The Nature of Dreams: Now Available!

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This short text is a nice skeptics' treatment of the subject matter- it categorizes the different common types of dreams, gives tips on how to remember ones' dreams, and speaks about somnambulism, the occult interpretation of dreaming itself, and gives some examples of predictions via dreaming. It also ponders the symbolism of "Alice in Wonderland."

56 pages.

Fortune Telling and Divination: Now Available!

 

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This collection of fortune telling lore is parsed into several sections and spans a couple of centuries. It is a compilation of materials from my own edited works on subjects such as dream interpretation, astrology, oracles, and other practices used to discern ones' fate. I wanted to provide as broad and lengthy an overview of these systems as possible in this excellent work, which is a companion to my collections on demonology and alchemy.

With a short suggested reading list and expansive preface, this work can be used by a modern audience just as it could in times past.

388 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.

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 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.

The New Dream Book: Now Available!

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This work is a bit longer and more fleshed out than some (even some fortune telling works.) Primarily a work of dream interpretation, it also covers prognostication by moles and card throwing, and contains a very simplified, extremely short oraculum of sorts that nonetheless does not follow any other prescribed method; due to its date of manufacture it might actually be the first work to utilize a chart-like grid oracle, which was then improved upon later.

As with other works of dream interpretation prior to the late pre-modern period (the forties and fifties mostly) its interpretations are used for fortune telling instead of, as is generally the case in the present, psychology and introspection. All around a great occult work!

102 pages.

Ars Goetia Update (And Other Stuff)

Alright literary world!

I'm happy to announce that the first slew of illustrations for the Ars Goetia have been completed as of yesterday; the illustrator sent them along. That's good, because there aren't a huge number more then to be processed- so the Goetia might be ready before the end of January and barring calamity will certainly be out by February sometime.

Meanwhile, my editing of the New Fortune Teller has been speeding along and it's almost done; I haven't yet decided on which work to do subsequent to it, but it will probably be alchemical in nature. Onward!

First Post of 2018: General Update Time!

As of last night a most happy event has begun; the fabled return of the legendary "Morbid Stories" is at hand, and once the current slew of new entries is compiled, I'll be able to mildly re-edit the old ones, then create a two volume set mixing them all together. The original edition of the first Morbid Stories is, format-wise, not up to my modern standards, so it has to be remade anyways.

The first work of the year (which I am plowing through at high speed) is the "New and Complete Fortune Teller" (Also called the "New Dream Book.") This medium-length work dates to the dawn of the 19th century so that makes it one of the older fortune telling works. The vast bulk of its content is dream interpretation (almost 80 pages of it) followed by some divination by moles, some chartology by playing cards, and a much-shortened, simplistic oracle (called in this work a fortune table.) It fits in completely with the oracle and dream book traditions. In due time I need to create perhaps a book of books cataloging, categorizing, and explaining these intertwined traditions and their various literary cannibalism.

I hope to release a second work in January alongside the New Dream Book, but have not yet decided on which. I want to return to some alchemy soon also.

What Your Neighbor's Say: Now Available!

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This little booklet is one of the most bizarre things I've ever edited. It manages to combine Victorian-Era quack medicine (various and often psychotropic pills and tablets) with a fairly decent dream interpretation section (similar to that of Tousey's "Napoleon's Oraculum) and multiple "recipes for invalids." It also contains some folkish material, specifically regarding the preservation of linens, cleaning kitchenware, and fire safety.

The testimonials and ads for Dr. Pierces' medicines are amusing but not generally connected to the more interesting dreams-and-folkishness content.

36 pages.

A New Booklet I Obtained; And More!

I have obtained a copy of Dr. Pierces' "What your Neighbors Say about You." This long-running quack pharmaceutical pamphlet is half dream interpretation and half other material- the "other" category is mostly medical ads for quack healing but also contains some herbal at-home remedies, recipes, and other stuff. The particular edition I purchased from ebay isn't like any of those I have seen on the internet as pdf scans so I can only guess at some of the content.

Obviously I plan to scan this for the occult archive (as the first new file available there in several years! Huzzah!) as well as to create a paperback edition for others to purchase. The dream interpretation section appears to be almost as long as that found in Napoleon's Oraculum.

I am currently editing "The Hieroglyphical Fortune Teller" which is similar to the early 1900s Oraculum but has Hebrew lettering instead of nativity symbols and has several different questions and a dissimilar casting system. It will take quite a bit of time to complete despite its short length because I am simultaneously writing "Sickness in Hell" (I am now done with the epilogue and first three chapters!) and editing The 1875 work "The Secret Book of the Black Arts" (not to be confused with the similarly titled work by Cavendish much later.) It's a somewhat longer work (about 200 pages) so I will release three or four shorter manuscripts while editing it.

The Universal Fortune Teller of Mrs. Bridget - Now Available!

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The 1790 Universal Fortune Teller is not attributed to Napoleon, although later works containing similar (and sometimes utterly plagiarized) content were. This text contains an elaborate backstory in which the editor claims to have obtained a manuscript from the thatched hut of an old wise woman who had recorded her occult findings in heiroglyphic form. Subsequent to cracking this mysterious code the work was then released.

It's fairly obvious that this backstory was an attempt to increase its circulation- but that doesn't detract from the work, which manages to cover astrology, palmistry, and other tricks, rites, and knowledge into just under 100 pages of content. The astrological system here goes well beyond the simple Zodiac and into terms and meanings as well as arcane minutiae.

