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Gnosis 37: Tenth Anniversary Issue. A Journal of the Western Inner Traditions

Gnosis 37: Tenth Anniversary Issue. A Journal of the Western Inner Traditions (New)

by Gnosis

Publisher: Gnosis

Binding: Magazine

Book ID: GNO37, GNO37

Price: $9.00

Description



"My body belongs to the church into which I was born, but my soul can't be confined. My soul belongs to the primordial tradition."
- Huston Smith, from Tradition and Truth: A GNOSIS Interview with Huston Smith

Contents -- Fall 1995

1
Editorial

by Richard Smoley

2
Up Front


4
Forum


8
News & Notes

Including the Return of the Sacred Prostitute.

12
Introduction: Days of Future Past

by Jay Kinney
Tenth Anniversary reflections.

14
State of the Hidden Arts

Esotericism - where's it headed and what is it anyway? A detailed report from our panel of experts.

22
The Hidden Wisdom of Psalmody

by Cynthia Bourgeault
Gregorian chant, Christian contemplation - they all come down to the Psalms.

30
Tradition and Truth: A GNOSIS Interview with Huston Smith

by Richard Smoley and Jay Kinney
The renowned scholar discusses religious traditions, the value of hierarchy, and psychedelics.

37
Israel Regardie, the Golden Dawn, and Psychotherapy

by Cris Monnastre and David Griffin
How the Golden Dawn's occult initiations resemble the therapeutic process.

44
Cleaving to God

by Shefa Gold
A contemporary woman rediscovers a Jewish contemplative tradition.

48
Alchemia

Art by Harry S. Robins

50
Islam, Tradition, and the West: A GNOSIS Interview with Seyyed Hossein Nasr

by Jay Kinney
The distinguished Islamic scholar critiques the delusions of modernity.

56
Calling Cthulhu

by Erik Davis
How H.P. Lovecraft, reclusive New England skeptic, gave birth to the hippest of today's postmodern pantheons.

65
The Stoic Way of Nature
by Michael McNierney
There's a lot more to Stoicism than just gritting your teeth.

72
Book Reviews

  • A Different Christianity: Early Christian Esotericism and Modern Thought by Robin Amis
  • Dreams of Isis: A Women's Spiritual Sojourn by Normandi Ellis
  • The Golden Dawn Journal: Books I and II edited by Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero
  • The Allure of Gnosticism: The GnosticExperience in Jungian Psychology and Contemporary Culture edited by Robert A. Segal
  • Access to Western Esotericism by Antoine Faivre
  • Chant by Katharine Le Mee
  • Women of the Golden Dawn: Rebels and Priestesses by Mary K. Greer
  • Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution by Ken Wilber
  • The Myth of American Individualism: The Protestant Origins of American Political Thought by Barry Alan Shain
  • Moon Sisters, Krishna Mothers, Rajneesh Lovers: Women's Roles in New Religions by Susan Jean Palmer
  • Spiritual Politics by Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson


The Chaldean Oracles: Translation, Text, and Commentary The Chaldean Oracles: Translation, Text, and Commentary
Majercik, Ruth
Prometheus Trust

The Chaldean Oracles hold a special place in the development of the Platonic tradition - they gave a new impetus and inspiration to a number of philosophers now known as neoplatonists. The extant fragments of the Oracles have been the subject of several studies in the modern era: since its publication in 1989 this presentation of the Chaldean Oracles in parallel text and translation with Ruth Majercik's detailed notes and analysis has established itself as the modern baseline for scholarly work upon the Oracles. This is a facsimile edition of that publication. 272pp

Price: $34.00

Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality
Harner, Michael
North Atlantic Books

In 1980, Michael Harner blazed the trail for the worldwide revival of shamanism with his seminal classic The Way of the Shaman. In this long-awaited sequel, he provides new evidence of the reality of heavens.

Drawing from a lifetime of personal shamanic experiences and more than 2,500 reports of Westerners' experiences during shamanic ascension, Harner highlights the striking similarities between their discoveries, indicating that the heavens and spirits they've encountered do indeed exist. He also provides instructions on his innovative core-shamanism techniques, so that readers too can ascend to heavenly realms, seek spirit teachers, and return later at will for additional healing and advice.

Written by the leading authority on shamanism, Cave and Cosmos is a must-read not only for those interested in shamanism, but also for those interested in spirituality, comparative religion, near-death experiences, healing, consciousness, anthropology, and the nature of reality.

Price: $19.95

Arcanum Bestiarum: Of The Subtil And Occult Virtues Of Divers Beasts Arcanum Bestiarum: Of The Subtil And Occult Virtues Of Divers Beasts
Fitzgerald, Robert
Three Hands Press

Written in the great tradition of the medieval bestiaries, Robert Fitzgerald's long-awaited new work Arcanum Bestiarum re-imagines the animal menagerie in the context of bestial mystery and atavistic power. Written for the modern magical practitioner and zoophile, the 272-page volume examines the occult virtues and totemic majesties of fifty animals, theriomorphs, and their kindred. Correspondences with deific powers, atavistic wisdom, and mythopoetic emanation are examined, especially in light of the tutelary powers all animals possess.

The Tetramorph -- essentially an animalic ‘crown of creation’ -- is here transformed into the far broader and innovative concept of the ‘Theriomorph’, or, the Zodiak Entire of Creation as an apotheosis of the animal form and zoötype… One of the greatest of virtues possessed by the Human is its bestial heritage, both spiritually and genetically. These attributes are often seen as primitive, chaotic and dangerous to civilized culture by the custodians of moralism and religion today, but the fact remains that it is our animal heritage that makes us what we are, or, more accurately, what we should and can be.

Special attention is given to the zoomorphic aspects of alchemy, which historically used the bestial emblemata as veils of the stages of the Great Work, as well as shamanism and witchcraft, bodies of knowledge particularly rich in the lore of animals as spirit-helpers. The work is an emergent strand of magical investigation long part of the author’s private life, where he has worked in the ecological field of wildlife rehabilitation, especially raptors.

The text is graced with fifty-five original woodcut illustrations by artist Liv Rainey-Smith, prepared especially for this title in close collaboration with the author. Amongst the more ambitious renderings in the work are the occult cryptofauna Homunculus, Manticore, Ouroboros, and Basilisk, as well as animals prominent in the ancient dawn of magick: the Bear, Goat, Viper, Peacock, and more. Completing the design elements is an original typeface designed for the work by calligrapher Gail Coppock, serving to illuminate this grimoire of the Magician’s Primal Eden.

The book is 272 pages, printed in two colour ink on heavy stock, and illustrated throughout.

Standard Edition: 1400 copies, in hardcover with dust jacket.

Price: $75.00

The Joyous Cosmology: Adventures in the Chemistry of Consciousness The Joyous Cosmology: Adventures in the Chemistry of Consciousness
Watts, Alan W
New World Library

In describing the effects of mescaline, Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception literally opened a door. Watts walked through it with this classic account of the levels of insight consciousness-changing drugs can facilitate "when accompanied with sustained philosophical reflection by a person who is in search, not of kicks, but of understanding." Watts and peers including foreword authors Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (then Harvard professors) anticipated physicists recognizing the individuals "inseparability from the rest of the world," the work of New Age thinkers who combine scientific findings and spiritual experiences, and federally funded clinical trials utilizing psilocybin to treat a variety of conditions. More than an artifact, The Joyous Cosmology is both a riveting memoir of Watts’ personal experiments and a profound meditation on our perennial questions about the nature of existence and the existence of the sacred.

Includes Watts's article "Psychedelics and Religious Experience"

Price: $14.00