One of my Pet Projects....
Yay Me!
This is issue #3, and out on time! Interested parties can sign up for the newsletter here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EdgeoftheCircleNewsletter/
Or you can pick up a hard copy at our store.
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EDGE OF THE CIRCLE NEWSLETTER
ISSUE THREE , VOLUME ONE: SEPTEMBER
WELCOME!
Welcome to the 3rd edition of the Edge of the Circle Newsletter. This newsletter has come about as an effort to reach out to the Pagan/ Occult community (particularly in Seattle where we are based) to inform the community of what events are happening at our store. I’ve got great plans for this newsletter. Hopefully, as time goes by, it will only get bigger and better.
Without further ado, welcome, and enjoy.
Regards,
Erica (Raven) Branch-Butler,
Editrix
**
Who We Are:
Edge of the Circle Books is Seattle's resource for Paganism & the Occult.
This newsletter seeks to provide the Seattle community with a place to list events, post articles, and do a bit of networking. We are at: 701 E. Pike st, corner of Boylston ave, just two blocks west of Broadway, on Capitol Hill.
Edge of the Circle Books strives to be everything that you could want in a Magickal Pagan store.
Open 7 days a week, Noon - 9pm
Call: 206.PAN.1999
**
Acknowledgments:
Thanks to Erynn Laurie and Nancy Kilroy, who provided great book reviews!
**
ARTICLE:
FROM THE SHOP KEEPER
When I found out that THE WITCH-CULT IN WESTERN EUROPE by Margaret Murray was back in print, I scrambled, had to jump through several metaphorical hoops, and finally was able to get it on a shelf, in my store. Murray's 1921 theory, that those accused of witchcraft in the Middle Ages were actually practicing a modified form of a pre-Christian religion, was a major influence on early Wicca. Yes, I still have some copies in stock, as of this writing.
I make a point to have a wide variety of books and other things in the shop. That usually means ordering only one or two of any given item, so I can offer many different items, which makes featuring any one book, statue, or piece of jewelry a bit awkward on the newsletter. By the time you read the description, I may be out of it for the next week, but I do have a lot of really cool stuff, and if you come in the store, I suspect there will be something with which I can tempt you.
I enjoy my role as professional tempter. I like to get really obscure books and other things, as well as just too wonderful popular interest items, which for someone, that is THEIR THING, and when they see it in front of them, they have to buy it. Some friends came in just intending to get a tarot deck for their daughter, which they did get, and they left with a big stack of books. Another person, in noticing something in their area of interest, said, "I'll have to pick that up sometime," and a minute later was bringing it up to the counter.
I'm not doing anything to these people. I like them. I'm just seeking out, acquiring, and then offering products that I think people will want, and of course, I'm glad when they do.
Robert Anderson,
Owner
Edge of the Circle Books
*
NEW BOOKS
**
At the Feet of the Guru
By Kenneth Grant
Hardback: $49.95
Starfire Publishing
Book Blurb:
Collected for the first time as one volume are these penetrating essays on Eastern Mysticism which Kenneth Grant wrote from the early 1950s onwards. Published originally in various Asian journals as well as the 1970s encyclopaedia series Man, Myth & Magic, they concern Sages such as Ramana Maharshi, Pagal Haranath, Ramakrishna, Anandamayi Ma, Sivananda, and others.
At the core of these essays is the crucial insight of Advaita - a Sanskrit word meaning ‘not divided', and associated with the Indian school of Advaita Vedanta and the work of perhaps its most famous exponent, the Sage Sri Shankacharya. It is an insight which has been expounded most succinctly in modern times in the works of Sri Ramana Maharshi, of Tiruvannamalai, who is the subject of several of the essays in the present volume. Central to these particular essays is his technique of Atma Vichara, or enquiry into the Self, a practice leading to the dissolution of the veils of illusion which obscure the singularity and universality of Awareness, often epitomised as Cosmic Consciousness.
Generally regarded as uniquely Eastern, Advaita is on the contrary a fundamental insight that is at the core of most if not all schools of mysticism and spiritual progress which seek to penetrate to a reality beyond the glamour of appearances. It is implicit in the Western magical tradition, magic being specifically the manipulation of glamours. Much of Crowley 's work, for instance, is saturated with this insight. It is also this same fundamental understanding of Advaita which underpins Kenneth Grant's Typhonian Trilogies, and which is in the present volume consolidated and deepened over the course of these essays.
Printed on high-quality paper, 132 pages long, with a section of fourteen black-and-white plates, the book is sewn hard-bound, with an attractive full-colour dust-jacket designed by Steffi Grant.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kenneth Grant (b. 1924) is a British occultist and head of the magical order which he calls Ordo Templi Orientis but which is commonly referred to as the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis to distinguish it from other branches of O.T.O.
OCCULT BACKGROUND
Grant's occult experiences began in 1939 during World War II, when he received the first transmission of the outerhuman being S'lba. This was followed in 1943 with the reception of The Chronicles of Kralnia.
KENNETH GRANT AND ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS
Grant met Aleister Crowley in 1944 and was initiated into Ordo Templi Orientis. In 1946, he was initiated into the A.'.A.'. and was also confirmed as an IX° in O.T.O. According to occult historian P.R. Koenig, Crowley called Grant "a definite gift from the Gods" and in March 1946 wrote in his diary: "Value of Grant: if I die or go to U.S.A., there must be a trained man to take care of the English O.T.O." After Crowley's death, Grant's status as IX° in O.T.O was recognized by Crowley's successor, Karl Germer, in 1948. In 1954, Grant began the work of founding the New Isis Lodge. The lodge became operational in April of 1955 when Grant issued a manifesto announcing his discovery of a "Sirius/Set current" upon which the lodge was to be based. Karl Germer was so displeased with this manifesto that on July 20, 1955, he issued a "Note of Expulsion" expelling Grant from O.T.O. without the usual constitutional due process.
Following this unconstitutional expulsion, Grant assumed the position of OHO (Outer Head of the Order) of Ordo Templi Orientis, much as Aleister Crowley had done in 1921 when he had wrested the title from Theodor Reuss after having been similarly expelled by Reuss, while Reuss was unwell and recovering from a stroke. The New Isis Lodge was absorbed into Grant's Ordo Templi Orientis in 1962. Members of Grant's Ordo Templi Orientis consider him the rightful O.H.O. of O.T.O, as evidenced by this quote from a 1976 edition of Sothis magazine:
Karl J. Germer, having proved himself blind to the implication of Crowley's letter to him, failed to understand and accept when - soon after Crowley's death - Grant submitted his plans for change... It remains to remind those who support the old-aeon concept of the O.T.O. that they have not produced - nor can they ever produce - the slightest evidence of a creative current in any of its forms.
BIOGRAPHER OF AUSTIN OSMAN SPARE
Grant was a great admirer and close friend of Austin Osman Spare. Together they founded the Zos Kia Cultus in 1952. Over the years, Grant did much to bring his friend Spare's name into western occult society, including the publication of Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare and Zos Speaks!, as well as numerous references and mentions in the Typhonian Trilogies.
PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grant published nine books in three trilogies (the Typhonian Trilogies) that span a vast number of topics.
