From the preeminent author of At Fear’s Altar and the occult manifesto The Benighted Pathcomes Sylvan Dread, Richard Gavin's fifth collection of preternatural tales. Bound within are thirteen nightmares exploring the Sinister Pastoral, the dominion which prevails at the intersection of mortal reckoning and the primoridum of malevolent Nature. As a meditation on the forces of predation and parasitism, monstrous fecundity and decay, and those hidden folk who occupy the spaces between the branches, Sylvan Dread evokes the primeval wood ― the place where all dreams and nightmares begin. In this isolate copse we witness the excavation of abominations long earthbound, the twilight of the rational, and the forgotten violence of the Dionysian Rite.

Sylvan Dread: Tales of Pastoral Darkness

Literature & Fiction

Gavin, Richard

Genre Fiction

Three Hands Press

The discipline of Occult Herbalism encompasses the knowledge and use of the magical, spiritual, and folkloric dimensions of plants. This perennial wisdom animates many global spiritual traditions, especially those which have maintained their integrity of transmission even in the face of industrial development and cultural destruction. Often concealed within the deepest strata of the Western Esoteric Traditions, this green strand of wisdom, though obscured, is a potent legacy of all magic, sorcery, and occult science. In addition to the hard sciences of botany, ethnology, agriculture and ethnopharmacology, a number of pathways can assist the magical herbalist in furthering the depth of understanding and integrity of personal approach. Thirteen Pathways of Occult Herbalism circumscribes the metaparadigm of herbal magical practice, providing useful examples of its manifestation, as well as demonstrating its time-honored routes of inquiry.

Thirteen Pathways of Occult Herbalism

Religion & Spirituality

Schulke, Daniel A.

New Age & Spirituality

Sylvian Dread- Tales of Pastoral Darkness

Richard Gavin

Among the ancient Germanic peoples there existed a highly developed stream of magical belief and practice devoted to, and stemming directly from, the dead. While it is difficult for the modern mind to understand these beliefs, it was simply an acknowledged matter of fact that a tremendous wellspring of virtuous power dwelt among the physical remains of the once living, be they man or beast, long after the spirit abandons flesh. In this book, the author has gathered together disparate elements of faith, folklore and a multitude of fascinating practices related to the dead. In examining ancient and modern materials among the Teutonic peoples of Europe, we begin to distill an understanding of the powerful significance reserved not only for the revenants of the departed, but their physical remains as well. From the folk charming traditions of the British Isles to the extravagant ritual sacrifices held in medieval Uppsala, Sweden, the book provides the reader a glimpse into to the core strata of the power of the cadaver, and its subsequent role in the sorcerous practices witnessed amongst the European diaspora.

The Language of the Corpse: The Power of the Cadaver in Germanic and Icelandic Sorcery

History

Dickerson, Cody

Europe

Lucifer’s transgression is examined, as well as the penetrating and trangressive nature of his radiance. In the popular imagination, the fallen angel Lucifer evokes such concepts as heresy, rebellion, pride, liberation from the bonds of demiurgic oppression, and impetus for human evolution. From his earliest origins, the Proud Angel has been hailed by religious and artistic countercultures as a patron saint of enlightenment ―his most essential quality embodying overthrow of ignorance and the inspired process of revelation. Allied to ancient Gnostic Christian cosmological conceptions, the fallen angel has also found dominion within occult traditions, folk magic, philosophy, as well as art and literature. Lucifer has also, in many enduring mystical traditions, assumed a female form in the guise of Lucina, Lucia and Diana Lucifera. In his guise as the Serpent of Eden, he bestowed the magical philosophy of the Luciferian Woman, she who was not born of the clay, and was therefore especially receptive to the forbidden powers which would render one ‘as God.’

The Luminous Stone: Lucifer in Western Esotericism (Western Esotericism in Context)

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

With its geographic diversity of rocky edifices, deep river valleys and dense forests, Europe's Balkan mountain region has been characterized as a natural fortress. This natural multiformity is mirrored by an ancient admixture of magical beliefs and practices present in the region for thousands of years. Among the many specialist types of Balkan magic is 'Vesticarstvo', a sorcery drawing its power from Balkan folk belief, relict shamanism, and medieval heresy. This traditional magic, which has also been referred to as The Balkan Craft, is present today in many forms, and uses of thousands of charms, rites, and spells in the rural communities where it survives. A quintessential embodiment of this power is the zmajevit covek or ‘dragon-man’. Part human, part serpent, he possessed supernatural heredity and the power to curse, cure, and traffic with supernatural beings. Often incorporating the ancient powers of the pre-Roman Gods, the Queen of the Fairies, elemental spirits, and the ancestral retinue, the vital corpus of Vesticarstvo lore is a little-explored area of occult study. Drawing from both historical sources and present survivals, the present volume examines its history, beliefs, and rituals, including a complete English translation of DE INTORKATURA, an age-old rite of magical combat, as well as several other Balkan witchcraft rituals never before translated into English. (Publisher)

