| New title The Blood of the Earth: first glimpse |
[27 Mar 2012|03:14pm] |
The hardback finite edition of The Blood of the Earth is now in stock and shipping.
Pre-orders are winging their way to subscribers.
Full details on the title can be found here: http://www.scarletimprint.com/bloodoftheearth.html
An important book that confronts the very real crisis we are facing and suggests ways that magic can respond.
First few pictures of the edenic green cloth bound beauty.
Boards blocked with broken infinity device and earth glyph.
(Our camera died so these shots are not at the usual high resolution.) An amazing book from John Michael Greer, to whom we offer our congratulations. Books will be in the hands of our UK readers very soon, Europe in the next week and American readers in ten days. As ever there is a little flux in the postal service.
We will keep those who have ordered the fine edition informed as our binders progress with the project.
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| With hooves of steel we race on the rocks... |
[21 Sep 2011|01:14pm] |
More upcoming events in the UK as we gallop towards the Autumn Equinox.
We are refreshed from pilgrimage, back in the office and wrapping, packing and sending out books.
Conference of Magic
Bournemouth UK
Saturday October 1
£10 advance tickets.
The Bournemouth Pagan society go from strength to strength presenting awide spectrum of talks from Egyptian Daemonology, Haitian Vodou, herblore, and some Greek necromancy from Jake Stratton-Kent.
Jake Stratton-Kent, Mogg Morgan, Hounsi Sophia, Sef Salem, Ivy Kerrigan & Simon Wood.
Plus workshops.
http://www.conferenceofmagic.co.uk/index.html
Pagan Federation 40
London UK
Saturday October 8
£20-£25 non members.
The Pagan Federation turns 40 and with witchcraft and paganism facing some critical challenges we are interested to see how this community is responding.It looks like they are pulling out all the stops for this one. We note that they have chosen to mark a Venus number.
Ronald Hutton, Mogg Morgan, our dear friend Dr Julian Vayne, Caroline Wise et al in a packed day and optional night.
http://40thpaganfed.eventbrite.com/
Day of the Dead Conference
Glastonbury UK
Saturday October 29
£20 with mexican buffet.
Botanica boys Jack and Jamie, will be hosting a Day of the Dead spectacular in Glastonbury.
Offerings will be made to the ancestors at a shrine to Santa Muerte and
their are some dazzling talks promised. This is an important feast day
and one that we are proud to support. Alkistis will be giving a new
presentation and we are delighted to see so many strong women speaking
in an often male dominated arena.
Alkistis Dimech, Jake Stratton-Kent, Paul Weston, Josephine McCarthy, Charlotte Rodgers, Kim Huggens, and Pam Walker.
http://theoccultconsultancy.com/day-of-the-dead-conference-2
For those outside the UK looking for stimulation but lacking in real world events, we can recommend reading the collected Fenris Wolf http://www.fenriswolf.se/ edited by Carl Abrahamsson whose work also appears in our own XVI. The return of Fenris Wolf as a truly independent occult journal is very welcome. This edition is likely to sell out pretty quickly, pick it up from Midian in the UK/Worldwide and JD Holmes in the US.
More book news to follow this week with the Crossed Keys fine edition here and the Pomba Gira standard edition also due.
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| Brighton Occultists Rock |
[28 Aug 2011|12:09pm] |
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The Occult revolution is upon us, you can feel it with every new event, each conjunction, that the energy is returning. We just celebrated another turn of the wheel in Brighton with the Summer of Love, orchestrating not a conference, not an event, but a happening.
It was a welcome return for Scarlet Imprint which was aptly founded in this Regency dream of pleasure and the collision of occidental and oriental opulence. Brighton has been smeared with the ash of Crowley’s cremation, pierced by the counterculture of TOPY, seen the Occulture Festival rise and fall, and proudly, queerly, keeps reinventing itself. We are part of that history. It is a city living out an eternal youth, open to all possibilities of transformation. It reeks of sin, but is self-possessed, dressed with feathers and glitter for an end of the world party, any day or night of the god damned week. My, what a perfect place to inaugurate a Summer of Love. Floating in an architecture of mirage and fantasy, the magical possibilities of such a place can be carved out of the air. We chose to do so, and Brighton, we will return.
The Greek temple façade of the Unitarian church faces the brothels-turned-bars, and the stables of the palace with their honeycomb tunnels for the facilitation of consort between princes and whores. Based on the Athenian temple of Hephaestus, it seemed a peculiarly apt for such a gathering of the children of Cain to hammer out their differences and forge new links. The message of the Unitarians is a welcome one, an inclusive post-Christian recognition that we can learn from all spiritual traditions. This is what we are intent on doing. A melting of misunderstandings, antagonisms, and misplaced scene elitism, like so much ice-cream in a skull cup. Perhaps we can learn to share our common experiences? This is the future, a wilful destruction of the artificial divisions between magician, witch, orders and the disorderly. Of course we can still disagree, debate and dispute, but we must also be able to dissolve like the proverbial LSD sugar cube on the tongue of a neophyte.
So we thank those came, the readers, the writers, the poets, the dancers, the musicians, the ritualists, the witches, the carcists, the wild women, the publishers, the book dealers, the whole panoply, friends in this endeavour.  To have Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold in England was a blessing. Having worked all Summer on his book under the spreading branches and dry perfume of the fig trees, they finally bore fruit. Perfect timing. The baskets of quartered erotic flesh that we served will make yet more sense when you read what Nicholaj has to say about Pomba Gira and the fig tree in Hell. When Nicholaj made his offering to Pomba Gira we must remember that this is still a city of whores, of free women, of knee-trembling back alleys and sexual adventures. When you read the accounts of Maria Padilha, you can also remember another Maria, Maria Fitzherbert, the uncrowned Catholic mistress of King George whose namesake pub was where we dashed to buy drinks between speeches. I remember my own offerings to Pomba Gira, not so far from this spot, and wonder what magical skeins connect them all. Nicholaj is the real deal, a serious student and teacher with a vast working and comparative knowledge of Brazilian and Cuban cults, Tantra, Witchcraft and the Western Magical Tradition. He has put the time in, and it shows. Though we are waiting on the printer we were able to present him with one of the dramatic red moiré copies of his Pomba Gira which presided over the proceedings of the day from the stage. Today was another taste of the ripe fruit as we all wait hungrily for the book!  Jake Stratton-Kent continues to blaze through the implications of Geosophia for Western magic. This two volume work is going to gain momentum over the next century, and will be recognised as a key text for understanding all the magic that is to come. Jake writes prose like carving marble, and that makes demands on the reader which require commitment. Magic is Work. In the flesh, he is an electric imp, insistent, enthused, and obviously in command of his material. If you are a student of magic at whatever stage of your career, it would be worth paying attention to and engaging with JSK who rightly venerates the bones rather than just paying homage to the appeals of the ephemeral flesh.  Stephen Grasso was tempted down from his South London haunts to lay down some dapper patter. A psychogeographical tour through the magic of his city. A dérive that was not derivative, but reminded us of Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor and Alan Moore at his best. A claustrophobic clawing through the dirt and bowels of the city to find the magic in the urban overwritten city of the Moon Goddess. Props to Stephen for daring to compose literature and incant it over a live audience. For those who haven’t followed his work, there are essays in Devoted and XVI you may want to follow up. Watch this man. 
In an horrific emerald frilled shirt I delivered a piece on Lucifer in relation to the grimoires and the ritual of the pact. This has been a subject which I have spent some years working on, and which notably the BlackDragon has elucidated further for me. Publishing for purely magical reasons has these results, as does sacrifice and ordeal. It seems that some of the speech appropriately eluded the camera crew, but a fuller printed version of this will be forthcoming from Scarlet Imprint.  Alkistis Dimech set herself a major task in The Mirror of Sacrifice. To communicate the essence of Butoh, an avant-garde Japanese dance form which she has practised for the last ten years, and to relate that to elements of shamanic training, magic, ritual and performance. It was a challenge which she rose to. We are pleased that amongst our audience and readers are a number of dancers who resonate to this body-based approach. Alkistis will be giving a further talk at the Day of the Dead in Glastonbury and is engaged in more writing work to follow her essay on witchcraft in XVI. 
