First, I’ve been overwhelmed with the amazing books by Stephen Skinner and his Golden Hoard Press titles. I especially like The Goetia of Dr. Rudd and the Veritable Key of Solomon (with David Rankine), but all of his books are excellent and highly recommended. These have never been published before and have information crucial to anyone doing evocation magick, especially using Goetic or Solomonic magick. They certainly will add to your use of my Modern Magick.

Next is a novel by my friend, Devin O’Branagan. Years ago, when I lived in San Diego, there was a group of occultists who were friends and who became writers. I shared an apartment with Scott Cunningham and learned from Raven Grimassi. Other members of the group included deTraci Regula and David Harrington. Others became leaders in the occult but not writers…yet! (Are you reading this, Marilark?)

Rather than non-fiction, Devin expresses her ideas through fiction. One of her first novels, Witch Hunt, was very popular two decades ago, but as with many novels published by large companies, went out of print. Due to popular demand, she re-wrote it the way she wanted it to be, and it shows. This is an exciting story about religious fanaticism that is more apropos today than ever. The main character, Leigh, discovers that the family she married into are Witches. When a preacher comes to power stressing a worldwide crusade to wipe out Witches, she is confronted with life and death decisions. Most importantly, the characters have literally come to life. They are real people who you like or hate, real people whom you know. I think you’re going to love the tension and excitement and not be able to put down this page-turner!

For those of you more interested in hard-core occultism, there is an unsung hero who has quietly been assembling some of the most important historical documents concerning the Golden Dawn and affiliated groups. His name is Darcy Küntz, and most of his books are published through the Golden Dawn Research Trust. Many of his books and booklets contain information that has never previously been published and they are an important contribution to understanding the history and practices of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the pivotal occult group of the past 150 years.

Early member of the Golden Dawn were also members of the S.R.I.A. (Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia or Rosicrucian Society in England), and that earlier group heavily influenced the Golden Dawn. Darcy’s newest book is The Origins of the Rosicrucian Society in England. It includes original documents about the SRIA and will add to anyone’s knowledge of Golden Dawn history. I highly recommend it for those interested in the historical development of the Golden Dawn.

I would add that there was another SRIA almost as old as the British version. This is the American version of that order. Little known, it has been working and evolving for decades. It is currently undergoing major changes with new leadership, but you might want to keep track of what they’re doing through their website.

When I was in high school, I was one of the first student of the Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics course, one of the first modern courses in speed reading. I loved being able to read so fast (2,000 words per minute easily), but then I discovered Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, “The Bells.” I loved the sounds of the words, the way they made me feel, and the emotions they brought out. This was something you simply couldn’t experience with speed reading. Some writings are simply like that.

An amazing book that fits into that category is Kala Trobe’s Spiritus. I’ve enjoyed her previous novels, but this one is totally different. It’s about the effect of a strange ship moored on the docks of Amsterdam and the people who visit it. The parties there are amazing, the talk of the town. The people come from all walks in life. And as you visit the ship with the characters in this novel you’ll find yourself trolling the depths of your own psyche, with fear and awe, pride and dismay. In this book Kala shows that she has mastered the use of simile and metaphor, in a way that reminds me of Dennis Miller’s out-of-the blue references and Umberto Eco’s depth of knowledge. Blending myth and symbolism, occultism and existentialism, pop culture and mysticism without being pompous is a difficult skill, but Spiritus succeeds. I took a loooong time reading this (sorry, Kala) because I was quite literally savoring the luscious language. I’m going to be reading it again, too.

For fans of on-line works, I just received the latest issue of Hermetic Virtues journal. Available through their website, the current issue has articles on a Golden Dawn Winter Solstice ceremony by Darcy Küntz, an Invocation of the Spirit of Christmas by Joseph Max, A Ritual Drama by Sandra Tabatha Cicero on The Soul’s Celebration of The Sun, the secrets of the Golden Dawn technique of invisibility, and several more articles. It’s 120 pages in length, and you can order the current issue or past issues through the site’s store. You can also order through them Golden Dawn tools (Water Chalice, Fire Wand, Air Dagger, Earth Pentacle, and the Rose Cross Lamen) that have been hand crafted by Chic Cicero.

Finally, if you’re looking for an exciting occult novel that takes place today with realistic characters (and realistic magick), don’t forget my own book, The Resurrection Murders.

If you really want to know how we are happening to publish a book by an author who has sadly been in the Summerland for many years now, you’ll have to start with my boss, Bill Krause. Bill is Llewellyn’s Publisher, which means that he oversees the day-to-day operations of acquiring and publishing books. (Carl Llewellyn Weschcke continues as Llewellyn’s owner and CEO, but Bill does a lot more of the heavy lifting these days.)