Titles include:
The Typhonian Trilogies in order
* The Magical Revival
* Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God
* Cults of the Shadow
* Nightside of Eden
* Outside the Circles of Time
* Hecate's Fountain
* Outer Gateways
* Beyond the Mauve Zone
* The Ninth Arch
* Remembering Aleister Crowley
* Hidden Lore: The Carfax Monographs by Kenneth & Steffi Grant
* Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare
* Zos Speaks! (Austin Osman Spare work)
* The Gulls Beak (Poetry)
* Black to Black (Poetry)
* Convolvulous (Poetry)
Kenneth Grant has also published a number of novella's and short stories.
Titles include:
* Against the Light
* Snakewand and the Darker Strain
* The Other Child and other tales
* The Darker Half
* The Monolith
* At the feet of the Guru
**
Magicka Formularia: A Study In Formulary Magick (Paperback)
by Sandra Cheryl Richardson
Publisher: White Starr Publishing
Paperback
List Price$19.95
Book Blurb:
Are you looking for a complete book on the topic of magick ? Well, look no further, for you hold in your hands information that will open a new world before you. It matters not if you are a beginner or an advanced student in magick. The information in the Magicka Formularia is presented in ways that are easy to understand, and you will find yourself referring to this beautiful book again and again. For this book is about formulary magick. It will teach you how to create the right "formula" for the change you want to make in your life. Based on Old European Witchcraft, the Magicka Formularia is written towards those practitioners of the Wiccan religion.
The book is divided into three sections. The first section covers the ethics of magick and deals with the dark side as well. The types of human spirits are presented, together with topics such as the elements, colors, the pentacle, the moon, and types of candles.
In the second section, many rituals are given. The spells were successful ones created by Witches of the Old Religion. Learn how to deal with everything from love and money to protection from vampires! In addition, the ancient recipe for the Witches’ Bottle is shown.
The last section is about the prayers of the Sacred Covenant. They are powerful words that lots of people have taken comfort from. The prayers are actually used in public rituals today!
The Magicka Formularia is a magician’s handbook that anyone interested in magick will benefit from, whether they be a Witch or not. Check out this book and see for yourself how useful it will be in your life. You have found an excellent grimoire for all your magickal needs.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
Sandra Cheryl Richardson is an internationally known spiritual consultant, paranormal investigator, and metaphysical teacher. Sandra is also the internationally recognized author of the book, “Magicka Formularia.” Her expertise on psychic realms, the metaphysics, and Wicca has been sought by local (Miami) , national (Discovery Channel) and international television (Telemundo) stations as well as radio programs she has appeared on. Sandra has also received positive acclaim from various newspapers in Miami. Her lectures on the occult have been enjoyed by Miami high schools, universities, women’s groups, and attendees at various public events. The Miami Police Department also invited her to speak before officers from all over the country. Serving the South Florida community as a spiritual consultant and lecturer has been Sandra’s full time career for the past fifteen years.
**
The Yezidis , (Paperback)
by Ezster Spat
100 pages
Publisher: Saqi Books
List Price: $24.95
Book Blurb:
This is the first detailed survey of Yezidi culture to appear in English. Little is known about these ancient Kurdish mountain people, considered one of the oldest ethnicities in the Middle East, often unjustly derided as "devil-worshipers." Distinct from the majority Sunni Muslim Kurds, the Yezidis' religion evolved through a fusion of Sufism with earlier religious beliefs indigenous to the region, including Zoroastrian, Jewish, Gnostic and Christian motifs. They attribute a prominent place to their protector, the Peacock Angel, traditionally identified with Satan by Muslims. The Yezidis, as a result, have historically been labeled heretics and; thus their self-willed isolation.
Along with her enquiry into the meaning and manner of their practices, Spat takes note of the increasing demands of modernization and the shifting balance of power in the region, and also observes the stirrings of inner strife in an otherwise tough, resilient community that has endured continuous attempts at eradication over centuries.
About the Author:
Eszter Spat is a Hungarian academic and specialist in Yezidi history and culture.
**
The Bardic Handbook: The Complete Manual for the Twenty-First Century Bard
by Kevan Manwaring
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Gothic Image Publications
List Price: $23.95
Book Blurb:
How to inspire and enchant with magical words! Ever wanted to be a storyteller’ To stand up and perform one of your own poems’ To use magical words to bless, honour, heal or celebrate’ The Bardic Handbook contains all you need to know to start you on the path of the Bard. An easy to follow, 12month self study program, with week by week exercises and mini-lessons about bardic lore, will lead you along the Way of Awen. The book is divided into 5 parts, corresponding to the elements of the Western Magical Tradition: Air, Fire, Water & Earth-with Spirit at the center. With an experienced bard as guide, you will learn * practical techniques and exercises * Bardic terminology * The Bardic Chair * on Being a 21st Century Bard * preparing for performance * how to run a Bardic Circle * also includes a Certificate of Initiation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kevan Manwaring, whose Bardic name is Tallyessen, is a novelist, poet, storyteller and teacher. He has performed his poetry for over a decade in venues across Britain as well as at the Rhode Island Sacred Arts Festival. In 1998 he was awarded the Bardic Chair of Caer Badon in Bath, UK. In 1999 he won the Writers' News Ghost Story Competition. He runs Silver Branch Bardic Training and teaches fiction writing for the Open University. He lives in Bath.
**
BOOK REVIEWS
Book Review from Eryyn Laurie:
Herbal Alchemy by Phillip Hurley
I picked this book up the other day and finished it in a fairly short session. For such a slender volume, it has a lot of good and interesting material. The book is essentially about the production of planetary elixirs from plants, and discusses the planetary vibrations and their uses with a minimum of jargon and esoteric woo. His instructions for actual extraction are basic, offering a number of options of varying levels of complexity, and his discussion of the magical operations also allow for different beliefs and systems, though his personal basis is in Qabala and Tantrism.
While I disagree with a few of his opinions (his numerological assignments regarding a few of the planets, for instance), his magical technique is sound and easily adaptable to any system, Pagan or non-theistic. This is the revised 2001 edition. The original was published in 1977 and is regarded as a classic in the field. Despite its size, this book provides a lot of food for thought and doesn't dwell overmuch on theoretical esotericism. It's a very practical guide to what can be an extremely complex art. Four and a half alembics out of five.
Erynn
Poet-terrorist for a better society
Articulating the unspeakable since 1961:
http://www.seanet.com/~inisglas
The CR FAQ: An Introduction to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism: http://www.paganachd.com/faq/
About the Author:
Erynn lives in Everett, Washington and has been involved in the Pagan communities of the Pacific Northwest since 1984. An independent Pagan Scholar and one of the founders of the Celtic Reconstruction movement, she writes and teaches on many aspects of Celtic Paganism, Druidism and Filidecht.
Erynn’s work includes the book A Circle of Stones: Journeys and Meditations for Modern Celts, an essay in the anthology The Druid Renaissance - now available in a new, revised edition entitled The Rebirth Druidry: Ancient Earth Wisdom for Today, and articles in Shaman’s Drum, SageWoman, The Beltane Papers, FireHeart, Obsidian, Touchstone, Tarot Network News, Circle Network News, and others.
She offers readings, consultations and other services by appointment.
