnosis, and magnetic bathing, as well as dietary changes, to prolong health and generally stave off disease and age. Some of its suggestions are in vogue even today; a lot of health "nuts" drink lemon water preferentially and endorse the breathing practices of Tai Chi, etc. Proponents of the alkaline diet beware- this work stresses the need for balanced acidity.

61 pages.

The Consciousness of the Atom: Now Available!

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This intermediate-length work is the product of Alice A. Bailey, one of the more well known Theosophists of her era. Over her career she penned many works described as "received" (via channeling) but this very early work is of her own admitted manufacture.

Some of the content is quite as pseudoscientific now as it was before (man as a central radiation source comes to mind) but other material is accepted to some degree or another. The idea of spooky action at a distance aside, Baileys' work basically adopts the modern concept of the atom four years before it pretty much replaced the prior. For those interested in Theosophy it is an invaluable work.

99 pages.

Mehmet Alis Oriental Interpretation of Dreams: Now Available!

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This interesting work is partially a plagiarism of Napoleons' Oraculum (not the later Tousey version but the 1830s variant) but is nonetheless the best fortune teller work I have come across; at almost 180 pages in modern format it includes nearly 90 pages of (dense) dream interpretation, a full oracle system, sections on phrenology, lucky and unlucky days, dice, cards, simple charms, and phrenology. The oracle is ascribed to Count Bismarck which almost surely makes that entry a tongue-in-cheek swipe at the French attribution (to Napoleon) of that earlier, notable work.

It is of note that the dream interpretation differs somewhat from other contemporary systems and occasionally gives a double meaning (one 'source' claiming the dream means one thing, another 'source' another, etc.) The tea leaf section is definitely adapted from the Mrs' Bridget Fortune Teller or some missing link work between the two in date.

Extremely readable and useful. I use it in my own dream interpretation explicitly.

179 pages.

Occult Japan: Now Available!

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The topic of Shinto is one I haven't really studied much of before; I waited for years to finally attain a proper copy of this book that could reasonably be edited from and was finally able to do so fairly recently. Its author needs little introduction since he wasn't just an avid studier of Asian religion but also an astronomer of considerable fame who proclaimed Mars to be covered in artificial canals.

The work is almost more notable for its time period and cultural significance than for its strictly religious content since it was written from a western perspective in the very center of the Meiji period- the rapidly shifting cultural ethos of Japan is thus overlapped seamlessly with age-old ritual customs and spiritual lore in this work, acting almost as a time capsule. Highly recommended.

208 pages.

Dreams and Premonitions: Now Available!

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This little work is one of the better additions to the corpus of Theosophical literature by LW Rogers, one of its most relevant members and leadership figures. It is notable for the sheer number of anecdotes about premonitions in dreams, especially the well known case of Abe Lincoln dreaming of his own impending death. As interesting for its historical content (the quake of Messina, etc) as for its spiritual content, it importantly contains a bit of advice for those seeking to remember and thus interpret their premonitions.

90 pages.

The Dead Have Never Died: Now Available!

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This work is a compilation of dialogue (mainly) between medium and spirit, designed to describe the afterlife, what it's like to be "dead", and similar subtopics of mortality. Written from a determined spiritualist perspective, the work reflects the opinions of the author that his own psychic investigations and seances have led to proof of a continued existence after the grave swallows the corpse. Some of the claims made here are quite bizarre, some overlap with Theosophy, and altogether it's a quite interesting work.

169 pages.

Albertus Magnus; Egyptian Secrets: Now Available!

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At long last I was able to get a copy of this work (published by deLaurence at the dawn of the 20th century) that was in workable condition. At over 230 pages in length it is a full grimoire initially in three volumes which were first available in the early 18th century in German. Borrowing heavily from the Petit Albert and in the same tradition and lineage as Hohmans' Pow Wows, it is comprised of two distinct types of material; that which is technically mundane (folk medicine mostly, but also some husbandry related entries) and that which is truly spiritual (prayers and, in a couple spots, incantations involving literal demons.) Wherever "t t t" appears it is assumed the reader ought to be making the sign of the cross.