Ulysses Black is an unfamiliar name and deliberately so. His durational performance of black mirror staring lasted from event opening until he took the stage. His was the final striptease and reveal for the day event. Ulysses Black outed himself publically as the latest face and phase of the man born as Orlando Britts, whose Totemic Invocations written as Jack Macbeth is one of the most sought after of modern grimoires. A performance artist, his discussion of identity, ritual and action asked uncomfortable questions of all of us. Who exactly are we? On his evidence, Beuys and Nitsch should be recognised as part of the occult syllabus. It all came to a sticky end where the artist ate his own words. An important moment and another blurring of the lines between performance, ritual and magic. The evening event gave Nous the chance to take to the decks. With all the talk of Assassins in the occult milieu we thought it best to have a genuine one to spin the tunes for the attending Templars and Witches. His brand of sonic heresy and desire for elusive perfection are close to our hearts. We also know him as a serious academic hermeticist which his essays in Howlings and XVI attest to. Michael Azzato thrilled with his Egyptian dance. He demonstrated how to make an entrance in an unashamed clinging cerise number. A dance of hip shimmying virtuosity won over all present. Michael is not just eye-candy, but a talented performer and devotee. An exhuberant and uplifting performance in front of his magical peers which was greeted with appreciative ululation. 
Alkistis enthralled with a virtuoso butoh dance. It was a privilege to watch such an intimate dance. I have never seen an audience so intent on catching every instant and nuance of a performance. A fragile, difficult and otherworldly experience unfolded. The emotional impact was profound. I lost track of the number of people who rushed up after the performance, compelled to hold her in the cathartic wake of their journey with her. We deliberately did not film this. 
Stephen Grasso finished with his crate of voodoo vinyl and we were soon on the steps of our requisitioned temple drinking in the end of the night. Boundaries dissolved, ritual finished, glasses in hand. Three performers gyrated their hula hoop routine in the street for kicks not cash, a hybrid fusion of Pomba Gira and Rofocale. A good sign. The Brighton night is balmy and perverse enough to contain it all.
We have more to do, and yes, that is an account of just a hundred people in a hijacked church, of a vibrant collision of magic, music, ritual and performance. A moment, a happening, a what-the-hell was that? But those who are making the effort are shot through with the energy from it like a stick of Brighton rock. How many magicians does it take to create change, to make the grass green, the flowers grow?
The game is on.
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| Tantalising Finery |
[13 Aug 2011|05:08pm] |
Tantalising Finery Magical publishing adds another skip load of imps to the already arcane world of printing press and binding bench. So we were delighted to receive two deliveries today in time for the full Moon, one van driver 'just happened' to pass our door today when he should have been making the delivery on Monday. With this post we can bring you two glimpses of tantalising finery. Why tantalising? It is a woman's prerogative to make us wait, and we expect that from Pomba Gira! We worked through the nights to get the book to press. We sourced all the materials in advance so that they would be here for Nicholaj (in the brief window when he is in England rather than Brazil) for The Summer of Love. We approved the proofs, the book blocks were all printed and we opened the pre-order. What could possibly go wrong? Well, the printer folded the sheets incorrectly and the whole lot has been destroyed. Are we downhearted? No! With sacrifice we know that there is something worth the effort, and this is a sacrifice willingly given. We often encounter resistance in magical work, and this we greet laughing. So, our thanks to those who have pre-ordered and are patiently waiting. You will receive your rewards. What we can give you is a glimpse of one of the three copies that they have hand sewn and bound up to show how she will look when she is properly dressed: 
If you would like to add your praise to the lady, the pre-order is very much open here:
http:www.scarletimprint.com/pombagira.htm
There is also still the opportunity to indulge in the fine edition here which promises to be even more sumptuous:
http://www.scarletimprint.com/pombagira_figtreeinhell.htm
Those coming to the Summer of Love can have a fondle of the merchandise, so to speak.
We will update you all when we have a shipping date.
Continuing with the theme, the first approval copy of the Sable et d'Or fine bound edition of Crossed Keys also arrived here today, coinciding fortuitously with author Michael Cecchetelli's birthday.
It is a magnificent beast.
This fine edition is entirely sold out, and the following picture perhaps explains why:
This edition will be presented in a leather bag rather than a slipcase.
Those who have ordered a copy will be notified as soon as the whole batch is bound and ready.
Full photos will follow to sate the scarcely concealed bibliophile in all of us.
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| A rose by any other name |
[05 Aug 2011|12:44pm] |
In my own journey to Babalon I came across Pomba Gira (or she came across me) a vivacious gypsy slashed with lipstick, trailing cigarette smoke and promises of witchcraft. My heart skipped a beat, as it should, as it must. Who was this beguiling beauty in red, the devil’s mistress who like all lovers seemed so immediately familiar and yet so impossibly other? The thought occurred to me that perhaps there was a living cult of Babalon secreted away in Brazil. That Europe had not lost the love goddess, she had simply turned on her heels and left for the New World. If Pasadena, then why not Sao Paulo? If the jungle could engorge cities and civilisations and opera houses, then why not Babalon under an assumed name, wearing a feathered mask, darting glances from behind a fan? Brazil, offered that mixing bowl of blood to me, the abandon of Carneval, the collision of Catholicism with Congo and a wild strain of still recognisable European Witchcraft. Both Babalon and Pomba Gira are concerned with human sexuality, both are clothed in diabolic imagery, both exhibit strong female red energy, both came demanding roses and respect. Perhaps this was not a fork in the road for me, but a crossroads. Could Pomba Gira answer some of the questions I had as I sought for the Beloved? I dutifully tracked down the Antonio Alves Texeira book, still one of the few available on Pomba Gira in English (though that is something which we have now rectified). I performed workings, and sought connection to the spirit. The similarities between the two were welcome to me, as I was working with a Goddess in a culture hostile to her force and form, and with a barely articulated cult. This can be a lonely and difficult experience. The combination of isolation and longing seems to be the honest motivation behind many Western students’ careless confusion of spirits. With Babalon, the sense of loss can seem insurmountable. This is always true on the path of the lover. Without the support of a functioning cult or a body of work, many look to what is superficially similar, and can be careless in understanding the inner truth. There is little reliable information out there, and few devotees who dare to truly work with Her or understand the level of commitment that is required. As devotees we are often very much on our own, but this too is a strength, if we can embrace the challenge it represents rather than clinging to the safety of cult speak or making sloppy approximations. Both are errors which I recognise that I have made. In the West we have been prone to treating Goddesses as psychological constructs, and smudging the lines of kohl or chalk to suit our own designs. This too is a genuine attempt by a secular and disconnected culture to find a way back to magick. The revival of the grimoire tradition shows that an awareness is returning to magicians that the spirits are real and through trafficking with them, the world can be re-enchanted. It is inevitable given this history that our approach to the spirits of Kiumbanda will often be coloured by what we must honestly acknowledge as our inexperience. We are still finding our way.  Naturally I sought out practitioners who were working with Pomba Gira, and the universe placed them in my path. All were fraudulent, and this in itself is an appropriate warning to give. We should not be so eager to dance that we allow ourselves to be indiscriminately swept up in another’s scheme, simply because it is clothed in a pretty red dress. My intention was to witness a living cult working with the demonised aspects of sexuality, something utterly absent in the West. That seemed a better approach than making cult to the Magdalene, who was the patroness of a nearby church. Seeking to pull a concealed fragment of the Beloved free from the collapsing wreckage of Christianity would for me be futile. I am not a recovering Christian, apart from in the sense that we all are. Besides, the decay had set in, the heresy was no longer vital. In my research it had rapidly become clear that the Western understanding of Babalon was dominated by the skewed perspective of Crowley to the detriment of Kelley and Dee and the Johns (both Parsons and of Patmos); perhaps Kiumbanda had better answers. Though wary of spiritual tourism, I even considered making the trip to Brazil to seek out a Terreiro and initiation. The workings I had found in Texeira had a direct honesty and a simplicity which profoundly touched me. So I did what I could, as honestly as I could. In the West we have lost much of our folk magic, and Kiumbanda can help us regain a context in which we can rediscover an authentic spellcraft of our own. I did not find this in Wicca, which seemed too reliant on the least sympathetic elements of Solomonic magic, and Nuit cut and pasted from the Book of the Law as a generic ‘Goddess’. This seemed particularly ironic given that Crowley’s Nuit does not display any of the Egyptian cult characteristics but is rather Babalon in blue eye shadow. Despite the oblique references to Isis in Liber Al, with her hieroglyphic name ‘ heart and tongue’ ( 1:32) , and spelt out by the capitals ‘ Infinite Space, Infinite Stars’ ( 1:22), in truth we find a rather more carnally coloured manifestation. The stellar weft of Crowley’s Nuit is clearly shot through with Babalon’s DNA. In Liber Al 1:61 we read: ‘ I who am all pleasure, and purple and drunkenness of the innermost senses, desire you, put on the wings, arouse the coiled splendor within you, Come unto me!’ What I find intriguing is that the purple and drunkenness are clearly drawn from the descriptions in Revelations 17 of Babalon, as are the exhortations to wear jewels and exceed the nations of the earth. A detailed exegesis reveals yet more traces of Revelations in the text, but neither my work, nor that of Babalon relies on the affirmation of Crowley. The line quoted here also made part of Gerald Gardner’s original Charge of the Goddess. Thus even Wicca can be seen to be drawing on and celebrating the energy of Babalon, however obliquely. This in part explains the shock of recognition that those from a witchcraft tradition undergo when they read The Red Goddess, but I digress. The suggestions in Texeira, along with Maya Deren and my wider reading beyond the Western Tradition, helped me towards formulating my own spellcraft rather than simply the strictures of ritual magic that formed my core practice at that point. This has served me well and has been subsequently built upon with what I have learned through personal revelation and Work. Throughout this I never mistook one lady for the other. Those who have read my polemic ‘ All goddesses are not one goddess’ will understand my position on this matter. Even without cult contact or initiation, Pomba Gira aided me in my own path to Babalon and I am sure will do so for others. It seems very fitting that Pomba Gira returned swirling her skirts as we prepared The Red Goddess for publication in Her third limitless incarnation. Delays have conspired to bring the books on Babalon and Pomba Gira forth cusping on each other, and this is no mistake. Both texts can be considered as complimentary, though wildly divergent, and it is in this way that we must consider the relationship of Babalon and Pomba Gira. They are distinct, but not set in antagonism. I am often asked by those approaching work with Babalon, or seeking to deepen their connection with Her, what they can do, or what they should read. I have recommended the Biblical texts, Tantric and Tibetan material as well as the paeans of writers and poets such as Genet, Miller and Bukowski to help them contextualise their own very personal discoveries. I can also commend approaching Pomba Gira, some will find that this is the spirit they sought, others will cleave to Babalon. Kiumbanda has a wealth of experience that we can draw from as devotees of Babalon. I might mention the crises that the devotee faces in the pitfalls of obsession and passion which so often engulf the would-be lover of Babalon. These dangers are clearly spelt out in Brazil. The male devotee in Kiumbanda is counselled humility, something often sorely lacking in men when they approach Babalon, especially if they style themselves after Crowley and seek to dominate and constrain her flowering. The female devotee must also look into her heart if she is to avoid what in witchcraft is colloquially referred to as ‘ high priestess disease’. With Babalon this can lead to trying to fuck everybody into enlightenment, simply burning out by running constant current through an unprepared body, or vaingloriously deciding you are the one and only avatar of the divine. If your life is becoming a succession of sexual train wrecks, you will need to reassess, as I have. Though we have possession and mediumship in the West they have been made taboo, first by scripture and then by science. In the fascinating Place of Enchantment by Alex Owen the schism between spiritualism and magic is discussed and this makes valuable reading. Spiritualism has not been developed and has fallen out of vogue since the table tapping and planchette mania. The parasitic television mediums are the last unpleasant vestige of this social role, perma-tanned necromancers whose connection is made through the ghosting away of credit card details from the grieving bereaved. Our current generation of pagans, witches and magicians will have to re-conquest the oracular connection which was severed by John on Patmos, and buried with scorn in the catacombs of Ephesus. Our role now is to experience possession and give voice to both the divine and the dead. This is sacred work. We can certainly avoid some of the obvious mistakes in this process by learning from Kiumbanda and Kiumbandeiros. The question is for us, how do we approach this cult with respect? Frisvold in his first book on the subject, Kiumbanda (Chadezoad 2006) , which is superseded by his latest book, Pomba Gira and the Kiumbanda of Mbumba Nzila (Scarlet Imprint 2011), was direct in his criticisms of clumsy syncretism, baldly stating: ‘It is not enough simply to be fascinated with these cults, while lacking real knowledge of the language, culture, history and the land, which gave birth to the spirits of Kimbanda and Kiumbanda’. Fascination can be a mark that you are being called by spirit, though a desire for plaster statues, tridents and trappings can be to mistake an aesthetic appeal for a genuine connection. You would be wise to keep your work more private than seeking approval for it on the shifting digital shores of fashion, or the back eddies of sub-culture. We already see many crass attempts to co-opt these spirits which do a great disservice to them and their lineage.  The need for spatial context is essential, as we have written ourselves on Witchcraft, the connection to the land and the spirit of place is needed to ground and manifest magic, otherwise we are engaged in spurious imagineering, which cannot have lasting results. One of the most important projects of modern pagan witchcraft is to engage with ecology, as we are the guardians of the landscape, plants and fauna which house the spirits we seek congress with. Some elements and specific spirits in Kiumbanda do have a connection back to European Witchcraft, and for this reason can readily accept us. However, we must not ignore that they have been much changed by their time in Congo and Brazil. In our pursuit of these spirits we must not neglect either the ground that we stand on, or that they are now rooted in. Vital too is the issue of culture and language. Kiumbanda, as an operative magical system, is rooted in the community. To give an example from my own personal journey into magic, I read all of the classic texts on Vodou, looking for technology that we had lost in the West, but came to the conclusion that the tradition could not be field stripped. As I did not live in a community, whether Bristol or Brixton, it made no sense to appropriate their culture and invest what was essentially a pragmatic tradition with an artificial exoticism to spice up my own attempts at spiritual re-orientation. Far worse would be to pay up for a round trip to a Haitian initiation supermarket as many Westerners choose to. This is not what Maya Deren underwent. Neither is this to deny that Westerners cannot achieve meaningful initiation into the diaspora cults, individuals such as Nicholaj Frisvold or Stephen Grasso are a testament to this. We also now have Botanicas springing up that genuinely serve their communities. Though the diaspora religions are syncretic and adaptable, that should not be confused with the idea that they are lacking cultural context. In particular with Kiumbanda, we encounter the importance of ancestry, which is so neglected in the West. Without this firmly understood, any notion of working with Pomba Gira or Exu is meaningless. Again, I would unhesitatingly recommend Frisvold’s Palo Mayombe: the Garden of Blood and Bones (Scarlet Imprint 2011) for an understanding of the African and Congolese traditions of ancestry and the Misa Espiritual as a practice to carefully note. Babalon has a markedly different relationship to ancestry, as Her concern is with the distillation of the blood of the Saints, rather than their bones. Frisvold contextualises these ideas for those of us who are of European extraction by examining the similarities the African ideas bear to the Greek tradition. The work of Jake Stratton-Kent, most notably Geosophia, also looks at re-forging this ancestral connection in the West through rehabilitating the maligned art of necromancy and tracing the line from Goes through the Graeco-Egyptian Magical Papyri and into the Grimoire tradition. The modern magical revival needs to deeply consider this. Another writer we highly recommend in this regard is Aaron Leitch. These ideas have atrophied in our media culture, which adorns itself with skulls and memento mori whilst denying our elders death with dignity and meaning. The current magical revival, which has brought to light (and print) so much of our own hidden heritage, can repay the debt and reforge the connection to our ancestors by honouring the dead, and the dying. We can learn here from the examples of Africa, Greece and the diaspora. Buying unknown bones on the internet rather than respectfully visiting and caring for our local graveyard or relatives, exemplifies the current state of spiritual confusion we exist in. In Kiumbanda, Frisvold explicitly criticised Thelemic attempts, however well-meaning, to turn Babalon into Pomba Gira and Exu into the Great Beast. His rebuttal is concise, and I am in complete agreement: ‘ Exu and Pomba Gira were born on Brazilian soil amongst practitioners of the Art from Europe and Africa; to mix Thelemic gnosis, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the legions of Exu is downright absurd’. This view from within the cult must be respected. We cannot expect our magical tradition in the West to be given credence if we make such hasty aproximations. Magick requires more precision than this. The Thelemic understanding of Babalon can be painfully limited. I know that this will be a bruising statement for some, but I am also sure that the confusion of Babalon and Pomba Gira comes from the honest reasons listed earlier. We are trying to make sense of our fractured identity, but simply creating a collage based on superficial understanding will not lead us forward. We have also been starved of good information about Pomba Gira, and to that end I want to now outline the very clear difference in these ladies’ silhouettes and substance through point and counterpoint, as I understand them. Pomba Gira is perhaps most properly described as a legion of the dead, she is a collective name for a class of spirits who form distinct lines under particular Queens. Babalon is a distinct Goddess in and of Herself. She is annihilation. Though She can manifest in different forms (we consider Astaroth a lower octave of Babalon in our goetic work) and there are certainly sympathetic spirits, such as Madimi who grace us with their presence, there is no equivalence to the lines we find in Kiumbanda.
