Daniel Schulke

In many esoteric traditions, there exists an iconic or linguistic corollary between the concepts of 'poisoner' and 'sorcerer', suggesting a sinistral magical kinship. Indeed, the use of plant, animal and mineral toxins is a strand of magic originating in remotest antiquity and reaching the present day. Beyond its mundane function as an agent of corporeal harm, poisons have also served as gateways of religious ecstasy, occult knowledge, and sensorial aberration, as well as the basis of cures. Allied with Samael, the fallen serpent-angel of first transgression whose Hebrew name in some translations is 'Venom of God', this facet of magic wends through the rites of ancient Sumer and Egypt, penetrating European Necromancy, Alchemy, the arcane the rites of the Witches' Sabbath, and modern-day folk magic. VENEFICIUM concerns the intersection of magic and poison. Of particular note to this study are the herbs of the so-called 'Devil's Garden', which bear relation to the allied witchcraft concepts of the Graal of Midnight, the Witches' Supper, and the flying ointment of the witches which has exerted fascination over scholars, historians, and practitioners alike. Beyond consideration of the toxicological dimensions of magical power, the related threads of astral and philosophical poisons are also examined, and their resonance and dissonance with magical practice explored. VENEFICIUM will be of interest to students of magic, witchcraft, alchemy, botanical folklore, medicine, and occult pharmacology.

Magic, Witchcraft and the Poison Path

Veneficium

The Occult Reliquary

Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection

The Pleasure Garden of Shadows

Viridarium Umbris

Richard Gavin

Patricia Cram

The incantation is one of the most ancient and best-known techniques of verbal magic, utilizing vocal modulation and the complex poetics of the word to conjure spirits or occult power. Other literary forms, such as the epic, koan, psalm and cipher may also participate in the arcana and power accessed by the arts of the occult. Yet fiction, largely considered entertainment or in its higher forms, philosophy seldom transcends its secular associations. Occult Fiction, as an emerging literary form, is a verbal magic realized in both form and function. Not only does it give voice to discarnate entities, it also vivifies them into presence through the flesh of the reader. Having conjured the entic to form, such work generates an embodied state of alienating power within the reader, a possession of sorts which eclipses consciousness and allows sensorial contact with the otherworldly. As the inaugural Occult Fiction Anthology from Three Hands Press, Penumbrae contains twelve tales exemplifying this rubric, some of which have drawn their art from the experiential alembic of occult operations. Among its authors are Kenneth Grant, Don Webb, Richard Gavin, Patricia Cram, Michael Cisco and Sun Yung Shin."

Penumbrae

The translation of magical power to a created image is a matter well understood in so-called 'primitive' sorcery, in which occurs a mutual embodiment of re-presentation and the Represented. The carved fetish, for example, participates a reciprocal process between object and creator that often begins long before chisels and adzes are set to wood, participating in its own reification. Many of these forms of image-making were concerned with accessing power, and it was only later, in the context of religious devotion, that their forms densified into 'mere' idols. Witchcraft and the Occult, because of their syncretic nature, partakes in multiple infusions of traditional image-making lore, including not only sorcery and religious iconography, but also science, craftsmanship, and the fine arts. However, because much of its images are used privately, and indeed created for consumption by a limited set of observers, they participate in a concentrated alembic of exposure wherein all who experience them do so in the context of magical practice and devotion. This intensity of private magical interaction provides a locus which enables the image to transcend its medium --and indeed that fetish known as 'icon'-- and generates living numen. First published in book form in 2013 and long out of print, this second edition of Idolatry Restor'd contains additional illustrations and textual expansion.

Witchcraft and the Imaging of Power

Idolatry Restor'd

Robert Fitzgerald

Saints of Magic

Daniel Schulke

About

Books

Join the club