So Bill was at BEA (a large trade show for the publishing industry) and saw a book being promoted by a very famous, very dead author. What the heck? The guy is dead and still writing books? Obviously, if some new material is discovered, it makes good sense for a publisher to publish unpublished publications (that’s how we roll), and it got him to thinking – could there be any unpublished material by Scott Cunningham lying around? Cunningham is without a doubt our most popular author to this day, and his clear style of explanation and warm voice continue to speak to millions of readers around the world. Bill asked our friend, author and blogger extraordinaire, Donald Michael Kraig, who had been Scott’s roommate, if he thought there was anything we could still publish. No, he said. Not a chance. Scott needed money, so anything that was publishable was promptly sent to Llewellyn when he was alive.

But then one day Bill was having a chat with Sandra Weschcke, President and Treasurer of Llewellyn, and Carl’s wife. She said, “Well, did you ask deTraci Regula?” A close friend of Scott’s, deTraci was one of his heirs and ended up with boxes and boxes of his belongings, which she stored in her garage. So Bill got on the phone with her.

At this point, deTraci came forward with some shocking information – Scott had been working on an Animal Magic book, which he had never finished. Another close friend, David Harrington (who co-authored The Magical Household and Spell Crafts with Scott), had finished it after his death. “Great, can you find it?” asked Bill. (Admit it, wouldn’t you love to read Scott’s take on animal magic? I know I would!)

deTraci, a travel writer, took many months before getting back to Bill, but when she did, it was big – she had found a Book of Shadows, neatly typed and left in a manila envelope, clearly meant for publication.  Here is what that envelope looked like:

She mailed it in to Bill, who brought it over to Carl’s immediately. Carl, still in his pajamas while recuperating from shoulder surgery, wrote an excited email back to Bill after checking it out. (The following is an excerpt from the actual email, which I’ve acquired from Bill, emphasis is in the original):

 Yes, Bill, this is IT!

 As I glanced at it, some memories came flooding back. Scott and I did talk about this perhaps thirty years ago. We both had a lot of concerns and talked about how to overcome them. But I didn’t know that he continued to work on it.

 What Scott has done is to weave traditional Wiccan material with some Scott material and then Scott’s creative (inspired) work. As a result, this book fills certain gaps in a traditional book of shadows.

This was to be Scott’s life work – that would be a complete book of shadows. Until I read the entire mss I can’t tell how complete this is – but a glance tells me that it is more complete than any other.

Well, as it turned out, this Book of Shadows is what Scott used with his correspondence students in the very early days. It does vary from the Standing Stones Book of Shadows that was published in Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, especially in terms of rituals, which are not solely for solitary practitioners. It contains herbal and oil mixes that differ from those found in The Complete Book of Incense, Oils and Brews. And it contains many brief charms, spells and rituals that I haven’t seen in his other books.

So here we were, with the raw material for a new book on our hands, albeit one that had not been finished by Scott. Carl supplied some connective tissue to bring the book together into a whole by suggesting brief excerpts from some of his other books to serve as introductions to the various sections of the Book of Shadows. (These are clearly designated as such in the book, so you will always be able to see what is previously published material, compared to what was found in the battered manila envelope.) Scott’s former editor Connie Hill, the layout designer and I worked on the organization of the book, since pages weren’t numbered and there was no table of contents. But besides correcting the odd misspelling here or there and adding explanatory notes when necessary, Connie really left Scott’s work as it was, and as it was meant to be. She told me, “Part of my charge in producing the book was to preserve Scott’s “voice,” that expressive sense of wonder that he shared with his readers, wonder and awe of the magicalness of the natural world. The first time I met him, he’d just done some workshops in New Orleans, and gave us a taste of his style with a presentation on the magical properties of pizza. His wisdom was evident, yet he was forever young.”

deTraci also provided her feedback on the manuscript, and even tested out the Cyder Cake recipe that is found in the book. She said it was delicious! She even sent us this photo of it.

Rounding out the book is a foreword by Carl Llewellyn Weschcke, explaining in more detail the purpose and intent of this “American Traditionalist” Book of Shadows and what that term actually meant to Scott. We scanned in Scott’s hand-written symbols and runes from the pages found in that manila envelope and added them to the book, along with a bibliography. Finally, four of Scott’s close friends, including deTraci Regula, Marilee Bigelow, David Harrington, and Scott’s sister Christine Ashworth, wrote articles about Scott for the appendices. All the extra additions provide context and add depth to what would otherwise look like… well, perhaps like your own Book of Shadows. A grand collection of personal invocations, charms and spells that is not really meant as a teaching tool when separated from its owner. In this incarnation, we feel it can proudly stand on its own as a legacy to Scott’s great work.

(P.S. If you’re reading this on Facebook, please visit our blog by clicking on “view original post”, just underneath this post and to the right. If you’re reading this on the Llewellyn website blog, why not visit us on Facebook and become a fan? Go to http://www.facebook.com/LlewellynBooks. Thanks! – Elysia)