The exposure I have received through this group helps me appreciate some of
the limitations of this bibliography,particularly since it is primarily an
expression of my own cognitive journey in terms of selections of what I
liked most from what has been most readily accessible to me.I see that it is
more a practitioner's bibliography than that of a scholar.The bibliography
might still be interesting and informative to some members,though.Apologies
if it has been posted here before but I did not see this group on the list
of those I sent it to last year.Apologies if there are problems with its
relevance for this group.
Even in relation to practitioners,the section of the bibliography on works
directed at teaching magic is somewhat dated.I also need to address more
carefully relationships between the Left and the Right Hand Paths in Western
occultism.Addressing that,for example,would enable a more nuanced reading of
such works of imaginative literature as Marion Zimmer Bradley's *Heritage of
Hastur* and *Sharra's Exile* and Eric Ericsson's *The Woman who Slept with
Demons* all of which deal with encounters with entities not categorizable in
terms of basic conceptions of good and evil.No such bibliography can do
without a careful listing of epistemologies,techniques,metaphysical
conceptions,literature and groups post Golden Dawn,such as the development
of Chaos Magic and the rise of demonolatory-the cultivation of relationship
with demons.,as evident in such theistic Satanic groups as the Joy of
Satan,the OFO,along with the scope of Goetic magic,as evident in the group
Dragon Rouge,which describes itself as centred in the experiential
exploration of the Qlipoth, the demonic or dark shadow of the angelic divine
Sephiroth in the Kabbalistic cosmography of the Tree of Life.In fact,such a
list should include groups both off-line and online,since these groups bring
such a rich range of perspectives to the subject.I find my membership in the
Joy of Satan online group quite enlightening even though I dont identify
with all of the group's ideology.Also most informative has been my
membership of the OccultCabal online group.Works from Dragon Rouge at the
online archive Sribd are also most informative.Also inadequate is the
presence of works on the teaching of practice in African
spiritualities,continental and Diasporic.I have recently found works on
Scribd on the Orisa tradition and Ifa very helpful in that regard.
*INTRODUCTION*
This bibliography is an effort to share something that has been central to
my search for ultimate meaning: the idea there is an aspect of sentience,of
awareness,that cannot be accounted for purely in terms of mind as
conventionally understood,as evident in daily intercourse;that this form of
sentience is pervasive throughout the cosmos,in animate and inanimate
forms.One aspect of this idea,the idea of a pervasive force or agent in the
universe is summed up by John Mbiti in *African Religions and
Philosophy*as characteristic of Classical African thought,even though
it occurs
globally, with some variations,across history: “…there seems to be a
force,power or energy permeating the whole universe.God is the Source and
ultimate controller of this force[ known as *ase* by the Yoruba as expounded
in *Yoruba:Four Centuries of African Art and Thought* and *ike* by the Igbo
as described by Chinua Achebe in “The Igbo World and is Art” ] but the
spirits have access to some of it.A few human beings have the knowledge and
ablity to tap,manipulate and use it,such as the medicine men,witches,priests
and rainmakers,some for the good and others for the ill of their
communities”. In another context,the English occultist Dion Fortune
elaborates in *The Training and Work of an Initiate *on a similar concept in
terms of what she describes as the "mind side of nature".
Within the various traditions that postulate this conception, which can be
related to the concept of spirit in English, it can be argued that the most
important spirit is the human being.The human being is described as
embodying the non-material sentience that might be the essence of spirit,as
well as the material form that enables perception and action in a concrete
environment,thereby particpating in both worlds,an opportubity not shared by
all spirits.
Does an ontological category consistent with what is described as spirit
exist?I think the question can only be answered for each person through
experiment.
One aspect of such exprimentation is theurgy,which can be described as the
deliberate interaction with non-human spirits.
My understanding of theurgy is that it is a structure of techniques used in
conjunction with conceptions of spirits.My understanding is that the essence
of theurgy is invitation, forms of invitation at different levels of
elaboration or simplicity.
