Precious Apothecary


Book Description

Precious Apothecary A Catholic Grimoire compiled from the writings of Ângelo Sequeira, for the acquisition and sustenance of Grace, the Blessing of the Virgin, the succour of her Divine Son our Lord, and the patronage of one hundred and twenty Saints. English translation by José Leitão. Precious Apothecary is a translation of Botica Preciosa, a Catholic Grimoire compiled by Ângelo de Sequeira Ribeiro do Prado (1707-1776) who was perhaps the most important Brazilian missionary in history. The Botica Preciosa (1754) was his first book and is a collection of prayers, devotions and exercises to the Lady of the Rock and 120 other Saints. Suffused with the author's missionary purpose the book also contains the consecrations and blessings for oils, flowers, statues and food, as well as exorcisms and prayers for many ailments intended for situations where no priests were available. This is a leading work of pragmatic religious practice in which Sequeira addressed the devotional needs of the ordinary people, and thereby gained a significant following in both Portugal and Brazil. This work presents an exceptional insight into practices outside the influence of a Protestant narrative, offering a window into the multifaceted world of baroque Catholicism, heresies, deviations and Rigorist movements within this. The Catholic Pantheon of Saints is introduced, together with its hierarchy and the techniques needed to access and work with them. The book also includes extensive instructions on the creation and consecration of the materia sacra/ magica, rarely found outside of liturgical literature. This grimoire presents a system which will appeal to Catholics (and other Christians) with an interest in magic, and those exploring pre-contemporary forms of spirit work from within a Christian framework. It is likewise essential reading for occult scholars and practising magicians interested in exploring Christian Magic, seeking sources for folk magic and expanding their knowledge of the grimoire tradition. José Leitão is a scholar and researcher on the history of Portuguese magic and the author of a number of books including The Book of St. Cyprian: The Sorcerer's Treasure.




The Apothecary


Book Description

It's 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows - a fascinating boy who's not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary's sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies - Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster. Together with Ian Schoenherr's breathtaking illustrations, this is a truly stunning package from cover to cover.




Creation Machine


Book Description

A tyrant’s rebel daughter embarks on a race across an artificial galaxy in this “ambitious, compulsively readable” space opera trilogy debut (Guardian, UK). In the vast, artificial galaxy called the Spin, a rebellion has been crushed. Industrialist tyrant Viklun Hass is eliminating all remnants of the opposition—starting with his maverick daughter. But Fleare Hass has had time to plan her next move. And so begins her journey from exile to the very frontiers of a new war. For hundreds of millions of years, the planets and stars of the Spin have been the only testament to the god-like engineers who created them. Now, beneath the surface of a ruined planet, one of their machines has been found . . . and the Spin will never be the same . . .




The Alchemist's Cat


Book Description

Animal fantasy. Sorcery, villainy, murder. 10 yrs+




A Circle of Stars


Book Description

A middle-aged wedding planner. An ancient enemy. And a whole lot of plants. I never intended to kill. That’s the thing about a midlife crisis—intention matters. To be clear, I was a well-known murderer of houseplants from the start. As a boutique wedding planner with a black thumb, I’ll get you that fabulous dress–just don’t ask me to pick out the bouquets. But when the bottom fell out of that life—losing my job, my apartment, and my only son to grad school all in the same week—my world came crashing down. Then a letter from a family lawyer changed everything. I packed up decades worth of memories and headed for Whiskey Row. But instead of my dream boutique, I walked into a nightmare. As I attempt to tame the veritable jungle and evade enemies unseen for millenia, I’ve learned that midlife brings some unexpected magic. Yet nothing could prepare me for witches, shifters, and fae in my shop at all hours–and those are just the customers. If you love character-driven adventure, houseplants, and a little spice with your urban fantasy, this page-turner is for you. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and then you’ll head out to buy your own Monstera deliciosa. A Circle of Stars, the first book in the Four Crowns series is a grownup romp that celebrates friendship and snark with a hint of slow-burn romance as the heroine shows that midlife is a starting point, never the end. Perfect for fans of K.F. Breene, Travis Baldree, and Delemhach.




