Sane Occultism


Book Description




Sane Occultism


Book Description

Contents - I. What Is Occultism? - II. Is Occultism Worth While? - III. The Deeper Issues Of Occultism. - IV. Credulity In Occult Research - V. Meditation And Psychism - VI. The Use And Abuse Of Astrology - VII. Records Of Past Lives - VIII. Numerology And Prophecy - IX. Group Karma In Occult Societies - X. Authority And Obedience In Occultism - XI. Secrecy In Occult Fraternities - XII. The Left-Hand Path - XIII. Occultism And Immorality - XIV. Psychic Pathologies - XV. Mental Trespassing - XVI. Occultism And Vegetarianism - XVII. Eastern Methods And Western Bodies - XVIII. Standards Of Judgment - XIX. The Ideals Of Occultism




What Is Occultism?


Book Description

Offers the reader an in-depth look at what occultism can be to the rational and well-trained practitioner. Fortune presents a clear discussion, sweeping aside our cultural assumptions and stereotypes. She is able to place occultism in its proper place asa philosophy that employs scientific and rational methodology to explore the meaning of life, while retaining religious overtones. She reveals the heart of occult ethics and ideals that occult research seeks to aid people in achieving enlightenment.




Naturalistic Occultism: An Introduction to Scientific Illuminism


Book Description

Naturalistic Occultism: An Introduction to Scientific Illuminism is an attempt to introduce the approach of Scientific Illuminism to occultism. It is in line with the motto of Scientific Illuminism, "The Method of Science, the Aim of Religion." Naturalistic Occultism approaches the theory and practice of occultism in a way that is scientific (using the scientific method and being up-to-date in current scientific knowledge), naturalistic (not supernatural), and pragmatic (whatever works is provisionally 'true'). This book represents an honest attempt to separate the gold of the practice of magick from the dross of superstition and dogma.




Neo-Paganism: Historical Inspiration & Contemporary Creativity


Book Description

A living relationship with the wild natural world is our birthright as human beings. But centuries of civilization, patriarchy, transcendental monotheism, reductionist science, and capitalism have broken the connection between humankind and nature. To be Neo-Pagan today is to reclaim our original relation with the world. It is nothing more and nothing less than to be fully human again. To (re-)learn what this means, we need to strip away the layers of estrangement that have accreted to our collective soul over the centuries. So we look back to our pagan ancestors. Though separated by time, there is a connection between us and them. We carry it in our flesh and blood. At our most fundamental, we are still the same human beings we were then. We can be pagan again today because we live under the same Sun and on the same Earth, we feel the same wind blowing through our hair and the same rain falling on our skin.




Psychic Self-Defense


Book Description

A new edition of an occult classic, which includes a new introduction by Mary K. Greer, author of Women of the Golden Dawn, and a new afterword with excerpts from rarely seen documents by Fortune herself describing how the book came about. After finding herself the subject of a powerful psychic attack in the 1930s, famed British occultist Dion Fortune wrote this detailed instruction manual on protecting oneself from paranormal attack. This classic psychic self-defense guide explains how to understand the signs of a psychic attack, vampirism, hauntings, and methods of defense. Everything you need to know about the methods, motives, and physical aspects of a psychic attack and how to overcome it is here, along with a look at the role psychic elements play in mental illness and how to recognize them. This is one of the best guides to detection and defense against psychic attack from one of the leading occult writers of the twentieth century. This Weiser Classics edition of Dion Fortune’s Psychic Self-Defense includes a new forward by Mary K. Greer, author of numerous books including Tarot for Your Self, and a new afterword by Christian Gilson that chronicles the original context surrounding Dion Fortune’s writing of the book. Mr. Gibson is the editor of The Inner Light, the journal published by the Society of Inner Light.




India and the Occult


Book Description

India and the Occult explores the reception of Indian spirituality among Western occultists through case studies. Rather than focusing on the activities of Theosophical Society, India and the Occult looks at the 'hard-core' occultism, in particular the British 20th century currents associated with Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Kenneth Grant, etc.




The History of the Occult Tarot


Book Description

An essential volume for the libraries of all serious students of the Tarot. When the Tarot was invented in Italy during the early fifteenth century, it was simply a pack of cards used for playing games. Esoteric interpretations of the pack date from late eighteenth century France, and were confined to that country for a hundred years. But today the cards are used throughout the world and not only for fortune telling - for true believers they are the key to secret knowledge and the meaning of life. A History of the Occult Tarot is the classic work on the history of the Tarot deck and its use in occult circles. Starting with the late nineteenth century, the Decker and Dummett examine how the Tarot became the favoured divination tool of occultists, a bridge to the spirit world, and a map of the unconscious. From Theosophical to Aleister Crowley to the Order of the Golden Dawn and P.D. Ouspensky, this compelling survey of the Tarot's history describes the many fascinating decks imagined over time as well as the secret histories of mystics.




The Occult World


Book Description

This volume presents students and scholars with a comprehensive overview of the fascinating world of the occult. It explores the history of Western occultism, from ancient and medieval sources via the Renaissance, right up to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and contemporary occultism. Written by a distinguished team of contributors, the essays consider key figures, beliefs and practices as well as popular culture.




The Occult Imagination in Britain, 1875-1947


Book Description

Between 1875 and 1947, a period bookended, respectively, by the founding of the Theosophical Society and the death of notorious occultist celebrity Aleister Crowley, Britain experienced an unparalleled efflorescence of engagement with unusual occult schema and supernatural phenomena such as astral travel, ritual magic, and reincarnationism. Reflecting the signal array of responses by authors, artists, actors, impresarios and popular entertainers to questions of esoteric spirituality and belief, this interdisciplinary collection demonstrates the enormous interest in the occult during a time typically associated with the rise of secularization and scientific innovation. The contributors describe how the occult realm functions as a turbulent conceptual and affective space, shifting between poles of faith and doubt, the sacrosanct and the profane, the endemic and the exotic, the forensic and the fetishistic. Here, occultism emerges as a practice and epistemology that decisively shapes the literary enterprises of writers such as Dion Fortune and Arthur Machen, artists such as Pamela Colman Smith, and revivalists such as Rolf Gardiner