Most of my knowledge of theurgy comes from Israel Regardies *The Tree of
Life:A Study in Magic*,the work of Dion Fortune and a little of Aleister
Crowley,and the European magical order the Golden Dawn,its rituals and
their explanatory notes as published by Regardie.I have adapted their
theories and methods with interesting results to the African-Yoruba Orisa
tradition.
I have also learnt that theurgic techniques can be distinctive to an
individual.Along those lines,I have come to the conclusion that as useful as
the elaborate theurgic paraphernalia represented by the ceremonial magic of
the Golden Dawn and its students is,one might not need them.Some of the best
results I have got,although admittedly achieved involuntarily or with what
looks like an initiative from the spirits themselves,has been through
reverie and meditation.These approaches seem more in line with an aesthetic
approach to theurgy as well as approaches in some forms of Hinduism and
Buddhism,which use mandalas and yantras,geometric diagrams for focusing the
mind.This may also be related to the use of sigils in the Western tradition
as in the work of Austin Osman spare and the more recent work of Mark Dunn.
I would have liked to correlate ideas of human and non-human spirit
interaction as this affects the human spirit,ideas of the ethics of
theurgy,conceptions of relationships between theurgy and philosophy,the
latter understood as critical, ratiocinative thinking,ideas of
relationships between theurgy and mysticism,the latter understood as a
conception of experience of the ground of being,but that might be another
day’s work.
My practical and even theoretical knowledge of theurgy is quite limited but
this bibliography demonstrates some breadth in pointing out the significance
for theurgy of works from various disciplines.
In all,one would benefit from a thorough study of theories and techniques of
theurgy in different systems and as these are implicit or explicit in other
cultural contexts. I have used as my foundation for research the Golden
Dawn students' impressive conceptions emphasising the value of imagination
and insisting on ritual as a vehicle for imagination.
f I might suggest some reading,keeping in mind that the study is actually a
life time endeavour,I would suggest the following from my limited knowledge:
*THE ARTS *
The study of and familiarity with the arts,particularly poetry,drama,the
visual arts,music,the use of smell,dance,among others,is to me,very
useful,if not priceless..As far as I know,most theurgy,from Western
ceremonial magic to shamanic technique,is based on ideas and techniques
central to the arts,particularly artistic techniques of manipulating
meaning and human expectations of reality.For me,these parallels between
artistic and magical techniques of shaping meaning and reality are centred
in what the English literary critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge describes about
the necessary attitude of mind in engaging with what the Nigerian literary
critic Biodun Jeyfo describes as the "truthful lie" that is imaginative
literature.Coleridge describes this mental attitude as "the willing
suspension of disbelief that constitutes poetic faith".To me,it is in or
through that suspension of the gap between what can be seen and what can not
be seen,that theurgic contact take places,a situation superbly summed up by
Paul in his Letter to the Hebrews in the Bible,where he describes faith as
the "substance of things hoped for,the evidence of things not seen" making
possible the emergence of "things which are seen" from things which are not
seen.
EXORCISM LITERATURE
*MALACHY MARTIN*.*Hostage to the Devil*. A Christian work of exorcism.,not a
theurgic text,but with what I consider a very good section on the nature of
spirit,which to me,is what theurgy is essentially centred in.Non-fiction but
demonstrates the narrative,linguistic and imaginative power of a very good
work of fiction.Also useful in suggesting the dangers of theurgy since it
deals with banishing evil spirits from people they have possessed.
* *
* FICTION-NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES*
*
*
*FRANK PERETTI.* *Piercing the Darkness* and *This Present Darkness*,bigoted
but well written works of Christian fiction which depict all non-Christian
spirituality as evil but which I find enlightening on ways of relating to
spirits.Peretti on Christian angels in relation to prayer I see as being in
alignment with Crowley's conception of theurgy in his autobiography as
intimately related to imaginative identification with the spirits being
called upon ,a goal facilitated by the performative dimension of ritual,in
other words,to me,a form of prayer since one is reaching out to something
unseen,not fully understood.
