New Worlds of Body, Mind & Spirit Since 1901
Talismans are powerful magickal tools that anyone can use. Many books, however, aren't very clear as to what they are and how they're used. In Modern Magick, I define a talisman as "any object, sacred or profane, with or without appropriate symbols, that has been charged or consecrated by appropriate means and made to serve a specific end." Let me break this definition down for you: A talisman is a physical object, not merely an idea or concept. It can be a sacred object, such as a cross or a pentacle, or it can be something with no obvious spiritual connection such as a favorite ring, pendant, or even a piece of paper. It may have symbols or writing on it, but that is not a ...
Ever since I read my first books on yoga and self-hypnosis at the age of nine, I've been involved in spiritual studies and occultism in the broadest sense. The "winds of dharma" had certainly chosen a convoluted path for me. In time, my palette of interests ranged from Eastern philosophies (especially Hinduism and Buddhism) that included hatha yoga, meditation, tantra, and parapsychology to more Western approaches like astrology, the Kabbalah, dowsing, alchemy, shamanism, and more—a varied mix of disciplines and approaches. It was only when at university in Bonn, Germany, that I came into serious contact with Western ceremonial magic. In search of material for my master's thesis in ...
You are what you eat. We've all heard that a million times before, haven't we? It's a call to be conscious about our food choices. Our health is dependent upon the fuel our body has to create our lives. Eat healthy, vitamin rich foods, and you have a healthy life. Eat poor foods, low on nutrition and high in empty calories, and you have a poor life, with low energy and core vitality. It's a truth recognized by both the medical fields and alternative health specialists, though they might not completely agree as to what a healthy diet really is. Less well known is the effect your space has upon your health. Not only are you what you eat, but you are where you live. We absorb the vital ...
When I was a kid, fascinated with the Occult and spirituality, my friends and teachers often referred to me as "mystical" as if it were a handicap—something I needed to "grow out of." I suppose I did grow out of it to some extent because, I was interested in everything: science (especially astronomy), radios (no TV back in those days), rocks, chemistry, and so on. As I grew older, I remained interested in the Occult with mysticism in particular, although I also studied magick, astrology, Kabbalah, and yoga, and vociferously read all the Theosophical and Anthroposophical books I could get my hands on, by authors like Manly Palmer Hall, Dion Fortune, Aleister Crowley, and more. I ...
