Welcome to The Llewellyn Journal

Greetings, and welcome to The Llewellyn Journal. My name is Donald Michael Kraig, and I'm the editor of this new, on-line journal. I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you what this journal is all about and for those of you who might be interested, let you know a bit about me.

For a century, Llewellyn Publications has supplied information for the metaphysical community. The technology for disseminating this information has included virtually every practical communication system extant, including books, newsletters, magazines, festivals, audiotapes, CDs, computer software, videotapes, radio programs, and a popular site on the internet (www.llewellyn.com). Throughout our history, Llewellyn has focused on sharing information which has been longer in form — books, tapes, etc. Of course presenting full books on metaphysical or "New Age" topics will always be a focus of Llewellyn.

But not all information on such topics requires a long form. In the publishing world, information that did not require a book was presented in journals. These were usually expensive and had a relatively small circulation. Used copies, if you can find them, demand high prices. But this was the past.

With The Llewellyn Journal, we are opening a new page in the history of spirituality, occultism, metaphysics, and the New Age. We are going to be providing in-depth articles by recognized experts and new but promising writers. These articles will focus on individual topics, techniques for personal transformation, and reports on the results of trying the techniques by people like you.

Although many people equate magazines and journals, there are differences between the two. Magazines tend to offer articles that are shorter, introductory, and superficial. This is not meant to insult magazines. Rather, it is simply describing their nature: to reach as many people as possible (and thus sell what is in their ads). I have run a magazine before (more on that later), and I understand them. Further, because magazines need to reach as many people as possible, it is important that articles be written from the point of view that readers have little or no knowledge of a topic. As a result, most magazine articles cannot go into great depth on a subject.

Journals, on the other hand, assume that the reader has some knowledge of a subject. Articles are more in depth. They are supported by high prices for subscriptions or at newsstands and frequently don't depend upon advertising. Indeed, many journals have little or no advertising at all.

There is another feature which tends to separate magazines and journals. Journals tend to have fewer graphics and photos. The Llewellyn Journal will have some graphics, but not in the number you might see in a magazine. Likewise, The Llewellyn Journal is not going to be filled with animations and fancy graphics which look good but slow down your ability to see the information on the page that you want. Fancy moving images may get web surfers to a site once, but there is only one thing that keeps people coming back: content. To that end it is our goal to keep all articles in the archives of this website and to offer to you at least one new article every week. We hope you will come back often and spend some time with The Llewellyn Journal. The new articles that will appear each week are the reason you should do so.

When I say that The Llewellyn Journal is opening a new page, I really mean it. As a journal, it will have articles that can go deeper than anything you've seen in New Age magazines before. But unlike journals on paper, The Llewellyn Journal will have a special, on-line price: it's free.

That's right. No memberships. No dues. No clubs to join. No passwords. Everyone is invited to read The Llewellyn Journal. If you regularly visit free websites, you know that, "free" often means flashing banners and pop-up windows. We've all seen sites like that. In fact, chances are you've run into websites that keep putting up browser windows so you have to quit just to free your computer. Well, The Llewellyn Journal is not going to be like that. The Llewellyn Journal is designed to be free of banners, pop-ups, pop-unders, and outside advertising.

So what are the articles going to be like? I'd like to share some of our goals with you.

First, most articles are going to be by acknowledged experts in their fields. Llewellyn has been proud to offer such writers to the public for decades. Now we are going to be presenting new articles they have written specifically for The Llewellyn Journal.

Second, we are going to avoid the "same old stuff" that appears in various magazines and websites. We're going to be focusing on new articles which have never appeared elsewhere. These articles will contain practical information that you can use to improve your life. Our goal is to provide articles that thoroughly explain a subject in depth. For example, you might expect to read an article on "How to Apply the Lessons of the Tower Card in Your Life" rather than "An Introduction to the Tarot."

Third, the topics covered in The Llewellyn Journal will not be limited to any metaphysical path or direction. In this journal you will find articles on everything from Astrology to Zen. This will include articles on the paranormal and on ceremonial magic, on Wicca, Witchcraft, and Paganism and on UFOs, cryptozoology, ghosts and spirit communication. Virtually anything which helps give you Skills for Enlightenment, no matter your interests or path, will appear in The Llewellyn Journal.

At this point you may be thinking, that there has to be a catch. After all, it costs money to host a website like this. Llewellyn will be paying for the articles, design, technical support, maintenance, editing, and all other costs for this site. It is going to cost a great deal to keep The Llewellyn Journal up and running. It is going to cost a great deal to provide it to you, for free. So what is the catch?

We hope that the articles you read in The Llewellyn Journal will inspire you to read books written by the authors of articles or on the subjects of the articles. Chances are, you would want to buy such books anyway to find out more information or read more by an author. You can buy them at your local stores. However, for your convenience, we would like you to consider making purchases directly through us over the internet. To that end, there will be links to pages that will tell you more about books related to each article and how you can order them.

It is going to cost Llewellyn a great deal to make sure that The Llewellyn Journal remains free to everyone. We want to do this to support you. If you find an article intrigues you and you would buy a book anyway, all we ask is that you consider supporting the Journal by ordering directly through us. This way you can support this journal and keep it free for yourself, for your friends, and for everyone in the community.