*J.K ROWLING.* Harry Potter novels.Like a good number of works of magical
fantasy,these works,to me,encapsulate much of what I understand as central
to theurgy and are brimful of a range of techniques which I expect will
prove efficacious, if one adapts them imaginatively.Along with Dion
Fortune,Regardie,Crowley,and Dunn,I see imagination as a crucial key.
*HOWARD PHILIPS LOVECRAFT.* Short stories and novellas.Lovecraft seems to be
the premier imaginative writer on the psychology of magic,even though he is
described as not believing in it.For evoking mental states related to
encounters with the numinous [ generally described using Rudolf Otto's
characterisation as "an unseen but majestic presence,inspiring both dread
and fascination, which constitutes the non-rational element in vital
religion-*Webster's Third New International Dictionary*] ,he is unequalled
in my experience.Note,though,that his cosmology is centred in beings whose
relationship with humanity is often destructive of the people who encounter
them on account of the disjunction between the limitations of human
consciousness and the unusual ontologies[nature of being] embodied by these
beings.When the person does not become mad or destroyed,a transformation
takes places into a non-human or quasi-human form that would not be
desirable to many,if not most people.His work seems to have provided
inspiration for the anti-social anarchism of Anton Long in relation to his
role in the Order of Nine Angels which is centred on making way for the
entry of certain non-human forms on earth through disruptive social activity
such as murder,invocations which must be carefully managed lest they lead to
madness,and other intriguing but controversial perspectives.The fact that
Lovecraft's work is also the centre of a scholarly industry in literature
and esoteric thought indicates that he is many things to different people.He
is also crucial to the reimagining by Mark Dunn,of the medieval magical
grimoire of the *Key of Solomon the King.*
*ERIC ERICCSON.The Sorcerer.Strong description of techniques of sexual
magic.Powerful and perplexing conclusion that highlights the question of the
relationship between good and evil in a universe where such distinctions are
challenged by an exalted level of awareness.*
**
*ERIC ERICCSON.**The Master of the Temple.*Develops an impressive depiction
of the concept of interconnection of being and the effects on the self of
using magic to harm through the adventures of a businessman/magician.
*ERIC ERICCSON.**The Woman who Slept with Demons.*The only work I
know,fiction or non-fiction,that addresses the possiblity of evil in nature
spirituality.
*JONATHAN STROUD.*The Bartimaeus Trilogy.Spirits as servants and friends.
J*OHN RONALD RUEL TOLKIEN.* *The Lord of the Rings* trilogy.Powerfully
evocative on nature spirituality,particularly on the characterisation and
poetry of the Elves and the descriptions of the Elvish enclave of
Lothlorien.
J*OHN RONALD RUEL TOLKIEN.**The Silmarilion.*Strong, original mythology.Very
useful for creating imaginative forms.
*MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY*.The Darkover Series particularly *The Heritage of
Hastur* and *The Forbidden Tower.*Superb on psycyhology, epistemology and
metaphysics of magic.
*MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY*.The Avalon Series.Evokes a strong imaginative world
in terms of natrual forces and the borders of being exemplified by the
doorway between Avalon and the ordinary world.Similar to the entry and exit
of the magician between worlds.
*URSULA LE GUIN'S.**The Earthsea Trilogy.*Wonderful on cosmisc law in
relation to magic.
*LOUISE COOPER*.*The Time Master Trilogy.*Built on the subject of the
various possisblities of the self in relation to cosmic forces.
*BEN OKRI.**The Famished Road.*Great on passage between dimensions.The
journey of Azaro to the world of the dead while his parents try to revive
his body at home is a great visulisation of interplay between
dimensions,spiritual and material, and provides superb material for
visualisation directed at achieving a similar goal.*
ALGERNOON BLACKWOOD. *"Secret Worship".Very,very strongly evocative and
precise on relationships between imagination,space,time,human and non-human
forms of being.