Pomba Gira was human once, as evinced by Maria Padilha and Maria Mulambo whose stories are retold in the cult.
Babalon is not a particular woman or women, though she has clearly come through Goddesses such as Inanna/Ishtar/Astarte, which I explore in The Red Goddess. More properly She is a force whose form is manifesting in all women. Pomba Gira exists in relation to a King, she is a Queen without a crown who seeks to enslave Exu with her seductive powers. This is a mirror to the inequality of social gender relations with a proposed solution in a particularly Hispanic chivalry. Babalon is crowned, and does not need a man to crown Her. The relationship with Beast, Dragon and Antichrist is very different to that of Pomba Gira and Exu.
Pomba Gira has a social function, as solace for the broken hearted. She operates within an existing cultural framework where she seeks to ameliorate the suffering of her devotees. She is the woman of the streets and the scorned mistress. Babalon destroys the social fabric with that most dangerous of all things, Love. She brings with Her the full force of revolution. Babalon is present in the whore and the Empress, we would do well to see Her in all female things.
Pomba Giras are spirits concerned with human love and relationships.
Babalon is a Goddess of Love and War, the battlefield and bedchamber. Pomba Gira is approached in a cult of possession which draws not simply on European spiritism as Kardec proposed, but on an African mediumship tradition. This can at times be both prophetic and eschatological but is not always so. Babalon requires to be embodied. Her lineage here clearly comes from the prophetic rites at Ephesus where the Priestess was Mystery. This is a Western tradition of possession work. There is no seal on the prophetess. Her pronouncements are revelatory and necessarily eschatological and apocalyptic. Her cult will come through the bodies of Her chosen devotees. Pomba Gira accepts (amongst other offerings) thornless red roses.
Babalon desires everything and would appreciate the thorns left on Her roses, and a drop or two of your blood, if you please. Pomba Gira is orientated to the North.
Babalon comes from the East, but is heading West. Pomba Gira favours convolvulus, ipomea and the solanum as visionary plants.
Babalon mixes wine with hashish, henbane, mandrake, poppy, rue, datura, takes mdma, dmt, lsd, ayahuasca et al. She is Alkahest, the universal solvent. Her vision is a truly psychedelic one. Working with both Pomba Gira and Babalon is possible, but these differences should be clearly kept in mind. There are many parallels and my hope is that this small essay has helped to draw them more clearly for devotees and aspirants on both sides and enable them to understand each other better. As I am not an initiate of Kiumbanda, I very much welcome the comments, corrections and suggestions of those who are. For this reason I am publishing this essay in an open form online. My wish is that by providing experience of my own work with Babalon in The Red Goddess and by publishing the work of Dr Frisvold in Pomba Gira and the Kiumbanda of Mbumba Nzila that these cults will both continue to flourish and bear roses whose beauty and scent will provoke our divine intoxication |
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| Pomba Gira, the Keys to the Kingdom and the Sacred Harlot |
[26 Jul 2011|04:33pm] |
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Crossed Keys is getting a very strong initial reaction. Both the nature of the contents and the form of the book are attracting high praise.
Two contrasting and lively reviews may be read here: http://burn-victim.blogspot.com/2011/07/devils-days.html and here: http://ravenconjure.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-crossed-keys.html
Both are blogs worth following.
By producing a working version of the Black Dragon and Enchiridion, Michael Cecchetelli has demonstrated the applicability of grimoire magic to the modern practitioner. His own personal journey is a testament to this. These are not books designed to sit on shelves but as Jake Stratton-Kent has opined, should be slipped into one's pocket and carried to the cemetery.
Though it can be valuable to provide reproductions of manuscripts from the library vaults, and here we cite the excellent work of Golden Horde and that of Joseph Peterson at the Twilight Grotto, Scarlet Imprint is engaged in a quite different project. We intend to illustrate the practical magical work that these texts are capable of inspiring. For that reason the Black Dragon is supplied with the working corrected seals which bring it into line with The True Grimoire, and make it possible to work the texts in parallel rather than preserving them in aspic.
The grimoire tradition is our neglected Western hoodoo. It also has profound implications for our understanding of Witchcraft, as it is within the grimoires that we find the catalogues of spirits and familiars, as well as the spellcraft, tools and techniques that high magic has not preserved. Again, we wish to stress that the divides betweeen witchcraft and magic are largely artificial, and that both communities should be engaged in more open dialogue. The grimoires are one place that this can occur.
For those whose curiosity is piqued, Crossed Keys is available in an egalitarian paperback Bibliotheque Rouge edition though you may be unable to resist the charm of the Good Catholic edition hardback.
Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold continues to gain kudos for his masterly study of Palo Mayombe, The Garden of Blood and Bones. For a proper understanding of necromancy, this is an essential text. It is rare to gain such access to the inner workings of Palo, and as an initiate, Nicholaj has written a respectful and insightful book which is suitable for both Paleros and those outsiders who wish to learn about the real nature of Palo rather than simply the shock value of encountering skulls in iron cauldrons.
Nicholaj has a further work on Pomba Gira imminent from Scarlet Imprint.
Book lovers beware, this is a real piece of candy...
Subscribers will be able to pre-order this title on Friday July 29.
If you wish to be added to our subscriber list, email us.
Pomba Gira is already at the printers and will be published in time for his appearance at The Summer of Love.
The Red Goddess is in stock and shipping in Her Bibliotheque Rouge incarnation, graced with incredible artwork from Christopher Conn Askew, fresh typography and burning with vitality. This Love letter to Babalon continues to ignite the imagination and inspire devotion to the Sacred Harlot. The Love Goddess is revealed in all her apocalyptic fervour. From Babylon to Jerusalem, Patmos to Prague, this is the missing history of the Holy Whore.
Perhaps it is time you were seduced?
The Summer of Love is fast approaching. Make your plans to join the boldest souls of the modern magical revival for a day and night of revelry in high summer.
This is a very rare chance to catch Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold in the UK, who will be speaking on the mysteries of Pomba Gira, the devil's mistress.
Jake Stratton-Kent will be cutting his customary dash, with serious reviews for his game-changing Geosophia finally starting to see the light.
Peter Grey will be presenting fresh research on both Red and Black Dragon. Stephen Grasso brings the Brixton voodoo. Alkistis Dimech roots magick in the body of the dancer. Ulysses Black takes off the masks. With dance and ritual performances, djs and disorder, this is going to be a blast.
Tickets are available here
Our best,
In Nomine Babalon
Peter and Alkistis
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| Crossed Keys Unlocked |
[11 Jul 2011|12:51pm] |
Crossed Keys arrived on Thursday and all subscriber copies have been sent.
Books have reached the United Kingdom already and should touch down in Europe and the United States before too long.
This is the first English translation of the Enchiridion of Pope Leo III bound with the Black Dragon.
Our congratulations to Michael Cecchetelli, who has written himself into the grimoire tradition with his dedication and fortitude. A living example of how the grimoire tradition continues to be relevant to the life, stuggle and triumphs of the modern magus.
These are the first pictures of the Good Catholic edition.
The shot black and gold bookcloth changes dramatically in the light, as befits this very curious prayerbook of the interwoven celestial and infernal influences which stand behind the grimoire tradition. An important pair of texts for those working with Red Dragon, Grand Grimoire and Grimorium Verum spirits. The Good Catholic edition of Crossed Keys is available here: http://www.scarletimprint.com/crossedkeys.htm The fine sable et d'or edition is fully subscribed and is in the process of being bound. The bibliotheque rouge paperback edition is also now in stock, continuing our commitment to making these works available to all students. |
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| Ink and Blood |
[01 Jul 2011|01:39pm] |
The sliver of an eclipse this morning ends a week of computer meltdowns, phonecalls to printers and paper merchants, editing and expresso. It has been a veritable week of ink and blood, and this blog is to bring you all up to date on where we stand across our forthcoming titles.
Crossed Keys
It has been a longer than usual wait for our subscribers on this title as the Italian cloth on the standard edition took an extra month to arrive. One of the challenges of being a small publisher is in sourcing the bespoke materials for our projects, and the unavoidable delays this can incur.
