Bøger udgivet af Mandrake of Oxford

Edward Bulwer, Lord Lytton, once the most successful novelist in the English speaking world, now unfairly neglected and even derided, was also the central figure in the underground culture of magic and the occult. With his esoteric studies he built a reputation for deep learning in the history and philosophy of this alternative tradition, as well as passing for an adept in his own right. His creative influence, especially through his occult fiction, was surprisingly far reaching. The book sets the achievement of this nineteenth century magus into a large historical context, exploring the intellectual and other influences on him as well as movements he inspired. Some chapters discuss aspects of Bulwer's life, while some explore people and ideas that influenced him and others those he influenced. His seminal role in several cultural movements has been largely forgotten, not least in his home country. This book offers an often unfamiliar perspective on the Victorian era and hopefully succeeds in provoking some questions about our own times. With Bulwer as its focus, and employing a wealth of illustrations, it manages to provide a whirlwind tour of much occult and esoteric culture, from Iamblichus to Symbolist art and literature, Theosophy and modern psychedelia.

This book on spiritual alchemy presents an initiate’s undertaking of the internal alchemical process. It is a pathway of vision and illumination; and with particular emphasis placed on the induction of the alchemical dream, this movement becomes a visionary transition and passage. The practitioner’s psyche moves through the paths of the Opus Magnum, and these paths have a goal—the attainment of the Philosopher’s Stone. It is the internal alchemy that acquires access to the ethereal level of the body, and eventually to the enactment of the alchemical Will.

In Beneath the Pleasure Zones 1 - The Rupture Paul Green created a dystopian world disrupted by the Qliphothic forces of chaos. Its sequel The Polyverse takes us deeper into the inscapes of a ravaged Britain, where the pagans of Leynebridge, the digerati of London and battling fundamentalist militias all struggle to control the flux of reality, under the overview of those sinister cyber-demons the Quantum Brothers.In the midst of these upheavals, Lucas, poet and aspiring scribe of Thoth is still seeking Carla, his capricious sex-goddess, while Lombard the manic virtual reality tycoon undergoes a psycho-sexual metamorphosis that transforms his strategies of control. Ultimately things fall apart, on an apocalyptic scale, taking characters on journeys where everything they most love appears to be destroyed. Magicks work, but not as expected and signs in the sky can be deceptive. But from this maelstrom of horror, wonder and bleak farce, the possibility of Albion's new beginning emerges.Paul Green's other work includes the novel The Qliphoth and the poetry collection The Gestaltbunker. His dramas, which have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, CBC Radio, RTE Ireland and Resonance FM, have been collected in Babalon and Other Plays - the title piece being his evocation of occult rocket scientist Jack Parsons. Based in Hastings, he has performed at numerous esoteric and literary events. He is not to be confused with the esteemed psychic biker of the same name, whose fascinating book is also published by Mandrake. insert link here?'Good storytelling always leaves you wanting to know what comes next... Plus Green has a talent for some splendidly epigrammatic and surprising phraseology. The bizarre events become satires for our fears and desires and fantasies about where magic and science and social fragmentation might take us...' (Peter Carroll on Beneath the Pleasure Zones - The Rupture)

Unlock the hidden powers of crystals and gemstones.For millennia, magicians and astrologers, familiar with celestial magic, knew that precious stones held an important key for the maintenance of health and wellbeing. During the Age of Reason this knowledge was lost. Now, nearly 400 years later drawing from ancient sources, Peter Stockinger's astro-magical lapidary invites you to re-discover this long-lost knowledge and to learn how to utilise the magical and therapeutic powers of gems.· Read the in-depth descriptions of 30 gemstones and crystals revealing their hidden lore, and discover their practical use from antiquity;· Study real-life cases that demonstrate how to use the beneficial powers of crystals and gemstones;· Learn how to find your perfect gem, create gemstone talismans and manufacture lucky fixed star rings.The lapidary also contains a thorough introduction to the subject of traditional astrology, a therapeutic index and a detailed glossary.

Imagine yourself at the World Tree, Yggdrasil. You sit on one of its gigantic roots. Urd's Well is in sight and maybe you can see the Norns, the weavers of fate. The colours of a Rainbow touch the Well's shore. Your eyes follow the colours of the Bifrost Bridge high into the sky. Twelve specks of white light appear. Do you see the Aesir?Doors of Valhalla presents an exegesis of Voluspa, Havamal, and Lokasenna. The Voluspa poem is looked at from a contemporary esoteric perspective but particularly discusses the evolution of consciousness. Havamal is interpreted from a cultic perspective. The Gunnlod story and its initiatory implications, such as soul contact, are especially treated. Lokasenna outlines the Norse gods and goddesses as archetypes.The theoretical content is intertwined with practical hints. Chapter 2 features an exercise to contact a water spirit for Spá divination. Chapter 5 develops the creation of magical thought-forms. Chapter 6 describes a genuine Seidr trance technique. Chapter 7 includes hints on ceremonial magic. Last but not least, chapter 11 details how to work with god archetypes.