Witchcraft and Sorcery of the Balkans

Ristic, Radomir

In the most ancient systems of astrology, a patterning known as the Decans divided the earth’s sky into 36 sections, each of which had a distinct emblem or 'Face'. More than just a curious footnote in the history of archaeo-astronomy, the Decans are a thread that spans over four millennia of astrological and magical history, linking ancient Egypt with the Hellenistic world, the Arabian empire, India, the European Renaissance and even the present. Over time, these 36 ‘Faces of Heaven’ have moved with the occult corpus of Hermetic material, reappearing in the starry wisdom of culture after culture. As a gear in astrology’s encompassing clockworks, the Decans have also long been a key to accessing legions of spirits. For several millennia and in multiple cultures, magicians have looked at these 36 faces and seen gods, choirs of angels, hordes of demons, and a host of spirits staring back at them, each with its own unique powers. Far from going undocumented, this gallery of faces has been painted and drawn by a host of astrologers, sorcerers and artists, and they can be found on walls of Italian villas as well as in the pages of European grimoires. Weaving together astrology and magic, divination and sorcery, time and sky, this thread of esoteric history deserves more than the footnotes it has so far received. In this work, Austin Coppock follows the Decans through history, charting their trajectory through time and culture. Each Decan, its image, and its specific powers are examined in detail, as well as its permutations in the planetary aspects. Featuring original images specially created for each Decan by Bob Eames, 36 Faces is an invaluable resource for magicians, astrologers, and historians of magical semiotics, as well as the modern student of Hermeticism.

36 Faces

Coppock, Austin

The Green Mysteries is the product of twenty-five years of experiential research on the spiritual and occult properties of plants. Presenting a vast array of trees and herbs from many spiritual traditions, this exhaustive compendium examines their folklore, magical uses and spiritual essences. While presenting the material through both magical and mythopoetic narrative, the stance of the book is also grounded firmly in supportive disciplines such as botany, chemistry, and anthropology and also includes up to date phylogenetic and pharmacological findings. Interspersed with the encyclopedic plant entries are short narratives addressing such concepts as the Witches’ Flying Oinment, intoxicating incense, the herbal dimsension of Alchemy, and the ‘Green Saints’ such as Al-Khidir, the medieval Wildman, and the forest-dwelling Nymphs who nourished the Greek gods. More than a mere collation of previously existing works on plants, much of the material is drawn directly from the author's private field notes, diaries, and manuals of magical operation, presented in an angaging narrative style. Illustrated with with over 270 original illustrations by Benjamin Vierling, commissioned for the project.

The Green Mysteries: An Occult Herbarium

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Gardening & Landscape Design

In his fourth book in the Witchcraft of the British Isles series, Michael Howard examines the Craft of East Anglia, one of the richest areas of historical witchcraft and folk magic in Eangland. From the private witch of William the Conqueror to the cunning men and women of the marshes and fens, to the Toad-witches and the appalling deeds of the witch-finders, the book is a trove of historical information on the actual folk magical practices of East Anglia. Also examined are the spirits of locality, such as Old Shuck, the spectral black dog known to haunt country lanes, and a special chapter on Imps and Familiars.

East Anglian Witches and Wizards (Witchcraft of the British Isles)

Howard., Michael

The incantation is one of the most ancient and best-known techniques of verbal magic, utilizing vocal modulation and the complex poetics of the word to conjure spirits or occult power. Other literary forms, such as the epic, koan, psalm and cipher may also participate in the arcana and power accessed by the arts of the occult. Yet fiction, largely considered entertainment ―or in its ‘higher’ forms, philosophy― seldom transcends its secular associations. Occult Fiction, as an emerging literary form, is a verbal magic realized in both form and function. Not only does it give voice to discarnate entities, it also vivifies them into presence through the flesh of the reader. Having conjured the entic to form, such work generates an embodied state of alienating power within the reader, a possession of sorts which eclipses consciousness and allows sensorial contact with the otherworldly. As the inaugural Occult Fiction Anthology from Three Hands Press, Penumbrae contains twelve tales exemplifying this rubric, some of which have drawn their art from the experiential alembic of occult operations. Among its authors are Kenneth Grant, Don Webb, Richard Gavin, Patricia Cram, Michael Cisco and Sun Yung Shin.

Penumbrae

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