From Booklist
In his introduction, Greer states that his book is the first written by an "occult practitioner" who has consulted the scholarly texts that have recently been written about the history of occult traditions. This combination has produced a reference work that is sympathetic to the arcane lore but avoids many of the common errors found in occult literature. The volume arranges its 1,500 entries in alphabetical order. Topics include magic, Tarot, astrology, and other forms of divination; magical orders such as the Golden Dawn; biographies of significant individuals; and spiritual movements such as Wicca, Theosophy, and the modern Pagans. Where appropriate, entries contain see references to other entries and to books found in the extensive bibliography. Illustrations include charts, diagrams, and photographs. The essays are clearly written and are very informative. The book is useful for the practitioner as well as for the curious because the contents are factual and concise. The author promises that as new information becomes available on topics, he will publish a revised edition to maintain the integrity and accuracy of the volume. This is an important source for libraries to have in their collections to assist anyone seeking information about the many aspects of occult traditions. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
From Aarab Zereq to Zos Kia Cultus, this is the most up-to-date, comprehensive guide to the history, philosophies, and personalities of Western occultism. Written by an occult scholar and practitioner with the assistance of hundreds of experts in the field, this volume presents the latest in scholarly research and points out errors in previous writings-revealing truths much more interesting and dramatic than the fictional histories that obscured them. The New Encyclopedia of the Occult is an invaluable reference guide to magic, alchemy, astrology, divination, Tarot, palmistry, and geomancy; magical orders such as the Golden Dawn and Rosicrucians; important occultists; and religions and spiritual traditions associated with occultism such as Wicca, Thelema, Theosophy, and the modern Pagan movement.


About the Author
John Michael Greer (Seattle, WA) has been a student of monster lore and the occult since 1975. He is also the author of several books, including Natural Magic: Potions and Powers from the Magical Garden, Circles of Power: Ritual Magic in the Western Tradition, and Inside a Magical Lodge He has written articles for Renaissance Magazine, Golden Dawn Journal, Mezlim, New Moon Rising, Gnosis, and Alexandria. A student and practitioner of geomancy and sacred geometry for more than twenty years, fluent in Latin and medieval French for the past five years, and a Certified Tarot Grand Master, Greer has studied geomantic texts from the Middle ages and Renaissance, learning and testing out the techniques that were used when geomancy was at its height. Greer is an active member of five fraternal and two magical lodges. He lives in Seattle, where he studied the legends and monster lore of the Pacific Northwest and attends lodge meetings in a building with its own resident ghosts.