The staggering number of actual entries here is only eclipsed by the strange content of some of the passages: Ever wonder how to prevent yourself from continuing to be infatuated by a woman lustfully? This book has a solution: Just work up a good sweat and drink some beer from your sweaty shoe. Rub some bat lard in your eyes to see in the dark and amaze your friends!

I attempted to correct some of the obvious spelling errors in the work especially in volume I, however since the initial deLaurence edition is essentially a translated reworking already I felt it necessary to leave the somewhat jolting flow alone.

233 pages.

General Update Time!

Alright literary world!

I've been busy editing at a much faster than normal pace over the prior month or so- this has culminated in running low on material and searching for more; which is great since I was able to obtain a grimoire that formerly was not available in a form I could work with- a notable one, which is similar to the Petit Albert but gets less attention. I am about half done editing it currently, but its format isn't great so it is a slow-ish process.

After it is released (the 240th edited occult work!) I will be proceeding with plans to create a couple new categories for the literary blogs; for those of you seeing this on Blogspot, I also have a Wordpress under the same moniker. For those on Wordpress, of course, I have one on Blogger.

This is great news since I have a bunch of new works also of various lengths and types to edit over the coming years; and that's the span I have in mind- this is no short term endeavor but rather a life-long endless project.

Stars of Destiny: Now Available!

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This is quite a good work, relatively lengthy and somewhat dense. It is purely astrological and includes the basic meaning of the twelve signs, the meaning of each celestial bodies' movements in each of the twelve houses, and the categorization of the twenty four hours of the day and what to do (or not do) in basic terms for business, travel, etc, based on the reigning planet. It gives some explanation using astrology with a few charts as well.

82 pages.

The Power of Gems and Charms: Now Available!

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This is one of the better works I have edited; academic in form, technically, but able to be used in a literal fashion for those practicing the occult, it is a laundry list of folklore and history regarding the use of charms for various purposes- luck, protection, love, etc. From simplistic "mascottes" to the bones of saints and legendary objects, it catalogs an enormous amount of material and includes more than a few charts for the use of, for example, precious stones and colors. Well written and very much worth reading.

105 pages.

Planting, Harvesting, etc, According to the Signs of the Zodiac: Now Available!

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This short, obtusely-titled booklet is nonetheless absolutely worth reading for those interested in the topic of astrology; I don't know of another comparable work; one which suggests that surgical and medical acts should be relegated to an astrological timeline. The agricultural tips in here are a bit more mystic than in most works with similar, almanac-esque content, but are definitely fun to read.

At the end it contains a relatively mundane twelve-month zodiac and the basic traits for each sign. Notably, it does include the concept of "cusp" signs (days overlapping two signs.) For example, I am on the cusp of Capricorn and Aquarius. This has significance in some zodiacal interpretations, but is not regarded as valid by some others.

38 pages.

The Fairy Mythology of Shakespeare: Now Available!

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This short work is partially based on a lecture given by the author some time prior, which was then edited with a bibliographic appendix and some additional explanatory material.

It traces the history of the fairy in imagery from multiple sources to Shakespeare, drawing heavily (but not solely) on Grimm, pointing out the combination origin of Shakespeares' usage, being a fusion of lore from his own era, as well as material from up to some centuries prior. Both academic and interesting, and a must-read for the more spiritually minded theater fan.

31 pages.

The Law of Natural Healing: Now Available!

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This fine work is essentially about autosuggestion and its various uses. Since it dates to the dawn of the 1900s, these were profuse in number- it is worth noting that a few of the usages of the same therapeutic means are still accepted even to this day by some, including in some cases, mainstream medicine. Hypnosis after a fashion is still utilized to some degree of success within the scope of trauma healing and addiction treatment.

Less accepted uses of suggestion from this work include curing goiters and lead poisoning. A very interesting piece of medical history!

132 pages.

Abaddon and Manahaim: Now Available!

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This book is quite interesting, even though I disagree (obviously) with much of the religious content herein- several sections are dedicated to the topic of the Devil (from a protestant perspective) and demons, and the bit about mortality and Hellfire is, of course, interesting as well.

