A Commentary on 'The Cosmic Doctrine'


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A fascinating analysis of the most important work of occult philosophy in the 20th Century. Dion Fortune’s The Cosmic Doctrine is a foundational text which has been required reading for students of the occult since it was first published in 1956. In it she attempts to explain the meaning and evolution of the cosmos from the first beginnings to our lives today. However, the The Cosmic Doctrine isn’t an easy book to read. It's conciseness makes it hard going, for every sentence requires close attention, but the challenge it offers to its readers goes well beyond this. In a phrase that has become famous in occult circles since its publication, The Cosmic Doctrine is intended to train the mind, not to inform it; it attempts to communicate to the reader an unfamiliar way of thinking, and so a great deal of patience and hard work are required to grasp what it has to say. Some of the difficulties, however, can be smoothed out by reframing and rephrasing the ideas Fortune presents, and this is what this book aims to do. John Michael Greer provides a learned and elucidating commentary on this classic text to allow students and teachers alike to more easily digest and understand this fantastic book.




The Cosmic Doctrine


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The Cosmic Doctrine is a condensed blueprint outline of God's manifestation in this creation. Complex indeed! But what has tended to bother some about the Cosmic Doctrine teaching has been the almost total emphasis in explaining evolution simply as being the psychic nuts and bolts of God. Leaving one with the impression that God may be reduced from a Great and Infinite Being to a kind of mechanical Newtonian clockwork. However there is much more to it than that. The higher up the planes you go, although esoteric theory tends to describe it as all more abstract, in actual fact things become so much more complex, vibrant, vivid, bursting, and brimming with life in incredible profusion. It is another form of experience however. The broadest, though simple, analogy would be to liken the existence on the higher levels as something after the order of a Bach fugue - which could indeed seem to some a rather dry abstraction, but which to the attuned and educated ear is a revelation of divinity, harmony and celestial order. The reality is not easy to describe in concepts, let alone in words. How best to describe a rainbow to a blind man? Contens Introduction Section I. THE EVOLUTION OF THE COSMOS. - 1. The First Manifestation. - 2. The First Trinity. - 3. The Building of the Atom. - 4. The Evolution of the Atom. - 5. The Genesis of a Solar System. - 6. Cosmic Influences on a Solar System. Section II. THE EVOLUTION OF THE LOGOS AND HIS REGENTS. - 7. The Evolution of a Great Entity. - 8. The Relation of a Great Entity to the Cosmos. - 9. The Projection of the Concept of the Universe. - 10. The Relation between the Projected Image and the Logoidal Consciousness. - 11. Auto-reactions and Cosmic Memory. - 12. The Birth of consciousness in the Universe. - 13. The Beginnings of Mind and Group Consciousness. - 14. The Seed-atom Building a Seventh Plane Body. - 15. Evolution of the First Planetary Form. - 16. Evolution of the Lords of Flame, Form and Mind. - 17. The Influence of the Regents upon the Globes. - 18. The Goal of Evolution of a Life Swarm. Section. Section III. INFLUENCES UNDER WHICH THE EVOLUTION OF HUMANITY IS CONDUCTED. - 19. Tabulated Summary of Influences. - 20. Cosmic Influences. - 21. The Logoidal Relation to the Manifested Universe. - 22. Influences of the Manifested Universe. - 23. Teaching Concerning Other Evolutions inhabiting a Planet Simultaneously. - 24. Influences which Humanity exerts upon Itself. - 25. The Law of Action and Reaction. - 26. The Law of Limitation. - 27. The Law of Seven Deaths. - 28. The Law of Impactation, or the Transmission of Action from one Plane to another. - 29. The Law of the Aspects of Force, or Polarity. - 30. The Law of the Attraction of Outer Space. - 31. The Law of the Attraction of the Centre




General Catalogue of Printed Books


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New & Enlarged Handbook of Christian Theology


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This handbook provides thorough introductory articles on important themes in Christian theology. Along with cross-references and select bibliographies, it is an indispensable reference source. The Handbook consists of 148 topical entries arranged alphabetically. Instead of a Table of Contents, a "Routes For Reading" page suggests related entries, and cross-referencing makes 'surfing' this volume easier than ever.




Perdurabo, Revised and Expanded Edition


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A rigorously researched biography of the founder of modern magick, as well as a study of the occult, sexuality, Eastern religion, and more The name “Aleister Crowley” instantly conjures visions of diabolic ceremonies and orgiastic indulgences—and while the sardonic Crowley would perhaps be the last to challenge such a view, he was also much more than “the Beast,” as this authoritative biography shows. Perdurabo—entitled after the magical name Crowley chose when inducted into the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn—traces Crowley’s remarkable journey from his birth as the only son of a wealthy lay preacher to his death in a boarding house as the world’s foremost authority on magick. Along the way, he rebels against his conservative religious upbringing; befriends famous artists, writers, and philosophers (and becomes a poet himself); is attacked for his practice of “the black arts”; and teaches that science and magick can work together. While seeking to spread his infamous philosophy of, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law,” Crowley becomes one of the most notorious figures of his day. Based on Richard Kaczynski’s twenty years of research, and including previously unpublished biographical details, Perdurabo paints a memorable portrait of the man who inspired the counterculture and influenced generations of artists, punks, wiccans, and other denizens of the demimonde.







The Night Sky, Updated and Expanded Edition


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Ever since Homo sapiens first looked up at the stars, we as a species have been looking for meaning in the mysteries of the night sky. Over the millennia, as our knowledge, science, and technology developed, the stories we told ourselves about the universe and our place in it developed as well. In The Night Sky, Richard Grossinger traces those developments, covering multiple aspects of humanity's complex relationship to the cosmos. Covering not only astronomy but also cosmology, cosmogony, astrology, and science fiction, he offers us a revelatory look at the firmament through his own telescope, fitted with an anthropological lens. Throughout his explorations, Grossinger continually reflects on the deeper meaning of our changing concepts about the universe and creation, offering insight into how each new discovery causes us to redefine the values, moralities, and aesthetics by which we live. He also calls into question the self-aggrandizing notion that humanity can and will conquer all, and injects our strident confidence in science with a healthy dose of humility and wonder. Filled with poetic observation and profound questions, The Night Sky is a brilliant reflection of humanity's relationship with the cosmos--a relationship fed by longing, doubt, and awe.




The Nation


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The Bookseller


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