*DAVID ZINDELL*.*Neverness* and *A Requiem for Homo
Sapiens*Trilogy.Cybernetic animism. Articifial intelligence and
neurology.Speculative mathematics.Cosmology. Cyborgean deity forms-galactic
intelligences constituted by the fusion of human and computing
intelligence.
*MOYRA CALDECOTT*.*Guardians* of *the Tall Stones.*Interesting techniques
of utilising sacred space for amplifying psychic powers.Valuable conceptions
on the metaphysics of energy.*
** *
* POETRY*
*JOHN KEATS.* "Ode to a Nightingale", "Ode on a Grecian Urn", "Hyperion" and
"Fall of Hyperion".Keats is a master of techniques of association through
reverie,a vital theurgic technique.Each ode demonstrates the evocation of
reverie through one of the senses,from hearing to sight and taste.
*WOLE SOYINKA. **A Shuttle in the Crypt*. A master of
invocation.Demonstrates a hierophantic[one who brings others to the presence
of the holy:priest-Wikipedia] sensitivity to different traditions.His
incantatory poetry depicts the building up of imaginative associations
which relate to the character of what is being invoked,moving towards an
imaginative and emotionally powerful climax at which point the invocation
takes place.Shows the value of theurgy for sustaining the mind in difficult
situations since the work was written in many months of mostly solitary
confinement in prison.
*CHRISTOPHER OKIGBO. **Labyrinths*.A great work in the field of animistic
mysticism,developing a conception of the ground of being,of the unification
of existence through a focus on the water spirit,Idoto,of a river in the
village of Ojoto in Nigeria,who becomes to the poet "the water spirit that
nurtures all creation".In his own innimitable way,Okigbo takes us through
the standard stages of magical and mystical technique and aspiration,from
invocation to journey to consummation.
* DRAMA*
A rich field for theurgy,since ceremonial magical is based on dramatic role
playing and spectacle but one in which I have very little exposure.
*WOLE SOYINKA.** Death and the King's Horseman*.At the heart of this work
is a superb ritual.
* DRAMATIC THEORY
*
*JERZY GROTOWSKI.* *Towards a Poor Theatre*.Describes an intense method of
emptying the self in order to assume an imaginative character.A technique
used in different ways by different religions and a vital theurgic
technique.To be used with care in the light of the extension of the self
through integrating oneself with a spiritual Other,and even then keeping in
mind Dion Fortune's theory in *The Mystical Qabalah*of the necessary
relationship between good and evil,in relation to the side effects of
invoking even good spirits into oneself.
*PETER BROOK. **The Empty Space*. Has a beautiful chapter on theatre and the
sacred.Explores the relationship between the dramatic use of space and
psychological transformation,a subject at the heart of ceremonial magic.
*WOLE SOYINKA*. "Morality and Aesthetics in the Ritual Archetype","Drama
and the African World View", "The Fourth Stage",essays in his *Myth,Literature
and the African World*. Wonderful on the development of drama as a means of
relating with what is beyond the visible world and beyond human
conceptualisation,but which engages with the human being.Develops a concept
of a state of being or zone of ontological and psychological transformation
and of passage between human and spiritual worlds,the "abyss of transition",
which can be profitably correlated with similar conceptions in Western
theurgy,particularly Crowley's interpretations of the Kabbalistic abyss in
Jewish and Hermetic mysticism and more down to earth understandings of
transitions between states of being in relation to the Kabalah.
* THE VISUAL ARTS *
*ULLI BEIER.* *The Return of the Gods:The Sacred Art of Susanne
Wenger, *presents
theurgic technique from the perspective of artistic practice.Very down to
earth and priceless in showing how one can move across cultures,invoking
spirits from different cultures using similar techniques.Excellent in terms
of both theory and technique.
*SUSANNE WENGER. **A Life with the Gods*.A very rich exploration of an
African cosmology in terms of artistic techniques of theurgic interaction.