The author, Joseph Berg, was a preacher, so some of the statements he makes are emotionally charged and come with admonitions to the reader, but his analysis of the character of the Devil and other topics from the position of interpreting dogma is quite worth a read.

167 pages.

Divine Inspiration: Now Available!

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It's slightly difficult to classify this work since almost nothing is known about its author (save his authorship herein) and because the content jumps from sub-topic to sub-topic. Indeed, the numerous errors in spelling here make me think that the writer may himself have been only half-literate; not at all uncommon in the early 1900s and entirely forgivable since the work is interesting.

It proclaims the coming end times (importantly, it was written in the era of WWI) and speaks at length on some moral topics- claiming angelic inspiration and speaking briefly on several points of the authors' life. This self-styled seer was, he claims, told by angels that the future era would eventually be marked by a holy and benevolent female rulership (of the 'meek') which would bring forth an enlightened world. While it speaks of psychic work it is strictly pseudo-christian in format. Altogether well worth a read.

81 pages.

The Family Companion and Physician: Now Available!

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This semi-short work is a fine one, because it combines herbal remedies (the recipes thereof, that is) with what amounts to diagnosis, and bridges the gap between prior works (which tended to be quite superstitious) and latter ones (which were more scientific in the truly modern sense. In the mid 19th century, the scientific and the spiritual segued into one another seamlessly. The incantations of grimoires slowly got displaced by the apothecary receipts of the more recent era. It includes as well a short lecture on health which is at times hilarious, blaming "self abuse" (now known as masturbation) for lunacy and various developmental disabilities.

I cannot recommend the concoctions utilized here in this booklet but some of the species and preparations are indeed chemically active and at the time would likely have been tested with at least some degree of rigor. It is an interesting look at the eras' medicinal lore. One of the best, actually.

65 pages.

Travel Means Work, Too!

Today I will be traveling overseas! I haven't disclosed where for security reasons- but just because I'll be soaring over the ocean doesn't mean it isn't a perfect time to do some literary work; indeed, there's not a whole lot else to do except plug my laptop in and watch my own films because the on-board movies will probably suck ass.

I decided to plow through an interesting receipt book and botanical text called "The Family Companion and Physician." It's of middling length and contains a series of treatments for ailments, some preparations of herbal and other compounds, and a short lecture on related topics. I am not sure what proportion of it I'll be able to complete over the Atlantic Ocean but regardless, at least I'll have something to do while movies or music play in the background.

The Mystic Dream Book: Now Available!

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This book is the most in depth pre-modern work I have encountered on the topic of dream interpretation. Sharing overlap with the entries found in older works on the subject (or including the subject), it is properly a fortune telling work in the same rough tradition as the Universal Fortune Teller, Philosophical Merlin, and various others.

It is detailed and fairly lengthy; those intrigued by the idea of dreams in the occult (from the more literal perspective, as in, direct prognostication) will probably find this book fascinating.

138 pages.

Gleanings of a Mystic: Now Available!

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This book is a fairly comprehensive guide to the philosophical views of Heindel, of Rosicrucian renown. More a compiling of short essays than a single work, it was collected together posthumously, with subject material ranging from reincarnation and mortality, to initiation and enlightenment, as well as plenty of asides into the history of mankind and existence, Atlantis, and various post-Blavatsky lore involving the human race and its various cultural separations over time.

It's fairly easy to understand, not at all as dense as some contemporary works of the same basic subject material, and is therefore highly recommended for those intrigued by the Rosicrucians (or mysticism in general) but not yet fully versed in the same. It should be noted that the initial edition is far longer; I redacted about twenty pages of ads and blurbs about other works by the initial publisher as well as a (meaningless) index.

131 pages.

General Update Time!

Alright literary world!

I am just finishing up the first third or so of edited work 230; Gleanings of a Mystic, which is a Rosicrucian book comprised of chapters which are on disparate topics, originally in essay form. As such, with that mark nearly achieved I figured it was time to give a quick update on plans for the near future. I will be going on vacation fairly soon; a work vacation, so I will still be editing and making my normal videos- indeed since I'll be traveling abroad I might make more than my normal video load. I am trying to get to 250 works by the end of the year and thankfully it looks fairly likely that this is achievable.