From the late-1950s until his premature death in 1977, Burt Shonberg was one of the most highly admired artists in Los Angeles. During this period, his eye-popping murals graced the facades and interiors of popular coffeehouses and hip clubs on the Sunset Strip; his paintings adorned several notable rock album covers, and his haunting portraits featured prominently in Roger Corman’s film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher and The Premature Burial.     Soon after he settled in L.A., Shonberg became the lover of the legendary occult artist Marjorie Cameron who turned him on to the teachings of the Edwardian magus Aleister Crowley and introduced him to the mind-warping properties of peyote. Shonberg also embraced the Fourth Way system of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, and his canvases began to reflect the mystical illumination inspired by his higher states of consciousness.In 1960, the artist was chosen by Dr. Oscar Janiger to participate in his groundbreaking study into the effects of LSD-25 on the creative process. Although Shonberg regarded himself as a magical realist, his remarkable renderings of his hallucinogenic visions led many of his acolytes to regard him as the preeminent psychedelic artist of the era, and in the words of his friend and fellow painter Walter Teller, “Burt was the artist of Laurel Canyon.”Yet despite his popularity and status, Shonberg’s artistry has been criminally overlooked in all historical accounts of the Southern Californian art scene, until now. Out There redresses this injustice and brings some long overdue recognition to L.A.’s greatest lost artist, in a book illustrated with rare examples of his incandescent artwork.  

"Long ago the trees thought they were really peopleLong ago the mountains thought they were really peopleLong ago the animals thought they were really peopleSomeday, they will sayLong ago the humans thought they were really people" Constance O'Day-Flannery, Shifting LoveIntroductionShape-shifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. In its broadest sense, shape-shifting occurs when a being (usually human) either (1) has the ability to change its shape into that of another person, creature, or other entity or (2) finds its shape involuntarily changed by someone else. If the shape change is voluntary, its cause may be an act of will, a magic word or magic words, a potion, or a magic object. If the change is involuntary, its cause may be a curse or spell, a wizard's or magician's or fairy's help, a deity's will, a temporal change such as a full Moon or nightfall, love, or death. The transformation may or may not be purposeful.The desire to be different in some way so as to match some ideal promoted through advertising has become an obsession, especially for vulnerable younger members of society. Perhaps the pressure to conform to some unrealistic ideal is something that has always been with us, but surely not to the extent that now is the case. And it is this desire that helps to account for the current interest in shape-shifting as it would seem to provide a means of achieving the goal to bring about change. However, as many of the tales in this collection show, it is only by coming to terms with who we really are that peace of mind can truly be ours once again.Another, and perhaps even more significant reason for the fascination with shape-shifting is that stories and shamanic journeys that involve such transformations let us cross the threshold between this reality and other worlds, at least in imagination. Through such tales and journeys we learn to appreciate that we can in fact wear many shapes and inhabit many skins, and we are reminded that we are all living beings beneath the fur, the feathers, and the scales.Having no scripture, liturgy or singular deity, if one's ... desire is to find universal truth it is easy to perceive the Pagan outlook as too diverse and individualistic to have any weight or worth. (Restall Orr, 2012, p.96).On the other hand, if you take a Bible and put it out in the wind and rain, soon the paper on which the words are printed will disintegrate and the words will be gone, whereas for the Pagan his or her Bible IS the wind and rain. And although there may not necessarily be key texts or set teachings to guide the Pagan, there are stories: legends shared with other people, other lands, tales from other, older, cultures that speak to us, and it is those stories that form the focus of this book.

Born less than a year before the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, William Lilly lived during one of the most turbulent times in English history. Like so many of his generation, he had to deal with the plague, was drawn into the madness of the English Civil War and was forced to take sides, and witnessed the regicide of King Charles I. Lilly lived in a time of enormous religious and social upheaval, but his astrology remained the outer expression of a magical world-view, based on hermetic and neo-Platonic principles and rooted in the 16th century.This book provides the reader with a thorough introduction to the world of William Lilly, the famous 17th century astrologer and magician. It brings together transcripts of his autobiography and of some of his most important works. It also includes Peter Stockinger and Sue Ward's Monster of Ingratitude, an investigative journey offering new insights into the notorious contention between Lilly and the astrologer John Gadbury. Amongst other valuable information, the book contains:· The Life of William Lilly, Student in AstrologyTranscribed from the autograph, with annotations, commentaries and biographical notes, including Elias Ashmole's addenda. Nativities of some notable persons appended.· The Nativity of Sir William WittypooleTranscript of a nativity, rectified and directed by William Lilly, a previously unpublished manuscript providing the reader with an exciting insight into the working methods of the master astrologer.· Monster of IngratitudeThis research contains brief biographies of Lilly and Gadbury. It shows how their enmity began, developed and ended, including details of the rather one-sided pamphlet war. An in-depth study of published material, timelines and bibliographic entries of all primary sources used are also included and provide the grounds for a different explanation from that commonly proposed.

