Paralibrum.
Independent reviews of bibliophile occulture.
‘A Demon-Haunted Land’ by Monica Black
[…] Black was able to find “scores of ‘witchcraft trials’” “between roughly 1947 and 1965”, as well as “sources in which people talk of being pursued by devils and hiring exorcists”, “police records describing prayer circles whose members convened to combat demonic infection”, “mass pilgrimages to holy sites in search of spiritual cures and redemption”.
‘RUNA - The Wisdom of the Runes’ by A.D. Mercer
Upon closing the book, it is good to know that this book will not remain closed. It is reassuring to know this book has come into the world. Mercer has composed not only an elegant but also a very practical and useful handbook for the entire use and mysteries of the Armanen futhark.
‘Marah’ by Temple of our Lady of the Abyss (ed.)
[…]. This interpretation and connection of “Marah” with the topics of sex/birth, death and female/feminine is illustrated with an expressive artwork on the front cover by Alba Margarita which is a very good choice as it seems to me to also relate well to this first volume’s title of ‘Bitterness’ – even though I doubt whether it was the publisher’s intent to set the stage for the stereotype of the ‘bitter woman’.
‘Tarot. Library of Esoterica Series’ by Jessica Hundley (ed.)
Tarot, the beautiful first volume in Taschen’s Library of Esoterica series, sets out to make a world-class collection with an unlimited budget and reach, and it succeeds in this goal. It presents several examples from each of the earliest decks, followed by modern decks grouped by card.
‘Tarot Skills for the 21st Century’ by Josephine McCarthy
Tarot Skills for the 21st Century: Mundane and Magical Divination by Josephine McCarthy is, at present, peerless. It stands out from the pack and is a necessary addition to the contemporary tarot library. When one of the most incredible and prolific occultists of our time, one with over 45 years of tarot reading experience, publishes a book on the tarot, you sit up and you pay attention.
‘The Magical Knowledge Trilogy’ by Josephine McCarthy
This book is such a great “take-no-bullshit” approach to magic, and in addition it gives so many great tools for establishing “inner world” and “outer world” contacts […]. And this is another astounding facet of The Magical Knowledge Trilogy: it is a book that wants you to disagree with it here and there, so you can chisel out your uniqueness more and more precisely as you advance through the lessons and suggestions presented abundantly here.
‘Black Abbot · White Magic’ by Frater Acher
[…] In addition to the bibliophilia edging into bibliomania, Trithemius’s other interests included cryptography, talking to angels, rummaging through grimoires, reforming the church and education, and social climbing. Like many of the Humanists and magi before and after him, he “desired to know all that could be known.”
‘A Sand Book’ by Ariana Reines
I’ve been reading this book for a couple of weeks now, like any collection of poems; it’s quite an intense journey and best accomplished in manageable sections. […] Maybe it’s my imagination but it does read like a continuous narrative, I’m guessing its talented author intended it so. It feels like being a fly on the wall in the author’s magical playroom or reading the record that magicians often keep.
‘A Book of Deviations’ by David S. Herreías
A Book of Deviations is a deliberately understated publication, short and concise, coming up to 22 pages only, saddle stitched and self-released by the author without any grandeur, but so low key that many of us might actually not yet have heard about it. Most importantly though the instructions DSH gives on its 13 pages of text shine with pristine clarity as well as practical relevance to any lone practitioner. This is a book for all of us, and especially I’d say it is a book for magicians who are engaged in shadow work.
‘An Excellent Booke of the Arte Magicke’ by Legard & Cummins | 2nd Review
We have previously shared Craig ‘VI’ Slee’s review of the Excellent Booke; and we are delighted to now present a second in-depth review of the book, this time by Frater Acher. As you will see, both perspectives stand side by side in a mutually enriching way and hope to inspire more dialogue on and research into this fascinating magical source material.
‘An Excellent Booke of the Arte of Magicke’ by Legard and Cummins
What a wonderfully mammoth task and resource Phil Legard and Al Cummins have both undertaken, and also given us, with this book. It provides us with something which should excite anybody with an interest in magic or the occult – a readable record of occult technique and experience leading to, and dealing with, talismanic books, treasures and arcana.
‘The Magical Theory of Politics’ by Egil Asprem
Asprem distinguishes three camps in the “magic war over the 45th president of the United States” (p. 17): the Cult of Kek, the Magic Resistance, and the Magic Reaction, a taxonomy primarily determining “three phases of the conflict that stand in a chronological and dialectical relationship to one another.” (p. 17)
‘Ajar To The Night’ by Autumn Richardson
Ajar To The Night comprises three poems. It has to be said from the outset that they possess a rare resonance, power and depth; one that affirms this collection as an important contribution to the longstanding tradition of a spiritualised and esoteric poetry.