Several dozen works are there in my source files awaiting a good edit. As to which come first, that is your guess as much as mine since I tend to bounce from subtopic to subtopic in the occult quite randomly.

I do have a couple of decent fortune telling works lined up and those are always fun; once they're done I can write a "book of books" work, detailing my own study of the evolution of dream-and-oracle style prognostication works through the last two centuries.

Fun ahead!

Mind And Body: Now Available!

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This work is notable for its extensive treatment of the history of faith healing, mesmerism, hypnosis, and similar topics. The overarching topic is, in the latter half, about suggestion, but leads up to it by presenting material about how cells communicate with one another, and some various philosophy. Some of its material is badly dated but other content has held up over time (the potential therapeutic use of hypnosis, for example, at least for some purposes.)

It is well written and somewhat dense, with a large number of quoted secondary sources both ancient and then-modern.

110 pages.

The True Fortune Teller: Now Available!

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This is yet another of the fortune teller works I am so fond of. This one is quite short but dense and contains several novel inclusions- it is, as far as I know, the only work which prognosticates by nail shape and color (at least among works I've edited currently) and the tree picture is itself a sort of oracle used with a blindfold to tell general fortune.

It partly plagiarizes the 1790s Fortune Teller of Mrs Bridget and contains the same origin story and astrological section. The author is not known and the source work is not dated but I speculate it dates to shortly after the Philosophical Merlin and thus the 1830s or so based on the oracle type, the font and format of the initial work, and the obvious post-Mrs Bridget date.

I had help with the tree image from Sandra Kishi Glenn, whose website you can find here at this link. Many thanks for the rendering!

29 pages.

Karma (Besant): Now Available!

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This is one of a series of four booklets written in the early 20th century by Besant to show the basic premises of Theosophy to newcomers. It was out of a realization, on her part, it seems, that much Theosophical literature was too long and/or obtuse to be understood unless a person was relatively highly literate or already trained in Theosophy.

It is an intermediate primer on karma and related topics from the Buddhist tradition as westernized (slightly) by the occultists of the era.

58 pages.

Devil Worship in France: Now Available!

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This is a more or less full length work and one of incredible value. Technically just a refutation of Leo Taxil (who recanted, proving Waite correct, only a year later!) it provides a broad overview of various alchemical and demonological content, mentions and fleshes out a dozen or so major actual occult figures, speaks of the freemasons, and describes then-modern Satanism as it was in the more theistic sense.

Waite was a literary genius first and foremost. His work here is verbose and written with a bit of theatrical archaicism. I cleaned and modernized the language a bit but left some of his word-invention intact because of the subject matter. Altogether a great work, one of the greater within its era on any occult subject.

168 pages.

A Brief Course in Mediumship: Now Available!

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This little work is quite interesting, partly because it is only partly about mediumship and is more a general, broad collection of philosophy and secondary sources regarding what we now typically term "psychic phenomena." Chanelling, trances, telekinesis, and more, are all spoken of here, and an attempt is made to differentiate between purely spiritual, purely physical, and combined phenomena. It is well written although the author utilized a lot of shorthand that had to be corrected to modern spelling.

72 pages.

General Update Time!

Alright everyone!

I have gotten back into the swing of editing. I am currently working on Waites' "Devil Worship in France" which is a great book- after that I have several dozen more works planned. Happily, I have someone looking at illustrating a pair of herbals and a work by Manly Hall.

That will round of the work through July, probably. I need to go on a hunt for new literary material due to a glaring oversight on my part for years which has handicapped me- let's just say I am not an expert with regards to pdf files! This is a happy thing though; the amount of material I can work with has at least tripled upon recognition of this "misfortune."

Soon I plan on making two new sections on the literary blogs, because the amount of work has become too large for the current categorization system.

Happy times!

A Compendium of Heathen Mythology: Now Available!

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This is a rather short work, one written in the middle of the 19th century. Marketed to young, middle and upper middle class females, it is a sort of pagan primer- one which outcompeted contemporary works by amusingly including Hindu and Egyptian material alongside the then-standard Greek and Roman.