Many of you reading this have your own websites. You have probably seen sites where they put all kinds of warnings about how you will be in trouble if you dare to copy anything on their site to yours. Llewellyn has a different plan, a plan we think is forward-looking and that you will like.

If you have a website, we encourage you to post copies of these articles on your site. There are a few rules for doing this such as you must include the following with each article: "© Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. Permission to use this article granted by The Llewellyn Journal — www.llewellynjournal.com,." To learn more about this see the "How to Post Articles to Your Website" at the bottom of our home page. The bottom line is that we want as many people as possible to get this information.

And the cost to you to post an article on your website is also completely free. That's right, no charge at all.

There are two ways to write for The Llewellyn Journal. It is not the purpose of this introduction to describe them fully, but here is an overview of the ways to write for us followed by a link that will take you to the complete information on how to get your work published here.

The first way you can write to us is by sending an email to TLJletters@llewellyn.com. We will read every email and post the ones we think will interest most readers. This will be a place for feedback on the ideas and techniques described in the articles you find here. Did you try one of the techniques? What happened? Do you have something to add to an article? We hope everyone will email us with such comments. For information on how to do this, please read our email guidelines.

The second way would be for you to write an article for the Journal. We encourage submissions, but before you write please make sure that the article you are writing is appropriate for the Journal. To do this, first read the information found in our Writers' Guidelines.

The web pages with our Writers' Guidelines for The Llewellyn Journal and how to get your email published are found at the bottom of The Llewellyn Journal's home page. If you want to get published, read them carefully. Even then, no matter how good it is, we may not be able to publish your letter or article due to space limitations or other considerations. This is not meant as a reflection on you or on the quality of your writing.

Llewellyn is the oldest and one of the largest publishers specializing in metaphysics, New Age Sciences, astrology, real magic, spirituality, alternative healing, and associated topics. It is the publisher of The Llewellyn Journal. You may be wondering who the editor of this journal is, so with your indulgence, I'm going to talk a bit about me.

I graduated from UCLA with a degree in philosophy. I had worked on the university newspaper and had given non-credit classes in sleight-of-hand magic on campus. I also studied film and music at UCLA, and later studied music at Santa Monica College and UC San Diego. At that university I was one of the founders of the telephone counseling line. As a musician, I have performed classical music and rock music before audiences of up to 10,000 and opened for acts as varied as Elton John and Great White.

I have been studying occult subjects and lecturing on them for more than twenty-five years. I am an ordained minister, a Certified Tarot Grandmaster, hold a certificate in clinical hypnotherapy, and have been initiated into several occult groups, including ones focused on Ceremonial Magic, Wicca, Witchcraft, and Tantra. I was part of a "circle" of people in San Diego who have become important movers in the metaphysical world, including Scott Cunningham, Raven Grimassi, diTracy Regula, David Harrington, and others.

I have held a wide variety of jobs including professional musician, professional sleight-of-hand magician (I am still a member of Hollywood's exclusive Magic Castle), telemarketing, door-to-door sales, working in sleight-of-hand supply shops, working in occult shops, graphic design, advertising, writing erotica, managing a courier service for a bank, managing a costume concession in Sears, teaching computers (including web design, graphics, animation, and video editing) at U.S.C., Tarot reader, masseur, carney, and software quality assurance for several software companies. For three years I was the editor of Llewellyn's "New Times" (which is now "New Worlds of Mind and Spirit"). I also edited FATE magazine for three years and was the producer/on-air host of the FATE Magazine Radio Hour. I have given lectures and workshops on a wide variety of metaphysical topics all over the U.S. This year I have given (or am scheduled to give) workshops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Albany (N.Y.) and Tucson. I am currently in a doctoral program for clinical hypnotherapy.

You may know me best from my writing. My Modern Magick has become the most popular book of its kind ever published. My recent book, Modern Sex Magick, takes ancient techniques into the new millennium. I have also written chapters in books of the Golden Dawn Journal series and in Dr. Jonn Mumford's Ecstasy Through Tantra. You will find introductions or prefaces I've written in several books such as Planetary Magick by Denning and Phillips. I have also contributed to "Mezlim," "New Moon Rising," and other magazines, and I wrote articles for each monthly issue of FATE for three years. You may have also seen the booklets I wrote, The Truth About Psychic Powers and The Truth About the Evocation of Spirits.

I want to share a bit of my philosophy concerning New Age topics with you. I am a skeptic. No, that doesn't mean I am a debunker who denies everything as some people think the term means. Rather, it means that I will neither believe nor disbelieve until I check something out for myself. When I give lectures, I begin by writing the letters "TFYQA" on the board. I explain that this stands for: "Think For Yourself. Question Authority. Merely because I or someone else says something does not mean it is valid for you. Try them out and determine the value of what is presented for yourself."

I hope you will read the articles in The Llewellyn Journal, think about them, try out techniques they present, and decide about them for yourself. I also hope that you will email us with the results of your work so others can find out about it, too.

So now you know about me and what you are going to be seeing in The Llewellyn Journal. In-depth articles by respected authorities and bright new writers. In the future we hope to be adding new features, too. What are they? Come back to us weekly, read our new articles, and find out!

Donald Michael Kraig