**
*SUSANNE WENGER. **The Sacred Groves of Osogbo.*
*SUSANNE WENGER. **The Timeless Mind of the Sacred*
*ROLF BROCKMANN AND GERD HOTTER*.*Adunni.
*
These works elaborate on Wenger's vision in relation to the shrine
sculptures of her school,New Sacred Art.The conceptual sophistication they
develop as they reinterpret Orisa theory and practice make them some of the
world's greatest spiritual literature.*.*
* MARK DUNN.* wwww.goetia-girls.com.An amibitious cosmography developed
through a reinterpretation of the medieval text for spirit invocation,the *Key
of Solomon the King*.Very impressive in terms of Dunn's deployment of
various forms of visual art,including video,in developing a cosmography that
is woven from an amazing range of sources,including modern Western popular
culture,UFO conceptions,Siberian shamanism,Norse mythology and
shamanism,physics,speculative science,science fiction,theories of
consciousness,erotica,Hermetica,Tibetan Buddhism,Western fantasy
literature,as *Alice in Wonderland* and the Harry Potter series,Western
history and conspiracy theory and Native American and African thought. Dunn
is galanvanised by the concept of a Feminine Inorganic Intelligence or
Intelligences which he engages with through dream,synchronicity,imagination
and art.The array of sources that give form to his reimagining of the
Solomonic forms demonstrates his conception of the malleablity of spirit to
human imagination.
*AUSTEN OSMAN SPARE. *A pioner in the effort to relate to spirits through
art.His work depicts a phantamagoric universe which the artist is able to
interact with through his art.
* MAGICAL PHILOSOPHY AND TECHNIQUE*:Works directed at teaching theurgy
directly.
*BILL WHITCOMB.* *The Magician's Companion* and *The Magician's Reflection *are
impressive and more conceptually expansive than the Golden Dawn students on
the philosophy and techniques of theurgy.
*ALEISTER CROWLEY.* *Autohagiography *and *Book Four:Magic in Theory and
Practice*.Anything by Crowley is important and is marked by his critical and
broadly grounded mind.I expect he is one of the greatest magicians of all
time and most likely one of the world's greatest religious figures. He is
very good on psychology and philosophy of magic,on his practical
experience,and in demonstrating the tenacity in cultivating a relationship
with the unseen and unconventional realities vital to practitioners of
magic
*ISRAEL REGARDIE. **The Tree of Life:A Study in Magic*.Lucid,broad.A range
of ancient references,illuminated by the very contemporary insights emerging
from wonderful synthesis.A priceless book.
*ISRAELREGARDIE. **The Complete Rituals and Teachings of the Golden Dawn*.A
work that,in its inspirational power and symbolic density equals,to me the *
Bible*,the *Koran*,the *Gita*,the *In the Light of Truth* scriptures of the
Grail Message,the *Shariyat ki-Sugmad* scriptures of Eckankar.But unlike all
these works,which are limited to evoking inspiring visions and often
downplay actual guidance on how to actualise those visions in relation to
making contact with spirit,the *Golden Dawn* text is also a
detailed,encyclopaedic and most powerful work of practical magic and
spiritual work.I expect its value is inexhaustible.
*DION FORTUNE.* Works of exposition of magical theory,particularly *The
Training and Work of an Initiate, Applied Magic,Sane Occultism,Practical
Occultism,The Mystical Quabalah.*Excellent on philosophy, psychology and
ethics of magic.
*MARK DUNN.* www.goetia-girls.com.Excellent description of a minimalist
technique of theurgy,focusing on invocation through sigil meditation and
mantra chanting represented by the spirit's name.His bold and culturally
wide ranging reinterpretation of the *Key of Solomon the King *demonstrates
par excellence the flexibility of dealing with spirit,as demonstrated in the
need to create forms that enable the manifestation of spirit,forms dependent
on what inspires the magician and the magician's range of knowledge and
capacity for association.His vigorous visual art brings these conceptions
vividly alive.
SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS
* CHAOS MAGIC*.