Today we approved the blocked cover, and have been admiring the shot black and gold cloth. As befits this pairing of infernal and celestial grimoires the character of the book changes as the light strikes it. Photographing it accurately might prove problematic, but that again underlines the difference between the digital facsimilie and the book itself as a magical object.
The stamped canting arms are balanced, the typography charming, and we are extremely enthusiastic about these curious texts, the Black Dragon and the Enchiridion, being made available in the English speaking world.
Book blocks are all printed gathered and sewn. Our prayers should be answered next week when the finished books arrive and we can get them packed and shipped to you all.
Again, our thanks for your patience. If you haven't pre-ordered, the Crossed Keys page is here: http://www.scarletimprint.com/crossedkeys_subscribe.htm
The fine Sable et d'Or editions is taking shape on the bindery bench, with the dragonskin leather having winged its way over from France, and one of our most spectacular bespoke marble papers to date. All copies of the fine edition are reserved or sold. This will be a treasure of a book.
Datura
In preparation for the arrival of our latest title(s) we have been through our stockroom, which is a suitably Raiders of the Lost Ark affair. There, nestling at the back were a few boxes of the platinum silk bound Datura's, which is great news for those who thought they had missed out on this title. If you would like to purchase one of these copies, email us at scarletimprint@gmail.com and we will organise an invoice for you. Datura is a serious work of poetry, lovingly edited by Ruby Sara and will be followed next year by Mandragora along with a rouge edition of Datura.
The Red Goddess
It has been a feverish process getting The Red Goddess ready for Her Bibliotheque Rouge incarnation. We want this edition to be rather special, so we commissioned a new cover.
We are going to be coquettish about it for a little longer, but we will upload an image when pre-order opens on July 7.
For now we thoroughly recommend looking at the website of Christopher Conn Askew www.sekretcity.com whose powerful iconographic work will grace the Rouge edition.
From the response we have been getting since the 7/7/7 edition sold out, this book will catch fire.
Full details on The Red Goddess pre-order will be sent out to our subscribers on July 7, if you are not already on our subscriber list, email us to be added at: scarletimprint@gmail.com
We hope you all enjoy your weekends, ours will be spent working on Pomba Gira, with the aim to have it ready for August and The Summer of Love. More ink, more blood...
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| Occultists and Fascists |
[11 Jun 2011|11:31am] |
We were approached recently to contribute to Troy Southgate's Black Front Press whose last published work was a Crowley anthology.
After a little research, we were disturbed to find their rather murky history hidden beneath the anti-corporate, anti-capitalist and permaculture ideals.
Though we are very happy to promote the independent esoteric and occult authors and publishers whose work and dedication invigorate and stimulate our community, it is entirely another matter to contribute our energy to a project which would seem to be attempting to use a multiplicity of voices from the occult scene to promote the ideas of the so-called New-Right.
First port of call is Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Southgate
Of course, the accuracy of Wikipedia is always up for debate, but then there are plentiful online interviews:
http://www.extremepolitics.org/2009/01/13/interview-with-national-anarchist-troy-southgate/
Or perhaps this article on Co-opting the Counter Culture: Troy Southgate and the National Revolutionary Faction:
http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=2439
We find it impossible to ignore statements like this on the main http://www.national-anarchist.net/ site:
"Race defines who we are, it provides us with an identity and exists for a damn good reason. Without maintaining this essential diversity, something you can find throughout nature, the world will become increasingly drab, standardised and monotonous and the only people left on the planet will inevitably form part of a coffee-coloured mush of uniform humanity. National-Anarchists wish to preserve the different races of the earth and believe that multi-racialism ends with the dissolution of all races. Racial separatism is the only way that the organic balance can be restored."
Our emphasis is in bold, and our disgust is profound.
What is clear in magickal history is that racial mixing has been incredibly beneficial. Let us consider the influences of Persian, Arabic, Chinese, Indian, Tibetan, Jewish and Greek magick that characterise the Western Tradition. Not to mention Africa, which has enriched Europe and the New World. This is proved by the material on Palo Mayombe, Quimbanda, Voudou et al. We could go on. Knowledge comes from exchange and inter-pentetration of peoples, cultures and ideas. And the mingling of knowledge and blood is as old as man and woman. The idea of purity of race and culture is a relatively recent innovation in the quest for meaning amongst the ruins.
We have sought to print writers, some of whom we disagree with, as we hold that there is much to gain from a plurality of voices, perspectives and experiences. However, this does not mean that we ever support giving fascists a platform, or having our own voices co-opted to that end.
To be clear we are not implying that those who write for this Press hold fascist views. Nonetheless, those who choose to write for these publications must be clear that they are providing an intellectual fig leaf for an ideology which would otherwise struggle to be taken seriously.
There is a Spanish proverb, 'Tell me who you walk with and I will tell you who you are'.
All blood is mixed in the cup.
In Nomine Babalon
Peter Grey and Alkistis Dimech
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| Summer of Love |
[27 May 2011|11:07am] |
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Scarlet Imprint present a veritable Summer of Love distilled into one brimful cup of intoxication, illumination and revelation.
Speakers, dancers, performance art, and ritual combine to create a truly magical happening in a secret, central and spectacular location from eleven until eleven.
This is a limited numbers ticket only event.
Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold author of Palo Mayombe: The Garden of Blood and Bones will be leaving behind the jungles of Brazil to make a rare UK appearance. He will be ritually opening the event, presenting and launching his new title for Scarlet Imprint: Pomba Gira & the Quimbanda of Mbumba Nzila.
(Pre-order and details of this title will be sent to our subscribers in July.)
ritual + presentation
Jake Stratton-Kent has been lured from the West Country to talk on ‘Familiar and Unfamiliar Spirits’. Exploring the Lares Compitales, Viales and Familiaris as the origin of the Verum spirit and Kimbanda Exu crossover. A tour de force, combining his work on the Grimorium Verum, the origins of magic as expressed in Geosophia and their flowering in the cults of the New World.
presentation
Peter Grey dissects one of the most notorious of the grimoire rituals, through Grand Grimoire, Red and Black Dragons, paring back the layers of artifice to a raw shamanic confrontation ‘In the skin of the Beast’. An exegesis with far reaching implications for grimoire magicians and their dealings with Lucifer.
presentation
Alkistis Dimech articulates the occult anatomy of the dancer, exploring the mysteries of concealment and revelation through the body. Physical praxis, cross-tradition research and an appetite for the carnal, trangressive and irrational have led her to reorient the body as the primal present and archaic source of knowing. In the ‘Mirror of Sacrifice’ the dancer encounters self as sacrifice, the act as divine epiphany, and the manifestation of Life in Death. Among the themes covered may be: imitation and doubling; witnessing & the dynamic of an audience; and a disclosure of some techniques to create what she calls 'the lucid body'.
presentation + evening performance
Ulysses Black is not a name known to the occult community, despite having generated, under different guises, considerable interest through much sought after publications and artwork. As Ulysses Black he assails the issue of identity through performance art and ritual action. From influences such as Joseph Beuys and Hermann Nitsch as well as the Western Magical Tradition he plots a return to mythical Ithaca.
presentation + evening performance
Michael Azzato, a devotee of Babalon, will be peforming an Egyptian Sha'abi Dance.
evening performance
Nous will be on decks and effects, unfurling Ismaili Gnostic soundscapes in a storm of sonic heresy.
evening performance
Tickets:
A day and night event ticket costs £15
A day ticket costs £10 E-tickets will be sent out with the location details and directions.
This is a zero profit event run for the magical community.
Getting there: Brighton is an hour from London by train from Victoria or London Bridge station. Brighton train station is five minutes walk from the venue. Trains return to London until late. http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/Car share and accomodation offers and requests can be found on the Facebook event page. (live at the weekend)
About Brighton: Brighton is the pleasure city of the Regency period and beyond. An artistic and bohemian idyll, the cremation place of Crowley, the ground zero of TOPY, queer, proud and vibrant. It abounds with bed and breakfasts, hostels and hotels for those who wish to stay overnight or make a weekend of it. http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=Brighton We look forward to seeing you there.
