With this post we continue a monthly chapter-by-chapter discussion of The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic by Eliphas Lévi, the book that launched the modern magical revival. Here and in the months ahead we’re plunging into the white-hot fires of creation where modern magic was born. If you’re just joining us now, I recommend…
Tag: occultism
The Wars of the Roses
At this point in our survey of the magical history of America, we’ve reached the period that can fairly be called the golden age of American occultism. It’s a little difficult to date the leading edge of that period, but 1890 will do as well as any. The end of the golden age is a…
The Doctrine of High Magic: Chapter 2
With this post we continue a monthly chapter-by-chapter discussion of The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic by Eliphas Lévi, the book that launched the modern magical revival. Here and in the months ahead we’re plunging into the white-hot fires of creation where modern magic was born. If you’re just joining us now, I recommend…
In Search of Immortality
The explosive growth of interest in occultism that followed the rise of the Theosophical Society in the late nineteenth century set many currents of thought and practice in motion, and some of those were stranger than others. The one we’ll be exploring in this month’s adventure in America’s magical history is one of the strangest,…
The Doctrine of High Magic: Chapter 1
With this post we continue a monthly chapter-by-chapter discussion of The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic by Eliphas Lévi, the book that launched the modern magical revival. Here and in the months ahead we’re plunging into the white-hot fires of creation where modern magic was born. If you’re just joining us now, I recommend…
The Legacy of Luxor
Late last year, before veering off on several necessary tangents, we brought the story of American occultism up to the point when the Theosophical Society was hitting its stride. Now that we can return to the story, let’s circle back to the same point in history. Lodges of the T.S., as it was usually called…
The Doctrine of High Magic: Introduction
With this post we begin a monthly chapter-by-chapter discussion of The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic by Eliphas Lévi, the book that launched the modern magical revival. Here and in the months ahead we’re going to be plunging into the white-hot fires of creation where modern magic was born. Grab your tarot decks and…
The Flight From Thinking
For more than a year now I’ve been devoting a post or two each month to the magical history of the United States, and I’d meant to proceed this week to another of those. In the unfolding story we’ve been following together, after all, we’ve reached the dawn of the golden age of American occultism,…
The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic: Preliminaries
Last month we wrapped up three years of monthly discussions of The Cosmic Doctrine by Dion Fortune, arguably the twentieth century’s most important work of occult philosophy. I think it was time well spent. I enjoyed the discussions, and I gather from reader comments that at least a few other people have had the same…
A Useful Kind of Madness
Like the last two installments in this blog’s discussion of the magical history of America, which you can read here and here, this post will discuss one of the factors that helped make the golden age of American occultism the astonishingly weird and creative period that it was. That said, the theme of this latest…