Demonology: Includes News From Scotland on the Death of a Notable Sorcerer. King James I of England. The Book Tree. San Diego, CA. 2002.
Reviewed by Erzebet
Originally published in 1597, this is a reprint of the 1924 edition and includes Newes from Scotland, first published in 1591. This slender little volume, written by His Notorious Highness King James I of England, begins with a frighteningly informative foreword by Paul Tice. James was a man obsessed with evil and with evildoers — most especially with witches, but also with magicians of any sort. In his own words, the book was written in order to prove that “the assaults of Satan are most certainly practiced, and that the instruments thereof, merits most severely to be punished”. James presents this evidence by way of a discourse between two characters, Philomathes and Epistemon, regarding the nature of Satan and his special instrument, the witch.
One might hope to find in these pages some insight into the methods by which these instruments performed their acts of evil, but spells, recipes and chants are practically nonexistent. James informs us that witches can and do fly to Sabbats, but he neglects to tell us anything about the art of flight itself. Every act can be laid at the feet of Satan, and the king spared no ink in reminding his readers of this fact at any opportunity. James’ sadistic nature is revealed in the latter part of the book, Newes from Scotland, in which he revels in the methods and devices used to elicit confessions from those found guilty of the use of magic.
As fixated as the author was, this book’s merit lies in its glimpse at the thinking of the day. Granted, that thinking was done by a man perhaps more mad than many, but this is the man who provided the world with the King James Bible, thereby influencing the vast majority of Western culture. For anyone interested in the history of the witch-hunts, this book is an interesting example of the literature used to promote the idea that witches, magicians and sorcerers were dangerous breeds, best put to death posthaste. For those searching for more practical information about what those evildoers were actually doing, it might be best to look elsewhere.
Voudon Gnosis. David Beth. Scarlet Imprint. 2008. 90pp.
Reviewed by Dis & Erzebet
Voudon Gnosis is a nicely bound and well-written “initiated commentary” on the extensive work of Michael Bertiaux, who is best known for his recently re-released Voudon Gnostic Workbook, the training tool of La Couleuvre Noir. No one is better able to give such a concise and comprehensive explanation of the VGW and L.C.N. than Beth, Bertiaux’s successor. The point of Voudon Gnosis is not, however, to expound upon the material already extant concerning L.C.N., but to express and promote the gnosis achievable through its systems.
Beth alludes to the Order’s secrets, teasing us with glimpses of hidden knowledge, but he also offers the uninitiated a clear view of the foundation upon which those secrets are built. One might think that, because of its small page count, Voudon Gnosis ends all too quickly. But — for the careful reader — this book is more than its text and illustrations; it is in itself a magical object, a portal to a universe in which further understanding is revealed.
IF YOU MEET CROWLEY ON THE PATH, KILL HIM
ISSN 0953 – 7015
87pp. 210mm x 297mm.
Printed on white 100gsm paper
with black endpapers.
Colour cover 300gsm silk card.
4 colour plates & full colour throughout.
Perfect bound by hand with cloth spine.
This title is only available as a pdf.
The controversial, cutting-edge 9th issue of Volume VII of The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema, exploring English Qaballa, Goetic, Lunar and Enochian magick, myth and folklore and including rituals, tables and sigils — a cornucopia for every serious practitioner of magick.
Including articles by Jake Stratton-Kent, Caroline Tully, Ramsey Dukes and others, and original art by Ars Alkhemeta, Aria Nadii and more.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE MAGICK OF THE GHEBERS
by Jake Stratton-Kent
A Manifesto of Radical Traditionalism and an Introduction to Cosmological and Liturgical Methodologies of one of its Foremost Schools
THE BEST BLOOD IS OF THE MOON
by Tulu Pa Sa
An Exploration of the Unity by Denial Formula of Moon in Scorpio
ERICHTHO: WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST
by Caroline Tully
On the Origins of the Figure of the Harridan Witch
THE BOOK OF GATES
LITURGICAL APPROACHES TO INVOCATION & EVOCATION
by Jake Stratton-Kent, “Female Confession” by William Behun
A Process of Ceremonial Composition of use in the Invocation of Deities and the Evocation of Spirits
ON THE ANGEL OF THE MOON AND THE DRAGON OLUN
by Melanie Harper
Olun in the 19th Aire Elucidated through the EQ
THE POWERS OF THE SPHINX
by Dis
The Sphinx as a Symbol of the Adept
WHITE AS SNOW, RED AS BLOOD, BLACK AS EBONY
by Erzebet
An Alternative Means of Understanding and Working with the Divine Feminine Triad
THE COMMENT
EQ enumeration of The Comment
WHAT IS THE BOOK OF THE LAW?
by Ramsey Dukes
The Relevance of Liber AL Today
Plus Reviews, Letters, Notices and our Editorial.