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| Daimonic Imagination |
[19 May 2011|01:49pm] |
The Academy seems to be caught in a moment between exhultation and crisis. Such was the frisson at the Daimonic Imagination conference hosted by the University of Kent. This is not simply because the door has come ajar and errant daimonologists such as ourselves can slip into the discourse complete with official name badges and wild ideas, nor because some of those within the Academy are finding the courage to come out as practitioners themselves. But because of more fundamental changes in the world, writ large in the troubling stars. But let us not get ahead of the story, and first let us taste the exhultation.  If the esoteric community is guarded, so too is academia, and we were delighted to get a chance to see the academics in their own environment and not feel excluded, but rather welcomed. Aside from the overuse of the word ‘ontology’ and perhaps a little more agonising over the implications of Kant than practitioners care for, the same passion and engagement was present. So too was the range of experiences and approaches. Anthropologists, Jungians, philosophers and historians all rubbed elbow patches, and none questioned the existence of the Daimon, but rather how we can meaningfully discuss the experience. It was a delightful banquet of parthenogenesis and psychedelics, fairies and Ficino. Debate and conversation was lively and well intentioned, the boundaries between disciplines were found to be permeable. This is the same feeling we experienced at Breaking Convention,the psychedelic conference on the same campus last month, and that we are also experiencing in the global practitioner community. Something profound is changing. But how long can we sup at this paradisiacal feast?
The hosting Centre for the Study of Myth’s Geoffrey Cornelius recounted how the department had been memorably described by a senior administrator as ‘one mumbo short of a jumbo’. This is where the bright colours begin to decay into a monochromatic scale. Myth is neither respectable nor respected, and those who have dared to pursue the mysteries and build mystery schools within the establishment have done so on perilous ground. Though the academics have made their subject fit the demands of the Academy and produced excellent work (which they may be surprised to find is widely read in our circles) the climate has changed. As one of our friends who has seen his own academic future dissolve puts it, ‘in five years all that will be left in teaching is shopping and woodwork’, that is, marketing and engineering. The Academy and its aspirations are no longer grudgingly supported by the State. The daimons and the fairies will be the first to melt away, like an LSD saturated sugar cube, and that perhaps is what we also were witnessing. Though big hitters like Hutton have tenure, we wonder how many more will be able to rise to his stature. This will be a loss for all of us, and we offer our support to all beleagured academics in increasingly dificult times, especially those who have been brave enough to come out as practitioners in a disbelieving or actively hostile culture. For those who wish to walk on the wild side, the invitation is open to our own modest conference to be held in Brighton on Saturday August 20, we can promise a different experience, but the same welcome you had the courtesy to extend to us.
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| Mayimbe spreads her wings |
[12 May 2011|01:35pm] |
The fine bound Mayimbe edition of Palo Mayombe-The Garden of Blood and Bones by Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold is here.
 Mayimbe is the vulture, whose brooding presence conceals one of the central mysteries of the cult.
It is brought to life clad in a quarter-binding of handboarded straight grain black goatskin which results in an irregular organic finish. The wings are fletched with a specially commissioned marbled paper. the fore-edges are stained red and upon opening, italian handmade endpapers display their sombre silver grey finery.
All copies come ribboned and slipcased and with a handcrafted bilongo/telesmata.
We will be packing and shipping all the pre-ordered copies over the next few days. Our congratulations to Nicholaj on this important book.
The standard hardback is available hereThe limitless paperback is available here
More pictures of our titles can be found on our flickr page here
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| Good Friday |
[22 Apr 2011|01:32pm] |
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We have opened the pre-order for our latest title Crossed Keys today, being a chimeric binding of both The Black Dragon and the Enchiridion of Pope Leo III in a fresh translation by grimoire magician Michael Cecchetelli who was compelled to undertake this work in unorthodox circumstances. They are complementary grimoires, spanning one of the very earliest examples of the genre to the late bibliotheque bleue period.
Together they comprise a wealth of spells, spirits, lore, talismans and psalm magic, with their head in the highest heavens and their feet in the deepest hells.
This is the first time they have been bound into one volume. Extensively footnoted, the seals corrected re-drawn and restored, with excerpts and workings from the translator's magical record, this is a well armed and practical text which throws light on the Grimorium Verum, Red Dragon and Grand Grimoire. It is a vigorous text, designed to be put to use. Those on our subscriber list will have received the links to pre-order both the standard and fine edition of this title. Please check your spam folder, as email filters can devour our messages.
Happy Easter
Peter and Alkistis x
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| Myrrh, Frankincense and Pirate Gold |
[18 Apr 2011|01:19pm] |
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A review of the day of the Magi Something has changed. A tangible sense of community is being felt with every new event, and Day of the Magi continued that momentum. Rather than a magickal scene riven and divided into cliques and petty politics, everything is entering into a molten state where we are united by what we share. The false tribal divisions of the past are being put aside as a new magic is articulated. As Jake Stratton-Kent points out, we are in the process of a magical revival in the West. So when we talk of a new magic here, and of the magical revolution, we are not entering into another post-modern collage, neither whimsy nor sci-fi, rather we are honestly acknowledging both what we have, and what we have lost. We were fortunate to have Stephen Skinner lecture, as there is no doubt that Stephen is the most important magician that we have in our community, whose unstinting work in manuscript research and publication is of the utmost importance to all of us. We acknowledge our very public debt of gratitude to him and the work that he has gifted us with. The work being produced through Golden Hoardis essential if we are to understand where our magic has come from, and the personal commitment Stephen has made to unearthing this is staggering. We do not envy him the task of deciphering Dee’s handwriting and restoring order to the drenched, misbound, shuffled folios, of arguing with Russian officials to let him see Solomonic books, of keeping his pledges.Stephen spoke on the grimoire roots of Enochian magic, and the apocalyptic context of Dee and the Angelic transmissions. This is an important counterpoint to the idea that Dee’s work sprung from nowhere. This echoed many of the ideas I put forward in my essay Seeing Through Apocalypse in XVI. Stephen traced the entire history of magic through European history and, like Jake Stratton-Kent, emphaised the importance of Greek magic rather than the modern over emphasis of Cabbalah. He spoke of the steps of conjuration, of the shyness of spirits, of lost fay gates, of chinese sorcery and more. It was a tour de force.There is certainly a difference of style between Jake, piratical and punkish, and Stephen’s measured confidence. But both these eminent magicians are telling the same story: There is gold in them thar grimoires…  Photo credit: Mrs Midian However, they emphasise different points; Jake as a necromancer is furious on behalf of the dead. That the dead have been excised from our tradition must be rectified, and Jake speaks here for the people of the cemetery as few people do. Jake stands at the crossroads of both ancient Greece and the modern African diaspora religions. Stephen has plunged into the library stacks of Europe and the operative magical cultures of the Far East. Both give us much to consider as we stand at our own crossroads, understand what paths we are on and which we must take. We are not starting with a blank slate to scrawl on, we are not engaged in self-help psychology or NLP. We are the inheritors of a long-standing spirit tradition, but one of broken transmissions. The excitement of our time is that we have the available material to ressurect Western magic, and with the connections being made at these gatherings, this is exactly what is happening. We spoke with witches, wiccans, pagans, druids, members of the Golden Dawn, IOT, OTO, ceremonial magicians and cunning folk not in the language of cult speak, but as individuals learning from each other. We must also mention Mike Slater who spoke on Bristolian legends of exorcism, poltergeists, demonologists and cunning folk. Charlotte Rodgers explored some of the sanguine themes of her latest Mandrake book, The Bloody Sacrifice. David Cypher on Franz Bardon’s spagyrics and what sounded a lot like proto-chaos magic. Most of all our thanks to the organisers (special mention for Michelle Newitt and Phil Cunningham) and all who attended both locally and from across England and Wales who made the event what it was and what our magic is becoming. We will further be hosting a Scarlet Imprint happening on Saturday August 20 in Brighton, more details to follow and we hope to see many of you there to continue this fertile dialogue.
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| The Argo of Magic |
[11 Apr 2011|12:21pm] |
A new and extensive review posted for Geosophia at the Eyeless Owl blog:
“The word ‘goes’ relates to terms describing the act of lamenting at funeral rites; the mournful howling considered as a magical voice. These magical tones can guide the deceased to the underworld, and raise the dead. This is the root of the long connection of goetia with necromancy, which as come to be termed black magic.” - from the Introduction to Geosophia, by Jake Stratton-Kent
There was a time when laws were given through Divine inspiration, and those who spoke them were raised to the level of the gods they served. Perhaps the most familiar example of this in the Western culture is the reception of the tables of law given to Moses on Mount Sinai (or Horeb depending on the tradition), but this tradition exists in nearly every culture across the world. According to the scholar Peter Kingsley it was a common practice in the ancient world that such receptions were required to be heard in times of trouble. Whether it was disease, famine, or war, if someone came forward with a Divinely inspired revelation, irregardless of their social standing, that revelation was to be respected and given a fair hearing lest the society suffer further due to its neglect.