**
BOOK REVIEW; TWO ALCHEMY TEXTS
By Nancy Kilroy, HPS., Holy Well Circle
The Book of Alchemy -(Learn the Secrets of the Alchemists to Transform Mind, Body, and Soul)
by Francis Melville
and
The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy
by Brian Cotnoi
Recently I have developed an interest in alchemy. Not having been the best student in chemistry, alchemy's great grand child, I picked up two small but nicely put together books on alchemy. The Book of Alchemy - Learn the Secrets of the Alchemists to Transform Mind, Body, and Soul by Francis Melville, and The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy by Brian Cotnoir, edited by James Wasserman.
First, a confession. I fall completely under the spell of any book with anything like, "Ancient Secrets Revealed!" in the title. The Book of Alchemy - Learn the Secrets of the Alchemists to Transform Mind, Body, and Soul by Francis Melville, is a small, hard cover, cloth bound book with a gold dust jacket and a great full color alchemical emblem on the cover. Alchemical emblems are the odd, yet beautifully drawn pictures, usually etchings or woodcuts, showing people with the sun and moon in place of their heads, dragons devouring their tails, red lions eating snakes and such. This small book uses any excuse to use the old art that has been updated with color to illustrate its short and clear descriptions. It begins with a self proclaimed, brief history of the art. Not knowing anything of the history of alchemy, I found it detailed and informative enough that it will take me several readings to remember most of what it contained.
In the section called, "The Great Work," the reader is taken on a tour of the divine division from 0 to 6 passing from wholeness through the trinity, to the four elements, and the fifth or the quintessence and finally the six pointed star of two triangles called the Seal of Solomon.
There is a section on planetary and metal correspondences accompanied with emblems and a section on the 7 mystical steps, called the, "Ladder of the Wise," which include calcination, dissolution, separation, conjunction, fermentation, distillation, and coagulation. The reader is invited to gaze at the emblems and incorporate the meanings of the symbols and descriptions of the processes in an intuitive way.
The final chapter before the glossary of terms is a concise description of spagyrics. A spagyric is a sort of alchemical version of a tincture, which is an extraction of an herb's essential oil using alcohol. Unlike a mere tincture, the spagyric uses the three principles of plant alchemy in its preparation: the sulfur principle, the essential oil or "the soul," - the mercury principle, ethyl alcohol or "the spirit," - and the salt principle, the water soluble alkaline salts that reside in the plant tissues or "the body." After reading the instructions to the Seven Planetary Elixirs, which are recipes for budding alchemists who have no laboratory equipment and use mostly the kinds of pots and pans you can find in a kitchen, I decided to try my hand at making one. According to the instructions, you really should use a ceramic pot that can be used on a stove, which I didn't have at the time. I used a stainless steel, now stained, sauce pan, but I have since gone to Value Village and picked up a near perfect Corning Ware sauce pan to try again. The author suggests the first part of the operation be done outside on a grill or a camping stove as, in reducing the plant material to ashes and then calcination, there are billows of acrid smoke produced. This is no exaggeration. I seriously worried the neighbors were going to call the fire department. It took a full day and half for my kitchen to finally be cleared of smoke, with the help of a hepa filter and an open window. My whole house was infused for days with the smell. Finally I produced a really ghastly but interesting looking potion that smelled strongly of rosemary, the herb I chose to use. The best part was I felt very witchy, using my mortar and pestle, at along last, to grind the dried herb to a powder, then reduce it to ashes and recombine it with the brandy based alcohol tincture. All the trappings of potion making in the old paintings apparently are from alchemy! Very enlightening!
All in all, a beautiful little book and good introduction to the secrets of the alchemists.
The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy by Brian Cotnoir begins with an overview of alchemy rather than a more detailed history. The author states in the preface, "It is the sort of guide I wish I had had when I started my investigations years ago. ... The central concept of alchemy is transmutation: the fundamental change of one thing into another, from a grosser, impure state to a more refined, balanced, and pure state. This is to be understood on multiple levels-physically, spiritually, and symbolically".
The text is divided into two roughly equal parts, theory and practice. In "Part One: Theory," he approaches the subject through longer explanations of the principles and their symbols. The Emerald Tablet is the key to understanding the concepts of alchemy on a universal scale. One of the truisms that most who study magic encounter is, As Above-So Below. This comes from the Tabula Smaragadina, called the Emerald Tablet in English, which is a short list of statements that sound remarkably like the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu. For example the fourth statement is, "Its father is the Sun, its mother is the Moon. The wind carried it in its belly. Its nurse is the earth".
By starting with the big picture, the planets and how they relate to the principles of Hot-Cold-Moist-Dry and how this relates to astrology, the importance of astrologically related timing in alchemical formulations becomes clear.
In the practical section, he gives an overview of the Great Work and the two paths, the wet and dry paths worked by noted alchemists, like Isaac Newton and Nicholas Flamel. What is made clear is that the work of the scientist rebounds upon him spiritually and vice versa. There are three practical disciplines, the poetical, the herbal (medicinal) and metallurgy. I noticed these three branches of practical alchemy correspond to the nature of the great Irish goddess, Brighid: poetry, healing and smith craft. Some of the herbal work he covers can be done with out special equipment but he delves deeper than Melville into the classical equipment of the traditional alchemist's lab, alembics, retorts, condensers, etc. Every aspect of alchemy has some interesting tidbit of history or culture connected with it, and this makes the practical section worth reading even if the reader has no interest in ruining any of his pots or pans or buying lab equipment. There is a short passage on metal work using copper and a brief discussion on drinkable gold. The history of alchemy is diffused through out, rather than in one section. This book makes clear how the principals of magic and those of alchemy are the same. I feel I have a much better grasp of the thought process behind western esoteric traditions based on Hermetic principles.
**
PRODUCT OF THE MONTH
Rune Cards
by Brian Partridge / Tony Linsell
Publisher: Anglo-Saxon Books
List Price: $17.95
Blurb:
30 exquisite pen and ink drawn cards by Brian Partridge; 80 page booklet by Tony Linsell gives information about the origin of runes, their meaning and how to read them.
This is an Anglo-Saxon Futhark set.
**
SPELL OF THE MONTH
7-DAY CANDLE SPELL
Take a green pillar candle:
Ginger or Red Pepper,
Thyme
Cinnamon
a mixture of Money Stay With Me Powder/Money Drawing Powder
Fast Luck oil/ Prosperity Oil
Carve the candle with the dollar amount you need, plus your initials,and horoscope sign.
Dress the candle with Fast Luck oil, then roll in the combination of herbs/powder.
Place in a candle holder, and place it on top of your written petition, to which you have attached a lock of your hair. Sprinkle herb/powder combination around the candle in a circle. Pray, or say words of affirmation over the candle. Burn until the candle goes out by itself.
This spell is from a class I recently taught on Hoodoo Prosperity Magic.
Copyrighted,2006, Erica (Raven) Branch-Butler
All Rights Reserved.
**
EVENTS AND CLASSES
UPCOMING
SEPTEMBER 9, 2006
HORIZON OASIS ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS PRESENTS
GNOSTIC MASS
Start Time: 6:00 PM
Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass
Open to the public
September 10, 2006
Study Group: Magick in Theory and Practice
Start Time: 5:00 PM
Monthly study and discussion group on Magick in Theory and Practice, please read and bring your copy of the book.