Excerpted from The New Encyclopedia of the Occult by John Michael Greer. Copyright © 2003. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
A A... A... SEE ARGENTEUM ASTRUM. Aarab Tzereq. (Hebrew AaRB ZRQ,ravens of dispersion) In Cabalistic teaching, the Qlippoth or demonic powers corresponding to Netzach, the seventh Sephirah of the Tree of Life. Their traditional form is that of demon-headed ravens emerging from an erupting volcano, the latter itself a demonic power named Getzphiel. Their cortex or realm in the Kingdom of Shells is Theumiel, and their archdemon is Baal Chanan. SEE QLIPPOTH. Aatik Yomin. (Hebrew AaThIK IVMIN) Ancient of Days, a title of Kether. SEE KETHER. Ab. (Hebrew AaB,darkness, obscurity) In the Cabala, the secret name of the world of Atziluth. The numerical values of its letters add up to seventy-two, which is also the sum of IVD HIH VIV HIH, the spelling of the Tetragrammaton in Atziluth. SEE ATZILUTH; TETRAGRAMMATON. Abaris. According to legends recounted in ancient Greek sources, a Scythian magician who possessed a magical arrow that he could ride through the air. He was said to have lived in the time of Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician and mystic, and visited the latter at his school in Crotona, Italy. Writers from the eighteenth century onward converted Abaris into a Druid, as part of a claim that Pythagoras had studied with the Druids (or vice versa). SEE DRUIDS; PYTHAGORAS. Abba. (Hebrew,father) In Cabalistic symbolism, a title of the Sephirah Chokmah, and also of the first letter of the Tetragrammaton. SEE CHOKMAH; TETRAGRAMMATON. Abbadon. (Hebrew ABDVN,destruction) The name of a demon, whose attributes have been variously described, or of a part or level of hell, defined with equal variability. In Cabalistic lore, Abbadon is the name of the sixth hell, which corresponds to the Sephirah Chesed. SEE HELLS, SEVEN. Abel. The second son of Adam, according to the Book of Genesis, slain by his brother Cain. In Gnostic thought, Abel became the original of the psychic class of humanity, those who had the potential to achieve gnosis but did not have gnosis innately. SEE GNOSTICISM. Abracadabra. A traditional word of power, used by Western magicians from classical times to the present. Written in the following way, it was used in talismans to cure fevers and asthma: ABRACADABRA ABRACADABR ABRACADAB ABRACADA ABRACAD ABRACA ABRAC ABRA ABR AB A In recent times, Abracadabra has mostly been used by stage magicians. English mage Aleister Crowley (1875 1947) altered the spelling to make it fit his new magical religion of Thelema, and in this new form the word has been much used in the Thelemite community; SEE ABRAHADABRA. SEE ALSO BARBAROUS NAMES. Abrahadabra. Aleister Crowleys reformulation of the older magical name Abracadabra, rewritten to place the name Hadthe shorter form of Hadith, the second person of the Thelemite trinityat its center. SEE CROWLEY, ALEISTER; THELEMA. Abramelin the Mage,The Sacred Magic of. A grimoire preserved in a single eighteenth-century copy in the Bibliotheque de lArsenal in Paris. Written in French, it claims to be a translation of a Hebrew original dating from 1458, although scholars have cast doubt on this claim. According to the long preface, it represents the teachings of a Jewish magician named Abramelin, passed on by him to his student Abraham, and by the latter to his son Lamech. These teachings, which Abraham describes as the only valid magical system in the world, require the student to devote six months of prayer, repentance, and ritual to obtain the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. After this accomplishment, the student gains the power to command evil spirits through talismans composed of letter combinations. The Sacred Magic was rediscovered in the late 1890s by Golden Dawn founder Samuel Mathers (18541918), and Mathers English translation was published in 1898. It has had a major impact on magical thinking ever since, especially through its influence on Aleister Crowley (1875 1947), who used it as the template for much of his own understanding of magic.To this day the idea that magic is or should be directed toward the knowledge and contemplation of ones Holy Guardian Angela concept not found outside this work in older sourcesis commonplace in magical writings. The book itself, however, developed a sinister reputation among occultists in the early part of this century. Dire accidents and mental imbalance were held to have befallen many of those who owned a copy of the original printing, or who tried to use the talismans contained in it. SEE ALSO HOLY GUARDIAN ANGEL. FURTHER READING: MATHERS 1974. Abrasax. SEE ABRAXAS. Abraxas. A popular magical deity in the ancient world, Abraxas (also called Abrasax) was depicted on classical amulet gems as a humanlike figure with a roosters head and serpents for feet, wielding a charioteers whip. The letters of his name in Greek add up to 365, the number of days in a year, which marked him as a solar deity and a lord of time. SEE GEMATRIA. In modern times Abraxas has achieved a new popularity by way of the writings of the psychologist Carl Jung, who gave him a central place in his Gnostic work The Seven Sermons to the Dead and elsewhere in his writings. SEE JUNG, CARL GUSTAV. Abred. In Druidry, one of the Three Worlds; the realm of plant and animal life through which souls journey in the course of their spiritual evolution. Each soul begins its incarnations in the simplest form of single-celled organism, and progress step by step, learning the lessons of every kind of plant and animal life, until they reach the human level, on the border between Abred and the higher life of Gwynfydd. SEE DRUIDRY; THREE WORLDS. Abulafia, Abraham. Jewish Cabalist, 1240after 1292. Born in Saragossa in Spain, he studied the Jewish scriptures and Talmud with his father until the latters death in 1258. In 1260 he left Spain for the Holy Land, arriving in the city of Acre, but the outbreak of war between Christian Crusaders and Arabs forced him to leave. After a short stay in Greece, he went to Capua, Italy, where...(Continues)

SYNOPSIS

Greer, a Seattle-based longtime student of the Western mystery traditions, author of several books on the occult, and an Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America, seeks to enlighten fellow practitioners as well as others curious about pagan spirituality and mysticism. A-Z entries of variable length cover various aspects of ancient and modern magical orders and their masters. Greer's introduction reflects his combined intimate involvement and scholarly approach. He acknowledges that "the realm of the occult contains truth and nonsense, profound wisdom and prodigious folly," and he has aimed for a balanced, thoughtful summary of the powerful currents of magic in western thought. The bibliography is extensive. A thematic index would be helpful in a future edition. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

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