Such a practice has obvious problems for Imperial rule, or corporate oligarchy, and throughout history the role of the Prophet has never been without it’s attendant risks. When the ruling elite decides to ignore Divine decree those speaking with the voice of Divinity are quickly rounded up and sentenced to death, and the instruments and practices of cultivating Divine contact are fought with laws, taboos and mockery seeking to silence them. In the Western Tradition these practices have, since before the onset of the Roman Catholic Empire, faced this process of denigration. Starting with arguments against the folly of metaphysics by Greek and Roman rationalists, and continuing into laws against witchcraft and divination, these taboos have remained in place in one form or another for millennium.
While there are many downsides to the cultural confusion of our time, there are also benefits to the disintegration of boundaries and cultural unity. Jake Stratton-Kent’s study of the grimoire tradition presents one of the most cohesive examples of these benefits in it’s exploration of the ancient goetic practice and its roots in pre-Greco-Roman traditions and the Mystery cults of the ancient world. His latest work, Geosophia – The Argo of Magic, is a 628 page survey of the history, practice and continuation of the Goetic tradition. It forms the second part of his Encyclopedia Goetia, which began with the publication of The Encyclopedia Goetica Volume One: The True Grimoire, both available in multiple editions from Scarlet Imprint.
Stratton-Kent shares the drive to reinvigorate and actualize the Western tradition that Peter Grey and Alkistis Dimech, the proprietors of Scarlet Imprint, express in a previous interview hosted on The Eyeless Owl. He has spent nearly four decades studying the grimoire tradition first hand, both as a practitioner and scholar, and his expertise shines throughout the pages of Geosophia. While the book’s depth as a scholarly work is undeniable it contains no dry academic pretensions, it presents a vivid and living tradition.
“…the goal should be the acquisition of mastery of symbolic languages, in order to compose rites and texts for oneself. Misguided imitation of our predecessors, and purely retrospective approaches fall short of an attainment that, while devoutly wished for by many, is lost if this is not well understood.”
- from Geosophia, Jake Stratton-Kent
Despite it’s notoriety, the goetic tradition has roots in practices that were once central to the health and cohesion of society. Students of Philosophy inundated with the drudgery of the current academic interpretation of ancient thinkers will be surprised to find the names of Pythagoras and Empedocles along side John Dee and Edward Kelly as practitioners of the Art.
The role of the goes in ancient society was to be the mediator between worlds, similar to the shamanic practices found in Siberia, South America and Eurasia. What has fallen into disrepute when labeled as necromancy was once the auspicious role of ‘guide of souls’ in past cultures.
Given the ability to contact, and speak, with the recent and ancestral dead the goes was responsible for maintaining the integrity of the society through mediating the connections of past, present and future. Moving further along the horizontal axis of existence they were also responsible for maintaining relationships with the elemental and natural spirits. On the vertical axis the goes was given the task of maintaining a relationship with the cthonic and celestial entities that came to be defined as demons or angels in the Christianized tradition of the classic grimoires.
“In short, what I advocate is forming a similar relationship to the spirits of our magical traditions to that of our counterparts in other cultures. This is quite simply the most substantial means of revitalizing western magic available; infinitely preferable to the despicable procedures of the Goetia of Solomon, which simply reflect the spirit-negative attitudes of an outdated theology.”
- from Geosophia, by Jake Stratton-Kent
While most of Geosophia covers the development of the Greco-Roman traditions and their influence on European grimoires, Stratton-Kent’s cross cultural conversations imbue the work with a deeper connective value. The living Western tradition is in a state of flux, the majority of initiatic Orders are hesitant to acknowledge or embrace direct contact with the roots of practice, or have relegated much of it to rote routine or psychologized archetypal therapies. As he points out this is not a viable option for those who truly want to connect with the goetic tradition. In order to rediscover what lies at the root Stratton-Kent utilizes, but does not co-opt, the experiences of those who still follow traditions similar in nature to goetia, such as the African Traditional Religions and magical traditions such as Palo, Candoble, Voudon, and Hoodoo.
This cross cultural communication mirrors similar developments in the ancient goetic tradition. Greek religion went through many transitions as it moved into the Classical period that lead to the familiar state cults and Olympian pantheon that are the most familiar representations we hear about. Stratton-Kent details the emergence of the Mystery cults focusing on Dionysus, Orpheus and Attis that coalesced during the decline of the state religion. Through the influence of Thracian, Etruscan and Phrygian rites and Mysteries, these sects served to reinvigorate traditions predating the classic period.
Rene Guenon indicates that in folk traditions one can find active strains of past practices, and Stratton-Kent uses this to successfully uncover the active beliefs of goetic practice by comparing the textual evidence of standard western sources, such as Agrippa, Dee and the various Renaissance grimoires, with living traditions such as Hoodoo.
Although this may seem odd at first, Hoodoo classics such as the 6th and 7th Books of Moses are nothing less than goetic miscellanies. Through observing, conversing and understanding how contemporary traditions utilize these texts, Stratton-Kent opens the true nature of the grimoire work.
“Magic is not a no-risk vocation…Madness or other disasters may threaten; even destroy the unprepared magician who loses the golden thread. However, as a notorious magician once said, an initiatory ordeal that has no risk of failure is not an ordeal.”
- from Geosophia, by Jake Stratton-Kent
Drawing from these traditions brings goetia out of the standard taboos of diabolical practice, but it also brings to the forefront misunderstandings and racist fears plaguing African Traditional Religions in the West. While Western magic has had it’s teeth pulled by the psychologizing effects of Carl Jung, and the pacification of New Age corruptions, blood still runs hot in the veins that Stratton-Kent taps in finding the roots of goetia. It is in balancing this fact with an equally powerful wisdom tradition that Geosophia truly emerges as a profound work.
Through focusing on the deeper connotations of the traditions he explores, Stratton-Kent is able to bring out the gnostic elements inherent in the grimoires. Pointing to the initiatory nature of the texts and rituals, he successfully demonstrates that beyond the surface exists profound examples of techniques and meditations for fostering a fluid and unified consciousness.
Stratton-Kent provides a thorough study of the mytho-poetic elements of the goetic tradition which, as he states in the introduction to Geosophia, provides the basis for a true relationship with the spirits and entities encountered in the work. There is no sword waving coercion here, the focus in on an interpersonal dialogue with existence, and follows the more reverent practices found in grimoires such as the Sworn Book of Honorius, where we find goetic rituals attuned to Divine Union and participation rather than the demon baiting and uncritically malefic atmosphere that attends many of the later grimoires.
Another interesting exploration that moves throughout the work is the relationship of the goetic tradition to the ancient metal working sects. For those interested in the current resurgence of alchemical exploration Geosophia provides a valuable overview of the ritual, cultural and mythological settings of ancient metal working and gives strong hints towards the true nature of the Great Work.
Just as the Argo carried Jason and his companions on their quest to find the Golden Fleece, Geosophia – The Argo of Magic recovers the hidden tradition of goetia. This is a goetia that lives and breathes with the spirits it connects to.
This review has been reproduced with permission from the original on the exellent Eyeless Owl blog here: http://theeyelessowl.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/argo_of_magic
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| Day of the Magi |
[25 Mar 2011|10:35am] |
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We will be attending The Day of the Magi in Bristol April 16th 2011.
Another one of the growing number of gatherings which are galvanising and energising the magical revival.
Jake Stratton Kent will be speaking on Necromancy as the full implications of Geosophia begin to reveal themselves, fresh from his enthused championing of the 'absent dead' at the Glastonbury Occult Conference.
An opportunity to see Stephen Skinner who is rarely in the country and speaks even more rarely, his last appearance was at the Occulture festival in 2009. Speaking on Angels and Demons of the Apocalypse.
The ever-engaging Charlotte Rodgers who appears in Devoted and has recently released a book on blood rites through Mandrake will be presenting on Blood Rites as Contemporary Devotional Practise.
David Cypher will be lecturing on Franz Bardon who is still unfairly overlooked in the contemporary magical discourse. David spoke engagingly last year at the Clun Grimoire Gathering on Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy.
Local piratical legend Mike Slater will also be shivering the timbers.
Ticket price of £15 includes a buffet lunch and the event promises to go long into the night.
Tickets can be bought online here
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| Crossed Keys |
[21 Mar 2011|02:05pm] |
Scarlet Imprint announce our forthcoming title Crossed Keys.
