1419 Polk Street
(at California)
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 673-2027

Tuesday - Sunday
11 AM - 6 PM

Book Launch for "Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum" Alchemical Compendium -- Thank You!

A big "thank you" to William Kiesel for bringing the Ouroboros book launch of their landmark edition of "Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum" to Fields Book Store, and also to all who attended the event and whose support makes books like this possible.

Ouroboros Press director William Kiesel will give a brief talk about Elias Ashmole's alchemical classic and discuss its relevance in book arts, literary, and historical contexts.

The Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum is a major collection of English alchemical texts which encapsulate the arcana of the Magnum Opus in poetic form. Originally gathered from several rare medieval manuscripts by Elias Ashmole, the text represents the largest collection of verse treating of the production of the Philosopher's Stone to be brought together in one volume. This edition is corrected using Ashmole's errata sheets, revised to include more complete versions of several texts, and re-typeset.

A letterpress broadside of The Golden Chain of Homer will be a gift to each attendee at the book launch who purchases a copy of the book. Additional copies may be purchased for $40.00.

Last Chance for Jim Maynard Astrological Calendars

We're down to our last few of the Jim Maynard 2012 astrological calendars. These have been a favorite of our customers for years.

Each provides daily aspects, lunar phases, void of course moon, aspects and times when planets and sun change signs or direction. They also provide an introduction to astrology, tables of daily planetary positions, details of eclipses, meteor showers, and asteroid ephemeris, occultations, table of ascendants, and sunrise and sunset tables.

The Celestial Influences wall calendar comes in two versions -- Pacific Time Zone and Eastern Time Zone

The Celestial Guide week-at-a-glance spiral-bound engagement calendar provides both Pacific and Eastern Time Zones, and plenty of room for writing in your appointments.

The Astrologer's Datebook provides the same layout as the Celestial Guide, but in a smaller perfect-bound format to make it easier to take with you.

The Pocket Astrologer is the most compact format and comes in two versions -- Pacific Time Zone and Eastern Time Zone

International shipping fees have gone up

The US Post Office has just increased their rates, especially for international shipping, and our rates will need to go up as well. For the time being we are keeping our domestic rates the same, but the basic charge for shipping a book internationally will be increased from $14.00 to $18.00 effective immediately. Similarly, the costs of Global Priority Flat Rate Medium and Large boxes have increased as well.

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We're providing up-to-the-minute information on events, new arrivals, and new releases regularly on our Facebook page.

Please add us to your Likes and we'll keep you up-to-date.

You can also subscribe to our email newsletter with the link on the left hand side of the page. Email newsletters are currently sent very infrequently.

New Store Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 11 to 6

Please be advised that Fields' weekday store hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 11 AM to 6 PM, and closed Mondays.

These shorter hours allow us to spend more time finding rare books, sending newsletters, and improving the web site to let you know what's new and exciting in the store.

Want to be surprised by a rare book find, or the serendipity of having just the right book fall into your hand? Come visit us during our new business hours. We're always glad to see you.

Don't forget: Our web site is always open for business.

Join Us on Twitter!

New titles, links to book lists, timely reminders about author events, and interesting happenings in the world at large... For bite-sized book news, follow our new @fieldsbooks feed on Twitter. See something you think we ought to know about? Bring it to our attention with a Twitter @-reply. Not Tweeting yet? You can also subscribe to Fields' Twitter updates in your favorite RSS reader.

You Won't Find These Online: Bargain Section

As an added incentive for people to stop in the store and visit, we've created an in-store-only bargain section, featuring both new and used books reduced by up to 60% from their usual prices.

Also, everybody's bringing in used books - we receive boxes full weekly.

The most unusual ones are added to our online catalog, but 90% of them just go on the shelves as quickly as possible. You'll find bargains along the back wall, and good value used books filed with the new ones by topic.

Stop in and see what's arrived!

Upcoming Events

Come to our events series and meet scholars, healers, and practitioners from many traditions. Our events schedule is also available through Google Calendar. Add it to your own Google calendar simply by adding our email address, fields@fieldsbooks.com.

see all events

Energy Work: The Secrets of Healing and Spiritual Growth
Bruce, Robert
Hampton Roads Publishing

A new edition of this classic guide to physical and emotional health with new methods of energy work, and a new preface by the author.

Robert Bruce presents an immediate, simple, easy way to learn, step-by-step approach to self-healing. He explains how to use tactile imaging, based on one's sense of touch, rather than visualization, to stimulate the flow of vital energy throughout the body. It is a system that anyone can do, regardless of age, health, or previous experience. It teaches you how to awaken your body's energy centers and move life-enhancing, vital energy throughout your body. This material is remarkably accessible and can be used by anyone at any age to improve their health.

The book shows readers how to:

Improve immune system function
Enhance vitality
Increase psychic and spiritual abilities
Develop stronger and more intimate relationships
Enhance feelings of well-being

This is an invaluable guide for anyone seeking to take charge of their health. Bruce takes readers of a journey, empowerment, transcendence, and healthful change.

