Occult Traditions by Damon LycourinosMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is a collection of essays from mostly the Western esoteric tradition. The essays are written by not only sympathetic scholars with a personal interest in this field, but also by practitioners and magicians who understand the phenomena through personal experience. The result is an unique volume which will appeal to anyone wanting to avoid the so-called impartiality or "objectivity" of the scholar. It will also be of interest to those who want something more than what is offered by popular occult writings such as are published by Llewellyn, etc.
Although each article is excellent and has it's own special appeal, I was especially pleased by a few of them in particular. Damon Zacharias Lycourinos' and Aaron Cheak's articles on the Greek Magical Papyri shed new light on this important "mine" of esoteric knowledge, ancient theurgical rites, and forgotten formulas and spells. Christopher Smith presents an essay on Icelandic magic by examining a grimoire written well after the apparent Christianization of the country. Tess Dawson's explanation of the "Canaanite View of Death and Necromancy" was very enjoyable to read. Gwendolyn Toynton's two essays on augury and on Buddhist magicians in Thailand were very informative.
Because I have a personal interest in the ritual use of incense and aromatics, I found Ioannis Marathakis' article "Composite Incenses and Incense Attributions: A Historical Survey" to be fascinating.
The articles "Seth, the Red One of Chaos and Equilibrium" and "Evolian Sex, Magic, and Power" by Damon Zacharias Lycourinos will help in the removal of the many misunderstandings people might have about the god Seth or about sex magic.
The end of the volume contains several rites and invocations that will be of value to practitioners and initiates.
Because of the variety of subjects covered, I'm certain that anyone interested in magic or the occult will find several articles personally interesting and the entire volume a welcome addition to their library.
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Informative review. Very nice, Arthur.
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