With a slimmed down dream interpretation section and a buffed up card trick section, this work is comparable to Napoleon's Oraculum in style, minus, of course, the oracle itself. It is also a rather bawdy work, mentioning whoredom, vixens, cuckoldry, and adultery quite frequently in the divination-by-card section.

98 pages.

A Comparison Of Five Overlapping Occult Books

What follows is a comparison of five different occult works from two overlapping traditions; the Oraculum and the Fortune Telling hand guide. What might have otherwise been two disparate traditions overlaps so significantly that each time I encountered one of the texts I was surprised to a fairly large degree.

What culminates is a fusion and evolution of two literary traditions; the late 1700s fortune teller and the early 1800s oracle book. I intend to release an edition of Mrs. Bridget's Fortune Teller, although I am hesitant to bother releasing the second version of the Oraculum when Tousey's version is so much more interesting; the former version, from the early 1900s, is heavily stripped down.

It is worth noting a second layer of interesting comparison: Fortey released a work in 1860 alongside his version of the Universal Fortune Teller on dream interpretation containing a similar catalog of interpretations to the 1790 work of Mrs. Bridget, while there is also a work from 1823 which stylistically is almost identical to the Philosophical Merlin and also contains an expose on the meaning of moles on the body.

Here, thus, are the comparisons based upon content:

Napoleon's Oraculum Version 2: Fisher and Brothers (1908?) NOFB

Napoleon's Oraculum: Tousey (1884) NOF

Universal Fortune Teller: Fortey (1860) UFTT

Universal Fortune Teller: Mrs. Bridget (1790) UFTB

Philosophical Merlin: (1822) PM

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An Oraculum

NOFB: Yes, expansive question oracle
NOF:  Yes, shortened question oracle
UFTT: No
UFTB: No
PM:   Yes, a nativity casting oracle

Prognostication for Children

NOFB: Yes, simple
NOF:  Yes, simple
UFTT: Yes, simple
UFTB: Yes, expansive
PM:   No

Charms And Rites Section

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: No
PPM:  No

Dream Interpretation

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes, very expansive
UFTT: No
UFTB: Yes, moderately expansive
PM:   No

Tricks with cards

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes, several tricks
UFTT: Yes, one fortune-telling trick
UFTB: Yes, one fortune-telling trick
PM:   No

Tricks with Dominoes

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes
UFTT: No
UFTB: No
PM:   No

Tricks with Dice

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes
UFTT: No
UFTB: No
PM:   No

Choosing a Husband by the Hair

NOFB: No
NOF:  No
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: Yes
PM:   No

Astrology

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes, simple horoscopes
UFTT: Yes, simple horoscopes
UFTB: Yes, complex horoscopes and astronomy
PM:   Technically yes

Palmistry

NOFB: No
NOF:  No
UFTT: Yes, complex
UFTB: Yes, simple with illustration
PM:   No

Tea Leaf Reading

NOFB: No
NOF:  No
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: No
PM:   No

Moles and their Importance

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes, moles and their meanings
UFTT: No
UFTB: Yes, moles and their meanings
PM:   Yes, their likely presence as determined via Oraculum

Largely Fictional Backstory Regarding Origin

NOFB: Yes, of Napoleon
NOF:  No
UFTT: No
UFTB: Yes, of the Norwood Gypsy
PM:   Yes, of Napoleon

Unlucky Days List

NOFB: No
NOF:  No, but contains a list of days not to cast the oracle
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: Yes
PM:   No

Origin

NOFB: United States
NOF:  United States
UFTT: England
UFTB: England
PM:   England

The Universal Fortune Teller: Now Available!

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The Universal Fortune Teller of Fortey's fame is a work vaguely similar to Napoleon's Oraculum- containing some of the same material (in not quite the same form) a full 24 years before the Oraculum was crafted, adding several new elements to the work and removing several others.

This specific work revolves mainly around the reading of tea leaves, palmistry, and a section on charms and simplistic rituals mostly involved with love and marriage.

Indeed, the Fortune Teller is itself based upon a similar work from 1790 by some anonymous author called "Universal Fortune Teller: Mrs. Bridgets Golden Treasury." This latter text is attributed to the "Norwood Gypsy" and contains the same prognostication for children born on each day of the week (omitted from the Oraculum; but I added it back for continuity's sake) and a lengthy astrological exposition included in the Oraculum in modified form and absent from the 1860 Fortune Teller.

The convoluted and interconnected content of these three works, as well as the second version of the Oraculum is interesting enough to warrant a future post specifically delineating the content.

Napoleon's Oraculum - Now Available!

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At long last one of the best writings ever made on the topic of fortune telling and divination is available. Having reviewed other variants of the work available for sale, they are all substantially more expensive and most are primitive facsimiles. My works are never facsimile copies and are always fully edited by hand. I'd by lying if I said I didn't feel proud of this slower, more thorough effort.

The Oraculum stands at 76 pages; some variants are longer because they're mostly filler or else contain the longer but less varied Oraculum of the 1890s- the latter version does not contain most of the vaguely folk-tradition spells and rites of this version. The 1884 Tousey version is also notable for its expansive section on dream interpretation; I happen to agree with most of his inclusions here over those made by new age groups and posted on the internet- his version of interpretation, whatever its source, is more authentic.

It's a fine work, made finer by being completely overhauled for a modern audience.