Hester


Book Description

Named a Most Anticipated Book for Fall 2022 by Goodreads • Washington Post • New York Post • BuzzFeed • PopSugar • Business Insider • An October 2022 Indie Next List Pick • An October 2022 LibraryReads Pick "A hauntingly beautiful––and imagined––origin story to The Scarlet Letter." ––People WHO IS THE REAL HESTER PRYNNE? Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Glasgow for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they've arrived in Salem, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic––leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country, forced to make her way by any means possible. When she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are instantly drawn to each other: he is a man haunted by his ancestors, who sent innocent women to the gallows––while she is an unusually gifted needleworker, troubled by her own strange talents. As the weeks pass and Edward's safe return grows increasingly unlikely, Nathaniel and Isobel grow closer and closer. Together, they are a muse and a dark storyteller; the enchanter and the enchanted. But which is which? In this sensuous and hypnotizing tale, a young immigrant woman grapples with our country's complicated past, and learns that America's ideas of freedom and liberty often fall short of their promise. Interwoven with Isobel and Nathaniel's story is a vivid interrogation of who gets to be a "real" American in the first half of the 19th century, a depiction of the early days of the Underground Railroad in New England, and atmospheric interstitials that capture the long history of "unusual" women being accused of witchcraft. Meticulously researched yet evocatively imagined, Laurie Lico Albanese's Hester is a timeless tale of art, ambition, and desire that examines the roots of female creative power and the men who try to shut it down.







The Apothecary's Shop


Book Description

“An extraordinary book, a gripping trip back through time to discover a different but still unique Venice and its political intrigues and mysteries” (Art as a Part of Culture). In a medieval Venice ravaged by famine and orgiastic revelries, the protagonists of The Apothecary’s Shop explore the depths of the city and the paths to the supernatural in their search for a missing child. The young Costanza, of the noble Grimani family, has disappeared. Edgardo, the family scribe, vows to return the girl to her family, an ambitious enterprise considering his failing eyesight. Physical ailments and emotional torment hinder Edgardo’s search, for as he undertakes this perilous investigation, images of his own lost love—Kallis, a slave from the Far East who disappeared in a storm years ago—are resurrected. Help arrives in the form of Abella, the only female doctor in Venice. From her, Edgardo learns of occult medical practices and of Sabbatai’s Apothecary, where the city’s most desperate citizens seek heretical remedies and concoctions to sooth their suffering. It is here, however, where the secret of Constanza’s disappearance may lie. Venal physicians and legitimate healers, unscrupulous relatives, mystics and apothecaries, wealthy nobility and the wretched poor, undertakers, Eastern merchants, African slave traders, each plays a role this ingeniously constructed mystery set in the busy and licentious trade port of Venice. “Nobody writes about Venice like Roberto Tiraboschi in The Apothecary’s Shop.” —L’Unità “An extremely elegant intrigue, with cosmopolitan influences that reflect the character of the city, several unlikely plot twists, and the panache to put just enough confidence in the mind of the reader to keep the pages turning quickly.” —Seattle Review of Books







The Apothecary’s Chest


Book Description

‘The Apothecary’s Chest: Magic, Art and Medication’ was a one-day symposium held at the University of Glasgow on November 24, 2007. The symposium called for a discussion on the evolution of the notions of mysticism, knowledge and superstition in the way they are intertwined in both science and the literary imagination in the figure of healers such as the apothecary, the alchemist, the shaman. There were three main areas of interest. The first involved traditional perceptions of physicians, who combined knowledge and superstition and thus bordered, in their practices, on the sphere of the occult. The second theme, evolving from the first, proposed an inquiry of the overlapping interests and processes of science, magic and prophesy, as well as of the implications and consequences of a privileged access to medical knowledge, while the third subject of discussion concentrated on the development of the symbolism of the healer in literature, history, philosophy of science, anthropology, theology, film and art. The twelve papers included in this volume, papers presented by doctoral candidates and young scholars from across a range of geographical regions and disciplines, result in a collection of approaches to an investigative field with topics ranging from mystical traits of mundane materials to the origins of the occult and gender struggles. The thirteenth and final essay included in the volume, Professor Bill Herbert’s ‘From Mere Bellies to the Bad Shaman’, is an exploration of the modern role of the contemporary poet in the form of an extended conversation initiated at the closing of the conference, when Professor Herbert was asked to combine a poetry reading with a few observations on the relationship between the poet and the shaman.