Book Discussion What Are You Reading (Occult)

[Robert Ramsay]

I was looking into F. Paul Wilson's "Adversary Cycle," but can't recommend #1 "The Keep." Wilson sets a story in 1941 Romania without, it seems, checking out even a Wikipedia article about the land. He labors under the misapprehension that the populace is Slavic, that the language is written in Cyrillic alphabet, that the Iron Guard was in full flower immediately before the war with Russia (Antonescu had used the army to disband the Guard in January 1941.) We learn from Wilson, too, that Romanian nobles are called "boyars"---call Russia: they want their word back. He also has the notion that German troops were equipped with something called a "Schmeisser." The term was a Brit/Yank nickname for the MP-40 submachine gun and not used by the Germans themselves.

I know, I know. The story tries for a neo-Lovecraftian yarn. But it's distracting how Wilson is so damned lazy. At least Lovecraft could write with some reliability about the New England settings of his stories.

Probably better to watch the film then

Currently im reading man and his symbols, after 'the red book' is waiting for me.

I'm reading The Red Book at the moment, but I was so exhausted after the introduction and the translator's notes that I'm taking a little rest and re-reading one of my all-time favourite research books "The Fabric of Reality" by David Deutsch.

 

[Khoren_]

Taking a little break from Hermetic writings, I am gonna read Tao Te Ching now. Multiple translations are compiled into one pdf in this. Also The Only Way to Learn Astroloy. And a non-occult book.

Which are your favorite translations so far? I have like four texts with different translations and the subtleties between individual word choices are phenomenal!

 

[Xenophon]

Which are your favorite translations so far? I have like four texts with different translations and the subtleties between individual word choices are phenomenal!

James DeKorne has a website that includes 9 translations side-by-side. Personally I go for the Liu or Legge translations. (They are often very close.)

 

[Vandheer]

Which are your favorite translations so far? I have like four texts with different translations and the subtleties between individual word choices are phenomenal!

Dc Lau feels and reads very different from the other translations, giving me the vibe it was translated as more of guide for a politician of back then rather than a mystical text.

 

[Xenophon]

Sorry all---I posted something about I Ching, not Tao Te Ching. Mea culpa, mea maxissima culpa.

 

[art-vark2323]

Update with what I'm currently reading from the last time I posted here: Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic by Stephen Skinner, working through the Hekateaon still, and creeping my way through Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft.

 

[neilwilkes]

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I can't really countenance downloading books without paying for them, so I bought it off Amazon. It's exceedingly interesting stuff.

That's a really useful book to own too - it covers the period that was missed by Casaubon's 'A True & Faithful Relation' and is invaluable for anyone trying to recreate such things as Dee's 'Holy Table' (his 'Table of Practise') which was got so wrong in TFR.
I can also highly recommend Kevin Kline's excellent 'The Complete Mystical Records of Dr John Dee' which admittedly does not carry translations of the Latin sections, unlike the Joseph Peterson 'Five Books' or Skinner's reset edition of TFR, published as 'Dr John Dee’s Spiritual Diary (1583-1608), being a reset edition of Casaubon’s A True and Faithful Relation…, fully collated and corrected against BL Cotton Appendix MS XLVI, parts 1 & 2'.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

That's a really useful book to own too - it covers the period that was missed by Casaubon's 'A True & Faithful Relation' and is invaluable for anyone trying to recreate such things as Dee's 'Holy Table' (his 'Table of Practise') which was got so wrong in TFR.
I can also highly recommend Kevin Kline's excellent 'The Complete Mystical Records of Dr John Dee' which admittedly does not carry translations of the Latin sections, unlike the Joseph Peterson 'Five Books' or Skinner's reset edition of TFR, published as 'Dr John Dee’s Spiritual Diary (1583-1608), being a reset edition of Casaubon’s A True and Faithful Relation…, fully collated and corrected against BL Cotton Appendix MS XLVI, parts 1 & 2'.

Thanks - although that's more detail than I had actually planned to go into

 

[Yazata]

I wanted to buy a Donald Tyson book recently but I could only find a second hand paperback for 71 euro (and I'm not gonna). Instead I bought Jenny Tyson's Spiritual Alchemy (to at least send some money to the Tyson family) and I'm reading that now.
Liking it so far.

 

[Amur]

Reading The magik of Satan: Mastering Light and Darkness.

 

[Gregorius]

Very lazy with reading rn but i plan on reading the entire red brick

 

[lee smith]

I am currently reading:
"Ceremonial magic and The Power of Evocation" by Joseph Liseiwski
"How To Make And Use Talismans" by Israel Regardie
and just for fun, "Bob's Memoir: 4,000 Years as a Free Demon Vol. 1" by Aroslav (Not for children or prudes)

 

[Accipeveldare]

I've been reading Draugadrottinn by N.D Blackwood. It is on the subject of vampirism. It is very interesting although I'm not very far into the book yet so I can't say much

 

[Shadows_Whisper]

I've restarted Witches' Book of the Dead by Christian Day for the third time. I'm also working through Master Astral Projection by Robert Bruce and I've just started the Medium's Book by Allan Kardec.

 

[Aeternus]

I've restarted Witches' Book of the Dead by Christian Day for the third time. I'm also working through Master Astral Projection by Robert Bruce and I've just started the Medium's Book by Allan Kardec.

Good luck with your reading. I see a lot of potential from your reading of the books you mentioned

 

[Shadows_Whisper]

Good luck with your reading. I see a lot of potential from your reading of the books you mentioned

Thank you! I'm particularly excited about getting through the Medium's Book, I'd been searching for something like it the past couple of weeks and saw some members here talking about it.

 

[Yazata]

Started reading Harry Middleton Hyatt's Hoodoo, Conjuration, Witchcraft, Rootwork.
At 4755 pages and my readingspeed it will probably take me a twenty years to complete it, but it's an awesome book so far. I've just read the first 100 pages this week and it has given me so many ideas and "aha!" moments already.

As far as I know it's out of print but we have it in the Library, so have fun with it

 

[Not_there]

Drawing Down the Moon - Radcliffe G Edmonds
Magica Hiera - Christopher A Faraone