Attendance is by RSVP only. E-mail mkolson@attglobal.net for information
**
September 13, 2006
TEMPLE GALATEH, THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST BRANCH
OF THE ILLUMINATES OF THANATEROS PRESENTS:
CHAOS MAGIC CLASSES
Mind Control & Gnosis, SUN 8/13 6-8PM $12
Eight Magics, Sun 9/24 6-8PM $12
* $8 for I or II / $12 for both
More Info: http://www.galateh.org/index.html
Class Descriptions
* Introduction to Chaos Magic. If you are new to Chaos magic or just want a refresher, this class is for you. You will learn about the history, philosophy, and theories and practices of Chaos magic, and engage in exercises to get you started straight away in realizing your desires through practical, results-based magic.
* Mind Control and Gnosis. Peter Carroll said, "Altered states of consciousness are the key to magical powers." This class begins with pragmatic exercises necessary for sufficient control to achieve some such states, and proceeds through several quiescent and ekstatic methods and techniques for gnosis.
*Eight Magics. Add some color to your craft with the Eight Magics of Chaos. Learn to use Pure, Ego, War, Love, Thought, Wealth, Sex, and Death magics to enhance rituals and improve successes.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD
2-4PM
Generation Hex Book Signing
with Jason Louv & Angelina Fabbro
Jason and Angelina will be discussing their book and autographing for all you collectors out there. Don't miss this opportunity to receive a valuable chronicle in the history of magic, from the people who created it!
Free admission!
“Generation Hex is a book about magic, and a snapshot of young adults who are not only delving into this art and science of the future, but who are coming to magical consciousness at a time when it has never been easier to find and link up with people of like minds. Learn the secrets of magic from artists, filmmakers, students, sex workers and scientists who have engaged with its eccentric process, and have provided a codex of information on how, and why, to practice magic. Get in on the ground floor as magic emerges from counterculture to ultraculture.”
“Generation Hex is a hole in history itself.”
SEPTEMBER 29, 2006
OLOTEAS PRESENTS...
Skiing the Magickal Bunny Slope: A Really, Really Introductory Course on Wicca, Magick and Everything
When: Fridays from 7 - 9 on September 29, October 6, 13, 20, and 27
Where: Edge of the Circle Books, 701 E Pike on Capitol Hill in Seattle
Enrollment is open to all, but we ask that no new students attend after the first class date. If you've taken the class before, you're welcome to come to any session you may have missed previously, or re-take any you found particularly interesting.
Please send email to cyndielea@oloteas.org to let us know if you're planning to attend (so we have some idea how many chairs to put out!).
This class is completely, absolutely, 100% free of charge! It is presented twice a year as a community service of OLOTEAS, and is supported by donations from our ritual events. Many thanks to Edge of the Circle for offering us free space for the class!
Visit the classes page (http://www.oloteas.org/classes.asp) for more info, including directions to the store, class schedule, and materials.
These are some of the materials that are given to students of our Skiing the Magickal Bunny Slope classes:
A Brief Guide to Pagan Etiquette
House Blessing
Some Tips for Aspiring Herbalists
Magical Ethics
Basic Circle Casting
Correspondences - Key of Solomon
Magickal Weapons and Tools
Spellcraft
The Oracle(tm)
The Tree of Life
Temple Arrangement
The Chakras
Curriculum for Wiccan First Degree
The Wheel of the Year
Glossary
Recommended Reading List
The next session will be in the spring.
Our Lady of the Earth and Sky
PO Box 20032
Seattle, WA 98102
Website: http://www.oloteas.org/
Email: oloteas@oloteas.org
**
ONGOING EVENTS AND CLASSES, ETC, :
HOLY WELL CIRCLE
Open Circle, Wiccan
Meets at the Edge every Sunday from 3PM -5PM
cybra@earthlink.net
Subject Line: Holy Well
**
Horizon Oasis O.T.O Ordo Templi Orientis
Horizon Oasis is a local body of Ordo Templi Orientis, the Order of Oriental Templars, or Order of the Temple of the East. We are located in Seattle, Washington.
OTO is a Thelemic order dedicated to the high purpose of securing the liberty of the individual and his or her advancement in light, wisdom, understanding, and power. This is accomplished through beauty, courage, and wit, on the foundation of universal brotherhood.
The OTO is the first of the old aeon orders to accept The Book of the Law, received by Aleister Crowley in 1904 e.v., with its message of a revolution in human thought, culture, and religion based on a single supreme injunction:
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
This is not to be interpreted as a license to indulge every passing whim, but rather as the mandate to discover one’s True Will and accomplish it, leaving others to do the same in their own unique ways.
Every man and every woman is a star.
The Law of Thelema can ultimately be fulfilled only through the efforts of each individual. Nevertheless, many worthy aspirants to the Great Work of Thelema have a genuine need for information, guidance, fellowship, or the opportunity to assist their fellow aspirants and serve humanity. Such aspirants will find welcome in the OTO.
The structure of OTO, like that of Freemasonry and the ancient mystery schools, is based on a series of initiations, or degrees. In these degrees, the OTO seeks to instruct the individual by allegory and symbol in the profound mysteries of existence, and thereby to assist each to discover his or her own true nature. Every man and woman of full age, free, and of good report, has an indefeasible right to the introductory degrees of the OTO. For information on initiation see Request Initiation, or contact initiations@seattle-oto.org.
Horizon offers a public performance of Liber XV, the Gnostic Mass the second Saturday and fourth Sunday of each month. This ceremonial pageant of the lance and the grail is a great opportunity to observe Thelemic ritual firsthand, as well as to meet with others who may share similar interests. For information on attending gnostic mass see How To Attend a Mass, or contact mass@seattle-oto.org.
Love is the Law, Love under Will.
Classes at EoC :
2nd Wednesdays of each month.
Horizon Oasis O.T.O. Presents:
Liber XV: The Gnostic Mass
Second Saturdays of each month, 6PM . Doors close promptly at ritual time.
© Copyright Horizon Oasis OTO 2006. All rights reserved.
**
TEMPLE GALATEH,
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST BRANCH OF THE ILLUMINATES OF THANATEROS PRESENTS:
A CHAOS MAGIC STUDY GROUP
1st Sunday of every month , 1PM.
FREE!
All are welcome!
Sharing, Learning, Networking...
More Information: http://www.galateh.kaosmagick.com/
**
SERVICES AVAILABLE AT EDGE OF THE CIRCLE BOOKS
TAROT READINGS /SPIRITUAL ADVICE
UnCommonSense Tarot
Tarot readings
Erica (Raven) Branch-Butler
Please inquire about Tarot Parties, classes and other events Available every day except Wednesdays, 1:30-8.30PM.
**
SPIRITUAL ADVICE
Hoodoo You Love?
Hoodoo Consultations
Jo’nese
Specializing in Love, Protection and Cleansing
Wednesdays, please call for appointment
glitterbat93@yahoo.com
**
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Edge of the Circle Newsletter is looking for writers and artists! Our Focus has been on the Pagan community, Sabbatic Witchcraft, Hoodoo, African Traditional Religions, Asatru and Heathenry, Wicca, Celtic Paganism and more obscure aspects of the Occult. If you have an article or art to share, please email golanv1@yahoo.com with “Newsletter” in the subject line. Please send only original material. All Copyrighted material will be honored and credited to/as the property of the original writer.
This concludes our Newsletter for this month.
Look for us again on the first of October.
