Categories:
Alchemy & Hermeticism,
Magick & Occult,
Secret Societies
£40.99
Edited and introduced by Joscelyn Godwin
1st edition hand-numbered and limited to 333 copies
This short novel of 1670 gave the literary world a lasting gift: the doctrine of Elementary Spirits (Gnomes, Nymphs or Undines, Sylphs, and Salamanders) and their relations with humans from Adam’s time to the present. Written as conversations between an all-knowing “Cabalistic” Count and a naïve narrator, it is full of amusing and outrageous claims, such as that all the great ones of the past were born from inter-species intercourse. Scholars suspect that Villars satirized contemporary credulity and the rise of Paracelsian beliefs in court circles. Esotericists, on the other hand, see his humor as a cover for secret doctrines and occult truths about the intermediate realms and their denizens.
This edition is based on the most curious of several attempts to enlarge on Villars’ novel. It was published in 1700, ostensibly in liberal Amsterdam but probably in Lyon. It follows Villars’ text with a midnight “Address to the Gnomes,” in which the Count exhorts them to take human spouses. A sceptical Viscountess joins the duo as the Count spins further yarns, including one about a musician who married a Sylph, learned magical tricks from her, and narrowly escaped execution. As a finale, Gabalis recounts how the fifteenth-century philanthropist Nicolas Flamel really got his wealth (not from alchemy).
The 1700 edition was also the only illustrated one, but that is the oddest thing of all. The figures are printed from actual woodblocks of Alciato's Emblemata dating from the 1540s (almost identical to those of the Black Letter Press’s 1534 edition). Someone must have discovered them and had the idea of adapting the text to refer to them, then cleverly integrating them into Flamel’s history.
To preserve the atmosphere of the original, the present volume reproduces a sprightly English translation of 1714, which exploited Alexander Pope’s use of Villars’ theme in The Rape of the Lock.
The editor, Joscelyn Godwin, writes an Introduction and translates the supplements in a compatible style.
Joscelyn Godwin (born 1945) is the author, editor, and translator of many works in the fields of Western Esotericism and Speculative Music. For many years he taught at Colgate University in New York State.
£49.00
The earliest known Rosicrucian ritual system published for the first time.
The subject of this book is Johann Samuel Mund artist, alchemist and Free-mason and his own special interpretation of the Royal Art. It was in Frankfurt that Mund founded the Masonic Lodge known as the Bund der Treue und Wahrheit zu den 3 Rosenkreuzern Weiß, Roth und Gold (Union of Loyalty and Truth of the 3 Rosy Crosses, White, Red and Gold), for which he developed his own doctrine with its own rituals and teachings, which have fortunately come down to us in various manuscript archives.
In this book the authors provide the first complete overview of Mund's teachings, illustrated with the unique images and diagrams that he created specially for them. The authors also explore the conditions prevailing at the time the Lodge of the Union of Loyalty and Truth was founded, the influences that shaped it, and the impact it had upon the development of the High Degrees in the mid-18th century.
What is more, the book sheds light on a fascinating chapter in Masonic history, and one that has been relatively neglected to date, namely the connection between practical and philosophical alchemy on the one hand and dogmatic Freemasonry (at that time not yet fully developed) on the other.
This meticulously researched and richly illustrated volume is a joint production of Salier Verlag, Germany, and Lewis Masonic and contains all the relevant texts in both German and English. It is aimed both at academics specialising in the Enlightenment and the general reader with an interest in the history of ideas, alchemy and esotericism, as well as Freemasons who are eager to explore a fascinating and previously neglected chapter in the development of the Brotherhood.
1st Edition 2024 (bilingual edition in German and English)
Hard-cover binding in imitation leather with gold embossing, thread-stitched, two bookmarks (one Gold and one Rose coloured)
Colour throughout with numerous illustrations
544 pages, 17 x 24 cm
Only 500 Printed
£30.00
Hardback edition, limited to 500 copies.
John Yarker was a Victorian Occultist, Freemason and esoteric Truth Seeker, who is now somewhat revered by both esoteric Freemasons and Occultists alike. He was born in Cumbria, but moved to Manchester, where he spent the rest of his life, and authored countless articles, short papers, and books that now fetch large sums at book auctions. He also collected together a number of Masonic and Oriental Orders, and he was said to have been the lynchpin for the founding of the O.T.O., a move that secured his Occult status. Indeed, Yarker was a strong influence on Aleister Crowley, introducing him to the Ancient and Primitive Rite.
This work is the first extensive biography written of John Yarker's life, and explores his early life, his Masonic career, and his eclectic collection of Rites and Orders, which include the Society of Eight, the Sat B'hai, the Swedenborgian Rite, the Ancient and Primitive Rite, Martinism and the Adoptive Rite, to name but a few.
The book also presents an examination of his extensive works, and looks at his legacy, focusing especially upon his collection of Rites and Orders, some of which survive today and are still practiced. The work highlights documents and letters from Yarker that have never before been published, including letters that chart the early beginnings of the Operatives and the O.T.O. The work also presents a deep insight into Yarker's life and legacy, especially examining how Yarker is still celebrated in certain esoteric lineages that exist today.