The Wikipedia entry on Chaos Magic is a good start.It focuses on magic as a
heuristic practise-something that depends on adaptation and
improvisation.Very liberating since it clears away the structure of
traditions to get at the core issues of human mental and non-human
reconfiguration.
TANTRA
A superb body of theory and technique in Hinduism and Buddhism that sums up
much of what is known about theurgy.
*AJIT MOOKERJEE* and *MADHU KHANNA'S* *The Tantric Way:Art,Science,Ritual*
*MADHU KHANNA'S* Yantra:*The Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity*.
Both works are detailed and rich in verbal and visual descriptions of
theurgic theory and technique.Richly illustrated with the visual
accompaniments so useful to giving imaginative form to the invisible being
of spirits ,a central practice in theurgy.
HERBALOGY
Along with dreams,herbalogy might be one of the earliest facilitators in
theurgy.
*PIERRE VERGER. *Ewe:*The Use of Herbs in Yoruba Tradition*
*JOAN HALIFAX.**Shamanic Voices*
*GRAHAM HANCOCK*.*Supernatural*.
These works demonstrate the use of herbs in relating with spirits.Hancock
examines it at length and concludes that that practice is central to the
roots of many religions.
HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
*MIRCEA ELIADE.* Theory of hierophany and of ritual,as exemplified,among
other works,by *Patterns in Comparative Religion*, *Myth of the Eternal
Return* and *The Sacred and the Profane *are insightful on how magical
thinking transforms the ordinary into the magical and on the relationships
between time and experience,conventionally understood,and as participation
in a larger than human reality,effected through ritual.The Wikipedia entry
on him is a useful beginning.
*KAREN ARMSTRONG. **A History of God* and *The Great Transformation*.Centred
on a conception of religion as mental transport facilitated by a range of
means.
*RUDOLF OTTO*.*The Idea of the Holy*.A book that needs to be experienced in
its depiction of what Dion Fortune describes as “travelling in thought
beyond the skyline,where the strange roads go down”.An effort to
characterise the essence of religion as an encounter with the numinous, that
which cannot be reduced to the rationactive,the logical and mentalistic or
even the emotional: *mysterium tremendum et fascinans* "an unseen but
majestic presence,inspiring both dread and fascination, which constitutes
the non-rational element in vital religion-*Webster's Third New
International Dictionary*.
*IMMANUEL KANT.**Critique of Practical Reason.*Kant is superb on the
tension between the human self and the encounter with aspects of being that
transcend the self.The section that frames my understanding of efforts to
relate with spirit,an experience an aspect of which is described by a Yoruba
ritual artist in the expression: “Ille n mi,Ori mi wu…”,The earth was
breathing deep,rhythmic breaths,my head expanded in awe and dread…[Please
forgive inadequacies in spelling and translation] is the section in the
last chapter on human finitude and smallness in cosmic terms,contrasted with
and complemented by the stamp human perception and action make on the
cosmos.
*IMMANUEL KANT*. *Critique of Judgement*. The evocation of the aesthetic
category of the Sublime here,along with Otto’s conception of the
numinous,are the summation,for me,of the aspects of nature that inspire the
conception of nature as more than matter,leading to efforts to relate to
divine forms in nature.
I think I will rest here.These works reflect my own interests,which have
not been developed in a systematic manner but in terms of what I liked.
All in all,I think the key is do what works for you and continue to
experiment,keeping in mind that the mind is often the key and every other
aspect of technique is meant to aid the mind to enter into states of
consciousness that make possible relationships with what is not visible but
which is sentient.
“The path has crossed the path,the river has crossed the path.
Which is the elder?
We made the path and found the river.The river is from long ago.The river is
from the creator of the universe”.
Akan (Ghana)drum poetry translated by Kwabenia Nketia in *An Introduction
to African Literature*,ed.by Ulli Beier.
Also blogged at Cognitive
Diary<http://ifastudent-cognitivediary.blogspot.com/2009/09/theurgy-invocation-of-spirits.html>