Sincerely,
Raven
This is issue #3, and out on time! Interested parties can sign up for the newsletter here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EdgeoftheCircleNewsletter/
Or you can pick up a hard copy at our store.
****
EDGE OF THE CIRCLE NEWSLETTER
ISSUE THREE , VOLUME ONE: SEPTEMBER
WELCOME!
Welcome to the 3rd edition of the Edge of the Circle Newsletter. This newsletter has come about as an effort to reach out to the Pagan/ Occult community (particularly in Seattle where we are based) to inform the community of what events are happening at our store. I’ve got great plans for this newsletter. Hopefully, as time goes by, it will only get bigger and better.
Without further ado, welcome, and enjoy.
Regards,
Erica (Raven) Branch-Butler,
Editrix
**
Who We Are:
Edge of the Circle Books is Seattle's resource for Paganism & the Occult.
This newsletter seeks to provide the Seattle community with a place to list events, post articles, and do a bit of networking. We are at: 701 E. Pike st, corner of Boylston ave, just two blocks west of Broadway, on Capitol Hill.
Edge of the Circle Books strives to be everything that you could want in a Magickal Pagan store.
Open 7 days a week, Noon - 9pm
Call: 206.PAN.1999
**
Acknowledgments:
Thanks to Erynn Laurie and Nancy Kilroy, who provided great book reviews!
**
ARTICLE:
FROM THE SHOP KEEPER
When I found out that THE WITCH-CULT IN WESTERN EUROPE by Margaret Murray was back in print, I scrambled, had to jump through several metaphorical hoops, and finally was able to get it on a shelf, in my store. Murray's 1921 theory, that those accused of witchcraft in the Middle Ages were actually practicing a modified form of a pre-Christian religion, was a major influence on early Wicca. Yes, I still have some copies in stock, as of this writing.
I make a point to have a wide variety of books and other things in the shop. That usually means ordering only one or two of any given item, so I can offer many different items, which makes featuring any one book, statue, or piece of jewelry a bit awkward on the newsletter. By the time you read the description, I may be out of it for the next week, but I do have a lot of really cool stuff, and if you come in the store, I suspect there will be something with which I can tempt you.
I enjoy my role as professional tempter. I like to get really obscure books and other things, as well as just too wonderful popular interest items, which for someone, that is THEIR THING, and when they see it in front of them, they have to buy it. Some friends came in just intending to get a tarot deck for their daughter, which they did get, and they left with a big stack of books. Another person, in noticing something in their area of interest, said, "I'll have to pick that up sometime," and a minute later was bringing it up to the counter.
I'm not doing anything to these people. I like them. I'm just seeking out, acquiring, and then offering products that I think people will want, and of course, I'm glad when they do.
Robert Anderson,
Owner
Edge of the Circle Books
*
NEW BOOKS
**
At the Feet of the Guru
By Kenneth Grant
Hardback: $49.95
Starfire Publishing
Book Blurb:
Collected for the first time as one volume are these penetrating essays on Eastern Mysticism which Kenneth Grant wrote from the early 1950s onwards. Published originally in various Asian journals as well as the 1970s encyclopaedia series Man, Myth & Magic, they concern Sages such as Ramana Maharshi, Pagal Haranath, Ramakrishna, Anandamayi Ma, Sivananda, and others.
At the core of these essays is the crucial insight of Advaita - a Sanskrit word meaning ‘not divided', and associated with the Indian school of Advaita Vedanta and the work of perhaps its most famous exponent, the Sage Sri Shankacharya. It is an insight which has been expounded most succinctly in modern times in the works of Sri Ramana Maharshi, of Tiruvannamalai, who is the subject of several of the essays in the present volume. Central to these particular essays is his technique of Atma Vichara, or enquiry into the Self, a practice leading to the dissolution of the veils of illusion which obscure the singularity and universality of Awareness, often epitomised as Cosmic Consciousness.
Generally regarded as uniquely Eastern, Advaita is on the contrary a fundamental insight that is at the core of most if not all schools of mysticism and spiritual progress which seek to penetrate to a reality beyond the glamour of appearances. It is implicit in the Western magical tradition, magic being specifically the manipulation of glamours. Much of Crowley 's work, for instance, is saturated with this insight. It is also this same fundamental understanding of Advaita which underpins Kenneth Grant's Typhonian Trilogies, and which is in the present volume consolidated and deepened over the course of these essays.
Printed on high-quality paper, 132 pages long, with a section of fourteen black-and-white plates, the book is sewn hard-bound, with an attractive full-colour dust-jacket designed by Steffi Grant.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kenneth Grant (b. 1924) is a British occultist and head of the magical order which he calls Ordo Templi Orientis but which is commonly referred to as the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis to distinguish it from other branches of O.T.O.
OCCULT BACKGROUND
Grant's occult experiences began in 1939 during World War II, when he received the first transmission of the outerhuman being S'lba. This was followed in 1943 with the reception of The Chronicles of Kralnia.
KENNETH GRANT AND ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS
Grant met Aleister Crowley in 1944 and was initiated into Ordo Templi Orientis. In 1946, he was initiated into the A.'.A.'. and was also confirmed as an IX° in O.T.O. According to occult historian P.R. Koenig, Crowley called Grant "a definite gift from the Gods" and in March 1946 wrote in his diary: "Value of Grant: if I die or go to U.S.A., there must be a trained man to take care of the English O.T.O." After Crowley's death, Grant's status as IX° in O.T.O was recognized by Crowley's successor, Karl Germer, in 1948. In 1954, Grant began the work of founding the New Isis Lodge. The lodge became operational in April of 1955 when Grant issued a manifesto announcing his discovery of a "Sirius/Set current" upon which the lodge was to be based. Karl Germer was so displeased with this manifesto that on July 20, 1955, he issued a "Note of Expulsion" expelling Grant from O.T.O. without the usual constitutional due process.
Following this unconstitutional expulsion, Grant assumed the position of OHO (Outer Head of the Order) of Ordo Templi Orientis, much as Aleister Crowley had done in 1921 when he had wrested the title from Theodor Reuss after having been similarly expelled by Reuss, while Reuss was unwell and recovering from a stroke. The New Isis Lodge was absorbed into Grant's Ordo Templi Orientis in 1962. Members of Grant's Ordo Templi Orientis consider him the rightful O.H.O. of O.T.O, as evidenced by this quote from a 1976 edition of Sothis magazine:
Karl J. Germer, having proved himself blind to the implication of Crowley's letter to him, failed to understand and accept when - soon after Crowley's death - Grant submitted his plans for change... It remains to remind those who support the old-aeon concept of the O.T.O. that they have not produced - nor can they ever produce - the slightest evidence of a creative current in any of its forms.
BIOGRAPHER OF AUSTIN OSMAN SPARE
Grant was a great admirer and close friend of Austin Osman Spare. Together they founded the Zos Kia Cultus in 1952. Over the years, Grant did much to bring his friend Spare's name into western occult society, including the publication of Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare and Zos Speaks!, as well as numerous references and mentions in the Typhonian Trilogies.
PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grant published nine books in three trilogies (the Typhonian Trilogies) that span a vast number of topics.