This amusing aside does not detract from the content- it is as good as any similar work. I like it slightly more because of those asides. It ought to be noted that a lot of the Hindi words had to be modernized (IE Seevah to Shiva.)

46 pages.

A Treatise on Magic: Now Available!

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This fairly short work is a nice example of early 19th century Christian rationalism. Penned by a Lutheran, it accepts the basic concept of Biblical spirituality while expressing deep skepticism of magic generally (of the superstitions of its era)- notably the work derives a lot of its content from the concept of the Biblical Witch of Endor. It speaks in some degree of detail of the Devil, and deviates from the fire and brimstone of both prior and latter Christendom.

67 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!

My Official Website is Now Active

ENTER THE GLORY

Alright everyone!

I am extremely pleased to announce that I now have a personal website. It is not completely done yet but it's in prime form, and will have a few other things added over the future.

And yes, for the many of you who want them, mugs are indeed now available.

Check it out!

General Update Time!

Alright literary world!

It's time for another general update; the garden is more or less complete so I will be returning to editing books fairly soon. I have a few dozen planned and lined up for the year.

Most of them are more on the academic side, with a few fortune telling works- a couple herbals round out the library and will take me near the 250 edition level- a fine place to be, well ahead of my expectations.

My vacation is almost over. Onward!

Animal Magnetism: Now Available!

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This very short manuscript is slightly amusing as well as informative; it gives a good mid 19th century (and then-rational) look at mesmerism and hypnotism- applauding the latter, even in its rationalism, for abilities which are now seen as bunk just as much as the way the author here chastises Mesmer as having been a fraud (he was.)

It is true, though, that some of the abilities of hypnotism spoken of here are still held to be true- and it is irrefutable that hypnotizing a chicken is both possible and itself slightly funny.

24 pages.

General Update Time!

Alright literary world!

It's been a few weeks with nothing to post here; I have been taking a slight vacation from editing work to focus on some music. In a few weeks though I may be able to complete a short LH Steiner (not Rudolf Steiner!) manuscript and I do have a couple dozen more works lined up and ready to go.

The other reason for this long-ish hiatus? Spring is here, I need to clear brush, plant crops, and build my epic garden. If I do end up re-releasing Fruits of Eden having some additional photographs of plants will be quite good. I am thinking of adding a short, topical section with some basic cooking ideas. I really like buttery, thyme-infused collards.

Regardless, more work to come, just not quite yet! I'll be on vacation from May 4th through almost the end of the month!

The Spiritual Guidance of Man and Mankind: Now Available!

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Rudolf Steiner needs little introduction due to his enormous number of lectures and literary works (hundreds of volumes)- suffice it to say this work comes from the period in which he was still a theosophist and had not yet schismed from the post-Blavatsky order to form his own vaguely separate anthroposophy.

It speaks at length on human evolution from a mystic perspective, the manner of reality, and the concept of Christlike-ness; it is mostly notable for its statements on the development of human culture along occult lines.

68 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.

Clairvoyance: Now Available!

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This little book is the result of the efforts of JCF Grumbine, who for his life led a Rosicrucian offshoot called the Order of the White Rose. It is partially philosophical in nature and dwells on the form of natural law and deific forces and things of that kind, but is essentially split into lessons each with a short sort of how-to "experiment" involving mindfulness and similar things.

It is, overall, dense but well written and contains material related to the spiritual side of electricity and magnetism, as well as telepathy.

90 pages.

The Incubus: Now Available!

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This short work is partially about nothing more technically supernatural than the topic of sleep paralysis, also known in colloquial terms at the time as the night-mare. This frightening topic is, literally speaking, not yet even quantified fully by science so I suppose that element is still of occult import; but of greater interest here are two other subtopics; herbal preparations for the condition, and a bit of back-story and lore regarding the older, demonic principle of the incubus supposedly responsible for such a phenomenon. This work is over 200 years old but displays a fairly advanced amount of rational insight.

56 pages.

The Mind Telegraph: Now Available!

