Comments | ns_kumiho: Miscellany

ns_kumiho

Miscellany

Dec 28, 2009 04:10

Today was kind of meh. One of my roommates zotquix got my Ted Andrew's Animal-Speak which I returned today as I already had a copy. It took a while to return the book due to the crowd and I got a gift card back. I looked over some books in the store and have several I'm considering (didn't have much time to look them over) or ordering one book I'm semi- ( Read more... )

magic, christianity, links, paganism, rants, random

Comments 12

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ns_kumiho December 29 2009, 10:13:26 UTC

It's certainly a topic I'm interested in but I've heard a lot of mixed reactions to the book.

I think I may get it if I find it used in the future but it seems like one of the other books may be of better value right now.

katsuninken December 28 2009, 16:54:12 UTC

I recommend The Fox and the Jewel and the Yengishiki.

ns_kumiho December 28 2009, 18:31:25 UTC

I have have both.

And heh I'm semi-well read on East Asian fox beliefs and mythology if you haven't read them I'd recommend looking into these books if you're interested:

Michael Bathgate's The Fox's Craft in Japanese Religion and Culture: Shapeshifters, Transformations, and Duplicities
The best book I've seen on Japanese fox tales and imagery.

Xiaofei Kang's The Cult of the Fox: Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China
Quite frankly the best book I've seen on Fox beliefs/mythology hands down it focuses on Chinese forms but a lot of the insights are applicable across the East Asian sphere.

lemon_cupcake December 28 2009, 17:13:31 UTC

I agree with what you say about the Kabbalah. That's why I'm so pleased with the Pythagorean Tarot. I never thought anything would peel me away from Crowley's tarot, but Kabbalah always left me cold and we're arrived at a point I think where it is really no longer necessary for the Kabbalah to form the basis for Western magick and esotericism. As for the Kabbalah being important as a conduit for Neoplatonism, all I can say as a Platonist is that getting your Platonism filtered through the Kabbalah makes no sense whatsoever. I've never heard that interpretation of Plutarch's story of Isis' sojourn in Lebanon; too clever by half, I'd say.

I own Gems from the Equinox, but I must say that if you're not going to go very deeply into Crowley's system there's not much point. My vote would tentatively be for the book on Roman religion, though I'm not familiar with it specifically. I might be able to come up with a different suggestion if I had a better sense of what was especially interesting to you these days…

ns_kumiho December 29 2009, 09:55:20 UTC

Thanks.

I might be able to come up with a different suggestion if I had a better sense of what was especially interesting to you these days…

I'm not even sure what's interesting myself these days. I've been questioning and re-evaluating many things recently and attempting to recenter myself.

lemon_cupcake December 29 2009, 18:30:36 UTC

Out of left field here, but I've really been enjoying Sri Aurobindo's Secret of the Veda. I've been reading it in tandem with the Vedas in the old Ralph T. H. Griffith translation, and it's the first thing that's really opened up the Vedas for me. Never read anything by Aurobindo before. Plus the book smells beautiful, as though it was packed in incense.

ns_kumiho December 30 2009, 19:19:28 UTC

Sounds Interesting. Personally I love Griffith's translation although I only have his translation of the Rig Veda in Physical Form.

primaldog December 28 2009, 18:46:59 UTC

Ugh, I wouldn't get ChristoPaganism, read a number of other reviews on it, plus checked it out at the store...seems way, way too fluffy, at least for my tastes, and kind of lacking in the historical references department.

ns_kumiho December 29 2009, 09:48:22 UTC

Ah than that sounds kind of disappointing, I was hoping for a deep discussion on the issues.

kukai_masahiro December 28 2009, 20:54:15 UTC

I was the one who recommended "Gems From The Equinox". Being the Crowleyan that I am, I will admit that I am a bit biased. lol Okay, I'm a lot biased-but I'm trying to work on that one! LOL However, I recommended it for several "great" reasons(tongue inserted firmly in cheek ( ... )

ns_kumiho December 29 2009, 09:42:25 UTC

I'm not doubting that Gems is a good book and it's on my list of things to possibly get at some point. And you're right I was trying to convince myself ( ... )

kukai_masahiro December 29 2009, 17:30:55 UTC

Understood, and you have a good point. Many places online offer the texts that comprise "Gems." In fact, if you do torrent downloads, you can get the whole bloody thing here:

http://www.torrentz.com/96e61ab54e1b7c958da3ca77d4c8fa8cf8e06e5d

I don't know much more about it, since I'm rather technologically challenged concerning torrents. LOL

Anyway, the Rüpke book does sound intriguing. Too bad it's not available in the store. :-(