Titles include:
The Typhonian Trilogies in order
* The Magical Revival
* Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God
* Cults of the Shadow
* Nightside of Eden
* Outside the Circles of Time
* Hecate's Fountain
* Outer Gateways
* Beyond the Mauve Zone
* The Ninth Arch
* Remembering Aleister Crowley
* Hidden Lore: The Carfax Monographs by Kenneth & Steffi Grant
* Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare
* Zos Speaks! (Austin Osman Spare work)
* The Gulls Beak (Poetry)
* Black to Black (Poetry)
* Convolvulous (Poetry)
Kenneth Grant has also published a number of novella's and short stories.
Titles include:
* Against the Light
* Snakewand and the Darker Strain
* The Other Child and other tales
* The Darker Half
* The Monolith
* At the feet of the Guru
**
Magicka Formularia: A Study In Formulary Magick (Paperback)
by Sandra Cheryl Richardson
Publisher: White Starr Publishing
Paperback
List Price$19.95
Book Blurb:
Are you looking for a complete book on the topic of magick ? Well, look no further, for you hold in your hands information that will open a new world before you. It matters not if you are a beginner or an advanced student in magick. The information in the Magicka Formularia is presented in ways that are easy to understand, and you will find yourself referring to this beautiful book again and again. For this book is about formulary magick. It will teach you how to create the right "formula" for the change you want to make in your life. Based on Old European Witchcraft, the Magicka Formularia is written towards those practitioners of the Wiccan religion.
The book is divided into three sections. The first section covers the ethics of magick and deals with the dark side as well. The types of human spirits are presented, together with topics such as the elements, colors, the pentacle, the moon, and types of candles.
In the second section, many rituals are given. The spells were successful ones created by Witches of the Old Religion. Learn how to deal with everything from love and money to protection from vampires! In addition, the ancient recipe for the Witches’ Bottle is shown.
The last section is about the prayers of the Sacred Covenant. They are powerful words that lots of people have taken comfort from. The prayers are actually used in public rituals today!
The Magicka Formularia is a magician’s handbook that anyone interested in magick will benefit from, whether they be a Witch or not. Check out this book and see for yourself how useful it will be in your life. You have found an excellent grimoire for all your magickal needs.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
Sandra Cheryl Richardson is an internationally known spiritual consultant, paranormal investigator, and metaphysical teacher. Sandra is also the internationally recognized author of the book, “Magicka Formularia.” Her expertise on psychic realms, the metaphysics, and Wicca has been sought by local (Miami) , national (Discovery Channel) and international television (Telemundo) stations as well as radio programs she has appeared on. Sandra has also received positive acclaim from various newspapers in Miami. Her lectures on the occult have been enjoyed by Miami high schools, universities, women’s groups, and attendees at various public events. The Miami Police Department also invited her to speak before officers from all over the country. Serving the South Florida community as a spiritual consultant and lecturer has been Sandra’s full time career for the past fifteen years.
**
The Yezidis , (Paperback)
by Ezster Spat
100 pages
Publisher: Saqi Books
List Price: $24.95
Book Blurb:
This is the first detailed survey of Yezidi culture to appear in English. Little is known about these ancient Kurdish mountain people, considered one of the oldest ethnicities in the Middle East, often unjustly derided as "devil-worshipers." Distinct from the majority Sunni Muslim Kurds, the Yezidis' religion evolved through a fusion of Sufism with earlier religious beliefs indigenous to the region, including Zoroastrian, Jewish, Gnostic and Christian motifs. They attribute a prominent place to their protector, the Peacock Angel, traditionally identified with Satan by Muslims. The Yezidis, as a result, have historically been labeled heretics and; thus their self-willed isolation.
Along with her enquiry into the meaning and manner of their practices, Spat takes note of the increasing demands of modernization and the shifting balance of power in the region, and also observes the stirrings of inner strife in an otherwise tough, resilient community that has endured continuous attempts at eradication over centuries.
About the Author:
Eszter Spat is a Hungarian academic and specialist in Yezidi history and culture.
**
The Bardic Handbook: The Complete Manual for the Twenty-First Century Bard
by Kevan Manwaring
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Gothic Image Publications
List Price: $23.95
Book Blurb:
How to inspire and enchant with magical words! Ever wanted to be a storyteller’ To stand up and perform one of your own poems’ To use magical words to bless, honour, heal or celebrate’ The Bardic Handbook contains all you need to know to start you on the path of the Bard. An easy to follow, 12month self study program, with week by week exercises and mini-lessons about bardic lore, will lead you along the Way of Awen. The book is divided into 5 parts, corresponding to the elements of the Western Magical Tradition: Air, Fire, Water & Earth-with Spirit at the center. With an experienced bard as guide, you will learn * practical techniques and exercises * Bardic terminology * The Bardic Chair * on Being a 21st Century Bard * preparing for performance * how to run a Bardic Circle * also includes a Certificate of Initiation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kevan Manwaring, whose Bardic name is Tallyessen, is a novelist, poet, storyteller and teacher. He has performed his poetry for over a decade in venues across Britain as well as at the Rhode Island Sacred Arts Festival. In 1998 he was awarded the Bardic Chair of Caer Badon in Bath, UK. In 1999 he won the Writers' News Ghost Story Competition. He runs Silver Branch Bardic Training and teaches fiction writing for the Open University. He lives in Bath.
**
BOOK REVIEWS
Book Review from Eryyn Laurie:
Herbal Alchemy by Phillip Hurley
I picked this book up the other day and finished it in a fairly short session. For such a slender volume, it has a lot of good and interesting material. The book is essentially about the production of planetary elixirs from plants, and discusses the planetary vibrations and their uses with a minimum of jargon and esoteric woo. His instructions for actual extraction are basic, offering a number of options of varying levels of complexity, and his discussion of the magical operations also allow for different beliefs and systems, though his personal basis is in Qabala and Tantrism.
While I disagree with a few of his opinions (his numerological assignments regarding a few of the planets, for instance), his magical technique is sound and easily adaptable to any system, Pagan or non-theistic. This is the revised 2001 edition. The original was published in 1977 and is regarded as a classic in the field. Despite its size, this book provides a lot of food for thought and doesn't dwell overmuch on theoretical esotericism. It's a very practical guide to what can be an extremely complex art. Four and a half alembics out of five.
Erynn
Poet-terrorist for a better society
Articulating the unspeakable since 1961:
http://www.seanet.com/~inisglas
The CR FAQ: An Introduction to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism: http://www.paganachd.com/faq/
About the Author:
Erynn lives in Everett, Washington and has been involved in the Pagan communities of the Pacific Northwest since 1984. An independent Pagan Scholar and one of the founders of the Celtic Reconstruction movement, she writes and teaches on many aspects of Celtic Paganism, Druidism and Filidecht.
Erynn’s work includes the book A Circle of Stones: Journeys and Meditations for Modern Celts, an essay in the anthology The Druid Renaissance - now available in a new, revised edition entitled The Rebirth Druidry: Ancient Earth Wisdom for Today, and articles in Shaman’s Drum, SageWoman, The Beltane Papers, FireHeart, Obsidian, Touchstone, Tarot Network News, Circle Network News, and others.
She offers readings, consultations and other services by appointment.