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This fairly short work is another of the various bizarre releases of its era, which has little back story and content which fluctuates wildly from subgenre to subgenre. Supposedly based off an older German version (said here to be popular, but which may indeed not exist at all), it first lays out some philosophical principles tied with the use of willpower and psychic force, then launches off on a series of situational tales regarding the use of iron will and such- indeed, the author (or the avatar the author depicts) claims to have become miserable by having too much force of will, leading to a life utilizing it for money and fame, to the neglect of spirituality and wisdom, warning the reader to be wary of the use of true will, which is in part prefaced by a simple declarative refusal to surrender or back down.

34 pages.

H.P. Blavatsky (An Outline of her Life): Now Available!

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This short outline has only one subject; the founder and long term leader of Theosophy, Madame Blavatsky. This work chronicles her life in a fairly substantial degree of detail, however one with the intrinsic bias of being written by a member of the Theosophical Society- therefore it refutes some largely accepted claims such as fraudulent spiritual tricks in Blavatsky's apartment; the author here claims some rotating panels used as evidence of fraud were built after she left- it's difficult to determine whether this counter to the rationalists of the era is true.

For those interested in Theosophy this is a must-read.

46 pages.

The Secrets of Animal Magnetism: Now Available!

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This work is quite interesting; and at this point it takes quite a bit to trip my interest since I read and edit similar works all day. Written at the dawn of the 20th century, it is partly about how to mesmerize (theory and action both) and partly about mind reading and similar topics, but it meanders into the realm of sociology and begins, about two thirds of the way through, to give advice on society and civics in a general sense, as works of the era sometimes did.

It should be noted that mesmerism is indeed real; however some of the claims then accepted about it were overblown; it remains medically accepted for a limited number of uses to this day.

61 pages.

The Theosophy of Christ: Now Available!

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This short work represents a contemporary look at Theosophy from a perspective different from that of the Oriental tradition. While Theosophy at large brought East to West, this and similar works spoke more of Jesus and attempted to re-assert the supremacy of Christendom over spiritism and similar phenomena.

Largely, it encourages prayer for healing, claiming that the dispensation of healing miracles did not end in antiquity.

45 pages.

Poems of Paganism: Now Available!

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This little work is an interesting compilation of poetry (partially related to love, partially to nature) with a pagan twist- sometimes literally- included. The author crafted a number of poetic works in his era, and wrote this one under the pseudonym "paganus."

It isn't strictly pagan in the sense of epic poems about Valhalla, etc, much of it refers to cupid-style love and sometimes bereavement.

76 pages.

Essays in Occultism: Now Available!

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This work is quite nice, and was written from a dedicated Catholic perspective- indeed, the slow march of time has seen some of these feasibly canonical ideas cast aside by the Vatican even as they are retained by lay Catholics in large part- such as a belief that seances and ouija boards can actually cause demonic influence. These days the church itself tends to render those to the realm of quasi-sinful but not paranormally dangerous.

It provides numerous examples of mystical phenomena like bilocation and bicorporeality as well, and gives many short stories and tales to illustrate its claims. In one very interesting passage we see a story about a priest who became cataleptic only for his apparition to be seen attending the then-dying pope.

107 pages.

Mystics of the Renaissance: Now Available!

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This book is one of those works Rudolf Steiner wrote which primarily compiles and analyzes and draws from secondary sources; namely, as the title suggests, some of the mystic minds of the Renaissance, although it includes, also, Medieval minds and some contemporary work by Eckhart and others. It goes from Paracelsus and Agrippa through Boehme and many others.

The statements made here vary both from those sources and Steiner; it speaks of the nature of being, the nature of divinity, the relationship between man and the deity or deities he worships, and meanders from those into sub-topics as well. It is quite well written and interesting as Steiners' works tend to be. As a pointless but meaningless aside the initial source file was around 300 pages in length, which goes to show you the odd format and line spacing used in the early 20th century.

120 pages.

Miracles and Supernatural Religion: Now Available!

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This short work is quite interesting; it is a fairly lengthy exposition on the topic of miracles within a Christian framework, especially with regards to the resurrection of the dead- not just of Lazarus (the most well known example) but of other figures in and out of a spiritual context. The suggestion here is made that rationalizing these events is at least partly necessary, basing that opinion on then-modern and very real accounts of people buried alive, catalepsy, and the like.

56 pages.

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.