A German Stargazer's Book of Astrology is the first English translation of Astronomia Teutsch Astronomei, published in 1545 in Frankfurt am Main. The original work was one of the earliest astrological textbooks in the vernacular, predating William Lilly's famous English primer Christian Astrology by over a decade. With this translation, Peter Stockinger offers the English reader an exciting insight into the working methods of a 16th century astrologer living on the cusp of the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods. The book contains a detailed introduction by the translator, providing valuable background information and historical context, and is comprehensively annotated throughout. The translation contains, amongst many others, the following chapters: - Of the Twelve Signs their Stars and Effects - Of Pictures of the Heavenly Bodies (Constellations) - Of the Fixed Stars and their Qualities - Of the Seven Planets - Of Eclipses and Comets (Mundane astrology) - Of the Four Seasons (Weather astrology) - Claudius Ptolemy's Perpetual Calendar

When Lucas Beardsley blundered into the Qliphothic Forces of the Polyverse,Britain's reality-consensus was drastically disrupted. Everyday causality was never quite the same again...Now Londoners escape into the virtual-reality thrills of Pleasure Centres plc, while Borderland villages embrace an eclectic neo-paganism. Meanwhile Fundamentalist militias - Mo-Boys and Heavy Shepherds - battle for overall control.In the Borderlands, Lucas works desperate magicks to win back his ex-lover Carla. In London traumatised ex-MOD computer wizard Dr Crowe seeks work with Pleasure Centres - which also employs Carla as erotica producer and Borderland refugee Vivienne, who will be re-invented as an 'artiste'...For Lombard, CEO of Pleasure Centres, has a manic plan to restore the status quo by using Crowe's cyber-skills to manipulate the ancient forces of the Borderlands. However, no-one has reckoned with the emergence of rogue cyber-daemons - the Quantum Brothers - or the horrors of the Feast of Smoke.This first volume of Paul Green's new fiction sequence ends with a bizarre and terrifying climax that defines the world of the forthcoming sequel - BENEATH THE PLEASURE ZONES - The Polyverse...Paul Green's other work includes a novel The Qliphoth, poetry collections The Gestaltbunker and A Beginner's Guide to Radial City as well as plays for radio or stage like The Dream Laboratory, Ritual of the Stifling Air, The Mouthpiece, The Voice Collection and Babalon, his evocation of Thelemite rocket scientist Jack Parsons.

The Peacock's Egg describes a transformation of the psyche. This is based in the alchemy in which an alchemical dream process is set into motion, acquiring highly resolute manifestation through phases of the opus. An intensive and lengthy occult praxis is entered in which dreams and dreaming practices are developed. Advanced levels of occult experience are attained in which ethereal energy becomes mastered, involving a purification. These attainments adhere to beliefs regarding this type of paranormal experience that include the author's interest in the work of Carlos Castaneda. The intricacies of a crucial alchemical image are described-a Vision of the Peacock's Egg, an accessible metaphysical anatomy. The spatiality of the rose garden, the alchemical death, and attainment of the lapis are then brought into the practice.ContentsI. Anatomy of the Peacock's Egg; II. Purification and Renewal; III. The Radiance of Colour; IV. The Amber; V. Phases of the Opus; VI. Dreams; and an appendix on medicine.

Tales and techniques of practical occultismFrom the mysteries of Witchcraft to tales of the Elder Gods, Deep Magick is a journal written during the long dark night of the soul. Comprising a number of essays, some published for the first time in this volume, Deep Magick is the latest installment in the esoteric oeuvre of occultist and writer Julian Vayne.Bringing together practical how-to information, academic writing, and far reaching metaphysical exploration, this book touches on many different magickal systems. Informed by the experiential approach of Chaos Magick and diving deep into the Mystery as presented through many traditions, this work explores:Psychogeography and MagickTransgressive bodyworkOur Vision of the End TimesGender fluidity as spiritual processThe collection of the Boscastle Museum of WitchcraftZombies and the New Age movementBuddhism meets Chaos MagickEntheogenic magick, the law and social transformationMindfulness practice as the still point in the storm of chaosThe esoteric metaphysics of Pooh Bear, Tigger and Eeyore...and much more!