**
BOOK REVIEW; TWO ALCHEMY TEXTS
By Nancy Kilroy, HPS., Holy Well Circle
The Book of Alchemy -(Learn the Secrets of the Alchemists to Transform Mind, Body, and Soul)
by Francis Melville
and
The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy
by Brian Cotnoi
Recently I have developed an interest in alchemy. Not having been the best student in chemistry, alchemy's great grand child, I picked up two small but nicely put together books on alchemy. The Book of Alchemy - Learn the Secrets of the Alchemists to Transform Mind, Body, and Soul by Francis Melville, and The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy by Brian Cotnoir, edited by James Wasserman.
First, a confession. I fall completely under the spell of any book with anything like, "Ancient Secrets Revealed!" in the title. The Book of Alchemy - Learn the Secrets of the Alchemists to Transform Mind, Body, and Soul by Francis Melville, is a small, hard cover, cloth bound book with a gold dust jacket and a great full color alchemical emblem on the cover. Alchemical emblems are the odd, yet beautifully drawn pictures, usually etchings or woodcuts, showing people with the sun and moon in place of their heads, dragons devouring their tails, red lions eating snakes and such. This small book uses any excuse to use the old art that has been updated with color to illustrate its short and clear descriptions. It begins with a self proclaimed, brief history of the art. Not knowing anything of the history of alchemy, I found it detailed and informative enough that it will take me several readings to remember most of what it contained.
In the section called, "The Great Work," the reader is taken on a tour of the divine division from 0 to 6 passing from wholeness through the trinity, to the four elements, and the fifth or the quintessence and finally the six pointed star of two triangles called the Seal of Solomon.
There is a section on planetary and metal correspondences accompanied with emblems and a section on the 7 mystical steps, called the, "Ladder of the Wise," which include calcination, dissolution, separation, conjunction, fermentation, distillation, and coagulation. The reader is invited to gaze at the emblems and incorporate the meanings of the symbols and descriptions of the processes in an intuitive way.
The final chapter before the glossary of terms is a concise description of spagyrics. A spagyric is a sort of alchemical version of a tincture, which is an extraction of an herb's essential oil using alcohol. Unlike a mere tincture, the spagyric uses the three principles of plant alchemy in its preparation: the sulfur principle, the essential oil or "the soul," - the mercury principle, ethyl alcohol or "the spirit," - and the salt principle, the water soluble alkaline salts that reside in the plant tissues or "the body." After reading the instructions to the Seven Planetary Elixirs, which are recipes for budding alchemists who have no laboratory equipment and use mostly the kinds of pots and pans you can find in a kitchen, I decided to try my hand at making one. According to the instructions, you really should use a ceramic pot that can be used on a stove, which I didn't have at the time. I used a stainless steel, now stained, sauce pan, but I have since gone to Value Village and picked up a near perfect Corning Ware sauce pan to try again. The author suggests the first part of the operation be done outside on a grill or a camping stove as, in reducing the plant material to ashes and then calcination, there are billows of acrid smoke produced. This is no exaggeration. I seriously worried the neighbors were going to call the fire department. It took a full day and half for my kitchen to finally be cleared of smoke, with the help of a hepa filter and an open window. My whole house was infused for days with the smell. Finally I produced a really ghastly but interesting looking potion that smelled strongly of rosemary, the herb I chose to use. The best part was I felt very witchy, using my mortar and pestle, at along last, to grind the dried herb to a powder, then reduce it to ashes and recombine it with the brandy based alcohol tincture. All the trappings of potion making in the old paintings apparently are from alchemy! Very enlightening!
All in all, a beautiful little book and good introduction to the secrets of the alchemists.
The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy by Brian Cotnoir begins with an overview of alchemy rather than a more detailed history. The author states in the preface, "It is the sort of guide I wish I had had when I started my investigations years ago. ... The central concept of alchemy is transmutation: the fundamental change of one thing into another, from a grosser, impure state to a more refined, balanced, and pure state. This is to be understood on multiple levels-physically, spiritually, and symbolically".
The text is divided into two roughly equal parts, theory and practice. In "Part One: Theory," he approaches the subject through longer explanations of the principles and their symbols. The Emerald Tablet is the key to understanding the concepts of alchemy on a universal scale. One of the truisms that most who study magic encounter is, As Above-So Below. This comes from the Tabula Smaragadina, called the Emerald Tablet in English, which is a short list of statements that sound remarkably like the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu. For example the fourth statement is, "Its father is the Sun, its mother is the Moon. The wind carried it in its belly. Its nurse is the earth".
By starting with the big picture, the planets and how they relate to the principles of Hot-Cold-Moist-Dry and how this relates to astrology, the importance of astrologically related timing in alchemical formulations becomes clear.
In the practical section, he gives an overview of the Great Work and the two paths, the wet and dry paths worked by noted alchemists, like Isaac Newton and Nicholas Flamel. What is made clear is that the work of the scientist rebounds upon him spiritually and vice versa. There are three practical disciplines, the poetical, the herbal (medicinal) and metallurgy. I noticed these three branches of practical alchemy correspond to the nature of the great Irish goddess, Brighid: poetry, healing and smith craft. Some of the herbal work he covers can be done with out special equipment but he delves deeper than Melville into the classical equipment of the traditional alchemist's lab, alembics, retorts, condensers, etc. Every aspect of alchemy has some interesting tidbit of history or culture connected with it, and this makes the practical section worth reading even if the reader has no interest in ruining any of his pots or pans or buying lab equipment. There is a short passage on metal work using copper and a brief discussion on drinkable gold. The history of alchemy is diffused through out, rather than in one section. This book makes clear how the principals of magic and those of alchemy are the same. I feel I have a much better grasp of the thought process behind western esoteric traditions based on Hermetic principles.
**
PRODUCT OF THE MONTH
Rune Cards
by Brian Partridge / Tony Linsell
Publisher: Anglo-Saxon Books
List Price: $17.95
Blurb:
30 exquisite pen and ink drawn cards by Brian Partridge; 80 page booklet by Tony Linsell gives information about the origin of runes, their meaning and how to read them.
This is an Anglo-Saxon Futhark set.
**
SPELL OF THE MONTH
7-DAY CANDLE SPELL
Take a green pillar candle:
Ginger or Red Pepper,
Thyme
Cinnamon
a mixture of Money Stay With Me Powder/Money Drawing Powder
Fast Luck oil/ Prosperity Oil
Carve the candle with the dollar amount you need, plus your initials,and horoscope sign.
Dress the candle with Fast Luck oil, then roll in the combination of herbs/powder.
Place in a candle holder, and place it on top of your written petition, to which you have attached a lock of your hair. Sprinkle herb/powder combination around the candle in a circle. Pray, or say words of affirmation over the candle. Burn until the candle goes out by itself.
This spell is from a class I recently taught on Hoodoo Prosperity Magic.
Copyrighted,2006, Erica (Raven) Branch-Butler
All Rights Reserved.
**
EVENTS AND CLASSES
UPCOMING
SEPTEMBER 9, 2006
HORIZON OASIS ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS PRESENTS
GNOSTIC MASS
Start Time: 6:00 PM
Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass
Open to the public
September 10, 2006
Study Group: Magick in Theory and Practice
Start Time: 5:00 PM
Monthly study and discussion group on Magick in Theory and Practice, please read and bring your copy of the book.