Price: $16.95

The Power of an Open Question: The Buddha's Path to Freedom
Mattis-Namgyel, Elizabeth
Shambhala Publications

How do we find a resting place in a world that is complex and always changing? How do we practice spirituality beyond the limits of blind acceptance and doubt? Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel proposes that when we ask challenging questions like these, we access our deepest intelligence and most powerful insights. "When we ask a question," she suggests, "our mind is engaged yet open. The process of inquiry protects us from our tendency to reach static conclusions. Instead, we can respond to uncertainty and change with inquisitiveness and a sense of wonder." Her book guides us on a provocative, playful, and spiritually enriching journey of contemplation that could last a lifetime.

Price: $16.95

Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology
Abram, David
Random House

As the climate veers toward catastrophe, the innumerable losses cascading through the biosphere make vividly evident the need for a metamorphosis in our relation to the living land. For too long we've ignored the wild intelligence of our bodies, taking our primary truths from technologies that hold the living world at a distance. Abram's writing subverts this distance, drawing readers ever closer to their animal senses in order to explore, from within, the elemental kinship between the human body and the breathing Earth. The shape-shifting of ravens, the erotic nature of gravity, the eloquence of thunder, the pleasures of being edible: all have their place in this book.

Price: $16.95

The Psalter of Cain (Standard Edition)
Various
Xoanon Publishing Ltd

By desire was the Nail brought to earth,
A ferrous fruit plucked
from the boughs of the heavenly tree,
Thus did the mysteries of metal and fire fall unto man.

The Psalter of Cain consists of a series of devotional works to Cain, holy Ancestor of sorcerors. Its points of magical convergence are dedicated specifically to the Ancestral Manes of the Sabbatic Current, the shade-mothers and fathers of the Companie of the Wise.

Historically, the figure of Biblical Cain is known from the context of Italian witchcraft and Romany magic, as well as esoteric orders of Freemasonry and the Society of the Horseman's Word. However, it is from the British witchcraft-lineages of the Cultus Sabbati that Cain has come to modern occult prominence as the especial patron of the Witch's Art, the Embodiment of Exile and Opposition explicit within the Elder Craft. In its rarefied embodiment of Crooked Path Sorcery -- the ever-deviating path of Bane and Blessing -- the power of Cain arises from the mythic forms of Transgressor-against-God, First Murderer, Wandering Exile, and First Tamer of the Horse. These Cainite arcana received their highest ritual and literary expression in Andrew D. Chumbley's Draconian Grimoire, or Dragon-Book of Essex [privately published, 1997-98, forthcoming from Xoanon Publishing Limited.]

The Psalter of Cain is the first public work of joint authorship of the magical order Cultus Sabbati, its pages drawn from the collective work of its present initiatic body. As a work of devotional rite, charm, and incantation, the book manifests the transcendent Sabbatic vision of Cainite Gnosis: the radiance which illumines the Nocturnal Eden, the light of vision-anointed eyes. The book features new contributions from the following authors:

Andrew D. Chumbley
Daniel A. Schulke
Robert Fitzgerald
Soror I.S.
Frater A.B.A.
Soror S.I.
Soror T.A.
Frater A.A.
Frater A.Z.
Frater R.I.

In addition, the Psalter features works from the outer sodality of the Cultus -- the solitary companions of The Companie Of The Serpent-Cross. Its progression of rite and charm is incepted by a Proem by Andrew D. Chumbley, and a Consummatum by Daniel A. Schulke. The book is produced to the highest Xoanon standard, with a Design wholly apposite the Cainite Arcanum. 112 pages, octavo format, printed letterpress, and illustrated, and illustrated by Fraters A.A. and A.H.I.

The book is issued in two editions:

A Standard hardcover edition in crimson linen, with gilt blocking, and limited to 701 copies.

A Deluxe edition in three-quarters crimson goat, with a felt-lined slipcase, strictly limited to 171 copies.

Price: $140.00

The Kama Sutra. Translated by A N Haksar. Illustrations by Malika Favre (Penguin Classics Deluxe)
Vatsyayana
Penguin

A gorgeous deluxe edition of the world's most celebrated guide to life, love, relationships and pleasure.

Little is known about Vatsyayana, who is reputed to have composed the Kama Sutra "while observing a celibate's life in full meditation." In Sanskrit the word "kama" means desire, especially for sensual pleasure, and its proper pursuit was considered an essential part of a young, urbane gentleman's well-rounded education.

Untold numbers of readers are curious about the Kama Sutra but put off by its cliched image as an erotic Oriental curiosity. This elegant edition offers a compelling modern translation of a classic Indian masterpiece-and a wry and entertaining account of human desire and foibles.

Price: $15.00

Araaraara: Wondrous Inhabitor of Thunder (Shango / Sango)
Mason, John
Yoruba Theological Archministry

A comprehensive exploration of the Sango Culture Complex from the dawn of mankind in southwest Africa to its dominating presence in both the West African and American diasporas is presented. Recent, revolutionary, cutting edge research in genetics and archeology informs the presentations in this book as well as the rethinking of commonly held views about items of cultural lore associated with Sango. A score of maps, many presented for the first time, 141 black and white portraits of Brasilian, Cuban, and American orisa priests, the majority printed for the first time, along with one 32 page and one 40 page black and white photo insert and one 32 page color photo insert help to display the evidence for the reader to examine. Seventy songs sung to honor Sango and associated orisa in Bahai and Sao Paolo Brasil are presented in Yoruba, as song, along with their English translations. Sixty of the songs are presented on a CD.

Price: $35.00