Comprising an important new translation by Michael Cecchetelli of The Black Dragon and the first English translation of the Enchiridion of Pope Leo III. The author notes that these translations were undertaken out of ‘...that obsessive desire to possess the unattainable’ and it is our opinion that they will enrich the living grimoire tradition.
The Black Dragon or to give its full title Le Veritable Dragon Noir: Les forces infernales soumises a l’homme is a French grimoire in the lineage of the bibliotheque bleue editions. A product of the heady diabolic atmosphere , this text illuminates both the Red Dragon/ Grand Grimoire and the Grimorium Verum, those working with them are commended to its study.
A truly infernal work, which contains both spirit workings and a clear operating system, it is also a compendium of eminently practical spells and counter spells which have been employed by the translator, who is a devoted practitioner of the arts.
In addition, the corrupted seals have all been sourced to their original texts, corrected and redrawn with the intent of making this a highly workable text.
Previously only available in the flawed IGOS translation and long out of print we are delighted to be making it available again.
The Enchiridion is by contrast one of the earliest grimoires with a first print date suggested as 1523, though notably adulterated with later material. Allegedly the book was presented by Leo III to Charlemagne and accounts for his victories and worldly power.
It is referred to repeatedly in the Black Dragon and as such can be considered an accomplice, hence they are united and bound into Crossed Keys.
The Enchiridion sets out what on the surface is a highly Christian system of litany, charms, spells and psalm magic guarding the bearer against poisons, perils, fire and tempest. However, psalm magic has pagan antecedents and magical heirs, a point often missed by modern magicians. The sacred technology once combined with the Black Dragon suggests that these are books to be used in a dangerous world and can still prove to be worth their weight in gold.
We will be announcing the subscriber pre-order for both rouge, standard and fine editions in early April.
If you would like to join our list simply send us an email to scarletimprintatgmaildotcom with the subject line ‘subscribe’.
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| Draco Edition |
[04 Mar 2011|01:26pm] |
The Draco edition of Geosophia is hand bound in quarter veiny vellum.
The differences in the arterial patterns ensure that every copy is unique.
 The spine is illumintated with divine lightning revealing the weighty coils of the serpent, guardian of cthonic knowledge, from whom the golden fleece has been stolen.
The boards are finished with a sumptuous double marbled gold, purple and black paper.
The edition is ribboned and presented in a slipcase to form a set with its companion The True Grimoire.
All 54 copies have been reserved.
It only remains for each copy to be signed by the author Jake Stratton-Kent.
We will then send the books by courier to their destinations.
All books will be sent out in Mid-March.
Our readers in the United States will be aware that Homeland Security is causing delays to all inbound parcel post, however, this is not impacting on courier services.
We look forward to sending out these beautiful books.
Our congratulations once again to Jake Stratton-Kent for having the vision to pursue the grimoires back to their roots and produce a book which transforms our understanding of what the Western Tradition actually means.
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| Palo Mayombe and the barbarous civilisation |
[18 Feb 2011|01:15pm] |
Last month a mother was charged and indicted on charges of cruelty and neglect of a child she tried to rescue from death threatening illness. For her the solution was found in the traditional faith Palo Mayombe where body, soul and spirit were made subject for healing. As the sensationalist reportage tells, the mother ‘exposed her daughter to the bloody rituals of the Palo Mayombe faith’. The nature of these bloody rites consisted in receiving some cuts to the body where medicine was placed and to consume the heart of a chicken that had been offered to the spirit of healing. The child also witnessed ‘the decapitation of a goat’. When the police went to the paleros house they found the following horrors: “Dolls, a shrine, religious statues, bones, machetes and bundles of sticks bearing numbers and names were among artifacts found at the home. The items, some of which had blood and animal hair on them” The defence was of course one of religious freedom, which the judge denied. Instead it was all about the unsanitary conditions, the cruelty of exposing the child for a ‘primitive’ ceremony and the prosecutor was even making a point of the importance of having ‘paleros’ being given state licence to do their bloody rites in sterile surroundings. The defence argued that what the child went through was as important as baptism for a Catholic, but to no avail. If we look at the comments given to this smear campaign there is one that is particular interesting, one reader suggests that African rites should stay in Africa and not enter the civilized world. It is quite absurd to see these colonial attitudes still in great vigour and how the people presiding over law are judging from xenophobia and prejudice – as they say because it is not civilized. Not much have changed in terms of attitudes since the middle ages. It is just that nowadays xenophobia is given other names and explained away in quasi academic dialogues as ‘something other’, that don’t belong. I want to remind that the Christian philosopher Montaigne already in 1580 writing about cannibals – a great horror amongst his contemporaries saw things different. He was of the opinion that consuming your enemy in an act of honouring the enemies memory and continue his life cycle was far less barbarous that burning people for religious and theological difference. As he said: “One calls ‘barbarism’ whatever he is not accustomed to”. This is exactly what is happening with Palo Mayombe, in particular, these days. The other is seen as barbarous because the more the world is clashing in people gets saturated in xenophobia. Vodou has over the years become more accepted because the community itself has contributed to this by sharing more, opening more and also academic studies upon the cult has helped in bringing some nuance to this distorted common consensus. It seems that the zombies and pins of Vodou have now been given to Palo Mayombe as the new holder of true evil. Some police departments are even training their officers particularly in persecuting paleros under the constant suspicion of performing human sacrifice at every opportunity they get. How foolish can foolish get – and how fearful can fear get? Pretty much it seems. The news report itself is oozing of prejudice, just in the description of the paleros home where some of his horrible items, such as sticks, machetes and bones had blood and animal hair on them. This only speaks of xenophobia and a greater cultural alienation from nature. Maybe we should bring back as an value that you only eat meat if you have battled with the game? That is the reality of nature – while the sanitized civilization raises cattle with hormones and kills them without rite, without sense of sacredness. They are just bags of meat. For me that is quite disgusting – and if that is civilized, I prefer to be a barbarian that honours nature and all she gives by plant, animal and companionship. This particular case is not only allowing us law murdering justice – but it also speaks about how progress is not a quality, but solely a movement in a given direction. When people say that African customs do not belong in civilization – I think this is more a consequence of our modern civilization not belonging in nature. We have created a fearful, paranoid social monster that constantly measures self in the condemnation of the other. We have progressed towards a world where bugs, leaves and the natural cycle of the world is turning more and more alien for people, a world where the majority of foolish opinions establish dictatorship in democratic condemnation of any minority That’s a great progress! If we don’t move ahead but stand still, we are per definition retrograde – and this is what has happened with tolerance and public opinion. It is still a xenophobic greedy mob that moves the minds of the majority, as is evident in this case – where this attitude was actually moving the whole proceeding. The case was really one between sanitized and sterile civilization vs. Brutal, dirty and cruel savages. It all was resting in prejudice and xenophobia, a foolish refutation of the other on accounts of its ‘barbarous’ ways. The misconceptions about Palo Mayombe is graver than I thought and the barbaric foolishness amongst law enforcement and civilians at large scary in its proportions. It seems to me that this fear, paranoia and cruelty projected upon Palo Mayombe are a form of scapegoating. It has become a social symbol for wickedness and evil that upon attack gives naturally the opportunity of light the torch of fear upon all other ‘non civilized’ faiths. The situation is sad, troublesome and disturbing and I hope that by divulging the metaphysical concepts underlying the roots and practice of Palo Mayombe that I can contribute to turn this ill tide and make opinions less foolish and paranoid. At least this is how I see that I can better support a beautiful and intriguing cult and religion from defamation and distortion. I also believe the palo community need to consider that we might have contributed to these misconceptions by being too comfortable in our shadows and allowing idiots to do the propaganda. The article in question can be read here: http://www.northjersey.com/topstories/paterson/114408434_Mother__couple_to_face_trial_in_ritual_case.html Cross posted from Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold’s blog, the original article can be read here:
http://speculumcelestae.blogspot.com/2011/02/palo-mayombe-and-barbarous-civilization.html |
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| Palo Mayombe - The Garden of Blood and Bones |
[16 Feb 2011|08:11pm] |
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Palo Mayombe - The Garden of Blood and Bones by Nicholaj de Mattos Frivold
We are delighted to say that our latest title is in stock and ready to ship.
An initiates account of this much maligned religion and cult whose central nigromantic mystery is the prenda, the cauldron containing the human skull or bones, re-animated by living spirit.
Full details can be found at: http://www.scarletimprint.com/palo_mayombe.htm
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