Attendance is by RSVP only. E-mail mkolson@attglobal.net for information
**
September 13, 2006
TEMPLE GALATEH, THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST BRANCH
OF THE ILLUMINATES OF THANATEROS PRESENTS:
CHAOS MAGIC CLASSES
Mind Control & Gnosis, SUN 8/13 6-8PM $12
Eight Magics, Sun 9/24 6-8PM $12
* $8 for I or II / $12 for both
More Info: http://www.galateh.org/index.html
Class Descriptions
* Introduction to Chaos Magic. If you are new to Chaos magic or just want a refresher, this class is for you. You will learn about the history, philosophy, and theories and practices of Chaos magic, and engage in exercises to get you started straight away in realizing your desires through practical, results-based magic.
* Mind Control and Gnosis. Peter Carroll said, "Altered states of consciousness are the key to magical powers." This class begins with pragmatic exercises necessary for sufficient control to achieve some such states, and proceeds through several quiescent and ekstatic methods and techniques for gnosis.
*Eight Magics. Add some color to your craft with the Eight Magics of Chaos. Learn to use Pure, Ego, War, Love, Thought, Wealth, Sex, and Death magics to enhance rituals and improve successes.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD
2-4PM
Generation Hex Book Signing
with Jason Louv & Angelina Fabbro
Jason and Angelina will be discussing their book and autographing for all you collectors out there. Don't miss this opportunity to receive a valuable chronicle in the history of magic, from the people who created it!
Free admission!
“Generation Hex is a book about magic, and a snapshot of young adults who are not only delving into this art and science of the future, but who are coming to magical consciousness at a time when it has never been easier to find and link up with people of like minds. Learn the secrets of magic from artists, filmmakers, students, sex workers and scientists who have engaged with its eccentric process, and have provided a codex of information on how, and why, to practice magic. Get in on the ground floor as magic emerges from counterculture to ultraculture.”
“Generation Hex is a hole in history itself.”
SEPTEMBER 29, 2006
OLOTEAS PRESENTS...
Skiing the Magickal Bunny Slope: A Really, Really Introductory Course on Wicca, Magick and Everything
When: Fridays from 7 - 9 on September 29, October 6, 13, 20, and 27
Where: Edge of the Circle Books, 701 E Pike on Capitol Hill in Seattle
Enrollment is open to all, but we ask that no new students attend after the first class date. If you've taken the class before, you're welcome to come to any session you may have missed previously, or re-take any you found particularly interesting.
Please send email to cyndielea@oloteas.org to let us know if you're planning to attend (so we have some idea how many chairs to put out!).
This class is completely, absolutely, 100% free of charge! It is presented twice a year as a community service of OLOTEAS, and is supported by donations from our ritual events. Many thanks to Edge of the Circle for offering us free space for the class!
Visit the classes page (http://www.oloteas.org/classes.asp) for more info, including directions to the store, class schedule, and materials.
These are some of the materials that are given to students of our Skiing the Magickal Bunny Slope classes:
A Brief Guide to Pagan Etiquette
House Blessing
Some Tips for Aspiring Herbalists
Magical Ethics
Basic Circle Casting
Correspondences - Key of Solomon
Magickal Weapons and Tools
Spellcraft
The Oracle(tm)
The Tree of Life
Temple Arrangement
The Chakras
Curriculum for Wiccan First Degree
The Wheel of the Year
Glossary
Recommended Reading List
The next session will be in the spring.
Our Lady of the Earth and Sky
PO Box 20032
Seattle, WA 98102
Website: http://www.oloteas.org/
Email: oloteas@oloteas.org
**
ONGOING EVENTS AND CLASSES, ETC, :
HOLY WELL CIRCLE
Open Circle, Wiccan
Meets at the Edge every Sunday from 3PM -5PM
cybra@earthlink.net
Subject Line: Holy Well
**
Horizon Oasis O.T.O Ordo Templi Orientis
Horizon Oasis is a local body of Ordo Templi Orientis, the Order of Oriental Templars, or Order of the Temple of the East. We are located in Seattle, Washington.
OTO is a Thelemic order dedicated to the high purpose of securing the liberty of the individual and his or her advancement in light, wisdom, understanding, and power. This is accomplished through beauty, courage, and wit, on the foundation of universal brotherhood.
The OTO is the first of the old aeon orders to accept The Book of the Law, received by Aleister Crowley in 1904 e.v., with its message of a revolution in human thought, culture, and religion based on a single supreme injunction:
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
This is not to be interpreted as a license to indulge every passing whim, but rather as the mandate to discover one’s True Will and accomplish it, leaving others to do the same in their own unique ways.
Every man and every woman is a star.
The Law of Thelema can ultimately be fulfilled only through the efforts of each individual. Nevertheless, many worthy aspirants to the Great Work of Thelema have a genuine need for information, guidance, fellowship, or the opportunity to assist their fellow aspirants and serve humanity. Such aspirants will find welcome in the OTO.
The structure of OTO, like that of Freemasonry and the ancient mystery schools, is based on a series of initiations, or degrees. In these degrees, the OTO seeks to instruct the individual by allegory and symbol in the profound mysteries of existence, and thereby to assist each to discover his or her own true nature. Every man and woman of full age, free, and of good report, has an indefeasible right to the introductory degrees of the OTO. For information on initiation see Request Initiation, or contact initiations@seattle-oto.org.
Horizon offers a public performance of Liber XV, the Gnostic Mass the second Saturday and fourth Sunday of each month. This ceremonial pageant of the lance and the grail is a great opportunity to observe Thelemic ritual firsthand, as well as to meet with others who may share similar interests. For information on attending gnostic mass see How To Attend a Mass, or contact mass@seattle-oto.org.
Love is the Law, Love under Will.
Classes at EoC :
2nd Wednesdays of each month.
Horizon Oasis O.T.O. Presents:
Liber XV: The Gnostic Mass
Second Saturdays of each month, 6PM . Doors close promptly at ritual time.
© Copyright Horizon Oasis OTO 2006. All rights reserved.
**
TEMPLE GALATEH,
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST BRANCH OF THE ILLUMINATES OF THANATEROS PRESENTS:
A CHAOS MAGIC STUDY GROUP
1st Sunday of every month , 1PM.
FREE!
All are welcome!
Sharing, Learning, Networking...
More Information: http://www.galateh.kaosmagick.com/
**
SERVICES AVAILABLE AT EDGE OF THE CIRCLE BOOKS
TAROT READINGS /SPIRITUAL ADVICE
UnCommonSense Tarot
Tarot readings
Erica (Raven) Branch-Butler
Please inquire about Tarot Parties, classes and other events Available every day except Wednesdays, 1:30-8.30PM.
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SPIRITUAL ADVICE
Hoodoo You Love?
Hoodoo Consultations
Jo’nese
Specializing in Love, Protection and Cleansing
Wednesdays, please call for appointment
glitterbat93@yahoo.com
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Edge of the Circle Newsletter is looking for writers and artists! Our Focus has been on the Pagan community, Sabbatic Witchcraft, Hoodoo, African Traditional Religions, Asatru and Heathenry, Wicca, Celtic Paganism and more obscure aspects of the Occult. If you have an article or art to share, please email golanv1@yahoo.com with “Newsletter” in the subject line. Please send only original material. All Copyrighted material will be honored and credited to/as the property of the original writer.
This concludes our Newsletter for this month.
Look for us again on the first of October.
Sincerely,
Raven