"The visualizations here draw their imagery from classical grimoires and Qabalistic philosophy. Plus, they have a specific and useful goal. Each visualization takes you on a journey into the symbolic realm of an archangel, where you are introduced to the entity's sigils and symbols and other sacred imagery before encountering the archangel himself. Each visualization builds upon those before it, until the aspirant has been led through the seven circles of heaven and has established a personal link to the archangel that governs each one. At the end, the aspirant will have learned to recognize the images, seals and symbols they will encounter in the Solomonic and other advanced systems of angel summoning.Such guided visualizations are certainly absent from the medieval texts about angels. So, why should I urge anyone who wishes to work with angels - even Solomonic practitioners - to follow the instructions in this book? Simply put, this book is based upon the same principle I described above: safely establishing first contact. It accomplishes this without resort to the full-fledged summoning ceremonies intended to call the angel down to the physical plane - an advanced practice the grimoires tend to jump into without preamble.This book even includes simple rituals by which you can submit petitions to the archangels in times of need - and these rituals are not entirely removed from the methods of the grimoires. Therefore, working through the steps outlined in this book can serve as a wonderful bridge between "square one" and the fully adept practices of angelic summoning." : From Aaron Leitch's Preface

Re-written with much new materialCompletely new illustrations & 3 bonus short stories"The wit and wisdom of Mark Ramsden's illuminating text delivers a gripping journey through a rich seam of sexual expression. Read this book, enjoy this book, for it deserves your utmost attention. Over 40? Fat? The style gurus say you're not sexy, not horny, this book says 'Bollocks!' An essential reference work... And bloody good fun too."

As our relationship with the world unravels and needs to take a new form, The Wanton Green presents a collection of inspiring, provoking and engaging essays by modern pagans about their own deep, passionate and wanton relationships with the earth. "Where do we locate the sacred? In a place, a meeting, memory, a momentary glimpse? The Wanton Green provides no easy answers and instead, offers a multitude of perspectives on how our relationships with the earth, the sacred, the world through which we move are forged and remade." Phil Hine.Contents: Foreword (Graham Harvey) ,"She said: 'You have to lose your way'"(Maria van Daalen), Fumbling in the landscape (Runic John), Finding the space, finding the words (Rufus Harrington),Stone in my bones (Sarah Males), A Heathen in place: working with Mugwort (Robert Wallis),Wild, wild water (Lou Hart), Facing the waves (Gordon MacLellan),The dragon waters of place: a journey to the source (Susan Greenwood), Catching the Rainbow Lizard (Maria van Daalen), The rite to roam (Julian Vayne), Places of Power (Jan Fries), Natural magic is art (Greg Humphries), Pagan Ecology: on our perception of nature, ancestry and home (Emma Restall Orr), Because we have no imagination, (Susan Cross), The crossroads of perception, (Shani Oates), Devon, Faeries and me, (Woody Fox), Lud's Church, (Gordon MacLellan), Places of spirit and spirits of place: of Fairy and other folk, and my Cumbrian bones (Melissa Montgomery), A life in the woods: protest site paganism, (Adrian Harris) We first met in the north, (Barry Patterson), Museum or Mausoleum (Mogg Morgan), Hills of the ancestors, townscapes of artisans (Jenny Blain), Smoke and mirrors (Stephen Grasso), America (Maria van Daalen), Standing at the crossroads, Meet the authors .About the editorsGordon MacLellan is a shaman, storyteller and artist whose work sets out to find ways of celebrating the relationships between people, place and wildlife. Gordon's books include Talking to the Earth, Sacred Animals and Celebrating Nature (all with Capall Bann), StarMatter and the Piatkus Guide to Shamanism Susan Cross is a poet, heritage and environmental interpretation consultant and occasional pirate. About a decade ago she realised that she has probably always been some kind of animist mystic and since then has endeavoured to make that a more conscious, clearer and brighter part of her life.

In Psychic Biker Meets Extreme Ghost Hunter, Paul Green and Stephen Lambert have undertaken the unenviable task of spending many days and nights searching for something, which, for the most of us, is not part of everyday life experience.In this book they take a candid look at the world of ghost hunting and the paranormal industry. They also reveal their thoughts on ghosts and hauntings, as they seek to encounter the things most people would wish to run from.All are extreme and often virgin locations. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they fail but they will tell it as it is. No frills, no airs and no lies.Paul Green - The Psychic Biker, is possibly unique in the psychic world, a talented medium and psychic that was once an ardent sceptic. A hard-core biker that, on looks alone, should be placed on a door as a bouncer and not as an empathic psychic medium. Paul is opinionated, brutally honest and refreshing, or as he says "Attitude with Empathy".Stephen Lambert - Extreme Ghost Hunter, is a seasoned investigator of the paranormal. Stephen has spent a great deal of time at many locations alone on solo vigils. He is a firm believer in taking ghost hunting back to the basics, with a no nonsense outlook on seeking out the unexplained. Stephen is also a talented historian that likes to combine investigation with research.http://www.youtube.com/user/ExtremeGhostHunting