Books published by Mandrake of Oxford

The Bloody SacrificeCharlotte Rodgers is a non denominational magickal practitioner and an animist, and The Bloody Sacrifice is the story of her work with blood. It chronicles her use of road kill and blood in art, ritualised scarification and tattoo work, and the use of venous and menstrual blood in magick. Also included are Charlotte's interviews with tattoo artists; priests from belief systems which utilise blood sacrifice; artists who use their own HIV positive blood as a medium; and those who use mortifications and body modification to effect changes in consciousness and self.All here share a common bond of talent combined with an ability to articulate their beliefs. For example Louis Martinie, a priest in the New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple. Martinie has integrated his Tibetan Buddhist beliefs into his Voodoo practice and in doing so shows how personal spiritual evolution can effect change within a syncretic religion.As a blood related illness affected various parts of Charlotte's life, she was given a chance to explore blood ritual in a very different way. Documenting this part of her journey gives an understanding of AIDS, HIV and HCV, and its effect on spirituality and contemporary blood rites.Blood Ritual, with all its history, baggage and dangers holds a power to create change. Whether this power is held within blood and how much impact is created merely by our perception is for the reader to decide. The Bloody Sacrifice is an honest, modern and thought provoking personal insight into an ancient aspect of our spirituality and creativity.The author was born in New Zealand and after many years of travel, fast living and dodgy magick, now leads a life of quiet eccentricity commuting between England and Asia. She creates, exhibits, and occasionally sells art made from road kill and has had articles published in many magazines.

Early Christians were accused of practicing magic by Jews, pagans, and other Christians. Magic in the New Testament examines magical praxis common to the New Testament, the magical papyri, the Sepher Ha-Razim, the Book of Enoch, the apocryphal Acts and the pre-Nicene church fathers and surveys the professional literature on early Christian magic from 1927 through 2009. Additional topic include: · magic, family and sexuality, · the Old Testament background of early Christian magic, · the relationship between magic and apocalypticism, · veneration of relics and necromantic sorcery, · resurrection, ghost stories and polymorphism, · magic and mystery cult in early Christianity.

You're in your bed. It's dark, you hear footsteps coming up the stairs and into your room. There's someone there - a presence. They lie on you or beside you, gripping you tightly, crushing you into the bed. You can't move. There may be a sound, a grunt or a strange smell. Time passes, you are paralysed with fear. Eventually the entity changes, expanding or contracting, moving away from you, sinking to the floor. With a great effort of will you manage to move the tip of your finger, then the hand until movement returns to your whole body and the experience ends. You have been visited by the old 'hag'. Dreams, the real theatre or perhaps battlefield of magick, influenced by cosmic tides that ebb and flow through us as they did the Ancient Egyptians. Contents: Kiss of the Vampire / Origin of the Vampire Myth / Egyptian Psychology / Lucky and Unlucky / Supernatural Assault

'Bright From the Well' consists of five stories plus five essays and a rune-poem. The stories revolve around themes from Norse myth - the marriage of Frey and Gerd, the story of how Gullveig-Heidh reveals her powers to the gods, a modern take on the social-origins myth Rig's Tale, Loki attending a pagan pub moot and the Ragnarok seen through the eyes of an ancient shaman. The essays include examination of the Norse creation or origins story, of the magician in or against the world and a chaoist's magical experiences looked at from the standpoint of Northern magic.'Dave Lee coaches breathwork, writes fictionand non-fiction, blends incenses and oils, creates music and collage.

Enter the world of the occultist: where the spirits of the dead dwell amongst us, where the politics of ecstasy are played out, and where magick spills into every aspect of life.It's all right here; sex, drugs, witchcraft and gardening. From academic papers, through to first person accounts of high-octaine rituals. In Magick Works you will find cutting edge essays from the path of Pleasure, Freedom and Power.In this seminal collection Julian Vayne explores: * The Tantric use of Ketamine. * Social Justice, Green Politics and Druidry. * English Witchcraft and Macumba * The Magickal use of Space. * Cognitive Liberty and the Occult. * Psychogeography & Chaos Magick. * Tai Chi and Apocalyptic Paranoia. * Self-identity, Extropianism and the Abyss. * Parenthood as Spiritual Practice. * Aleister Crowley as Shaman ...and much more!

Contents Flavius Josephus' Terminology of Magic: Accommodating Jewish Magic to a Roman Audience, / Philip Jewell The Role of Grimoires in the Conjure Tradition / Dan Harms Hermetic/Cabalistic Ritual in Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus / Dana Winters Italian Cunning Craft: Some Preliminary Observations / Sabina Magliocco Walking The Tightrope: A Study Of Secret Astrologers In Mainstream Professions / J.A. Silver Frost Martyrs, Magic, and Christian Conversion / Patrick Maille "Worshiping the Devil in the Name of God"Anti-Semitism, Theosophy and Christianity in the Occult Doctrines of Pekka Siitoin / Kennet Granholm "The Witching Hour: Sex Magic in 1950s Australia" / Marguerite Johnson Reviews Obituaries

Exhumation of A Murder is a comprehensive study of the case of Major Armstrong, the celebrated Hay Poisoner, one of the most notorious murderers of the twentieth century and the only solicitor ever to hang. It is one of those classic old-fashioned English murders, which hail from the heyday of the courtroom drama when, with the hangman lurking in the pine-and-panel wings and the black cap an object of horryfyingly alarming currency rather than mere symbolism, the loser in 'the black dock's dreadful pen lost all'. And the Armstrong case was unquestionably one of the best; right up there in the grand tradition of Dr Palmer of Rugeley, Neill Cream, Mrs Maybrick, Dr Crippen, Seddon and George Joseph Smith.Contains a wealth of original photographs and documentation.

Becoming Magick: New & Revised Magicks for the New Aeon Drawing on over twenty years of magickal work in a variety of systems, this book is a forward-looking manual full of new material and techniques created to push the boundaries of contemporary magick. Inspired by the great magickal traditions of past millennia, Becoming Magick presents new techniques of sigilisation and gematria, as well as a new system of energy magick based on the Kalas, and Prime Qabalah, a new system of English Gematria. This volume also explores the practical benefits of less explored magickal techniques such as magickal ingestion and working magick during illness.

A multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed print publication, covering all areas of magic, witchcraft, paganism etc; all geographical regions and all historical periods.Issue 3:Hannah Sanders - Buffy and Beyond: Language and Resistance in Contemporary Teenage Witchcraft / Amy Lee - A Language of Her Own: Witchery as a New Language of Female Identity/ Dave Green - Creative Revolution: Bergsonisms and Modern Magic / Mary Hayes - Discovering the Witch's Teat: Magical Practices, Medical Superstitions in The Witch of Edmonton / Penny Lowery - The Re-enchantment of the Medical: An examination of magical elements in healing. / Jonathan Marshall - Apparitions, Ghosts, Fairies, Demons and Wild Events: Virtuality in Early Modern Britain / Kate Laity - Living the Mystery: Sacred Drama Today / Research Articles: David Geall - 'A half-choked meep of cosmic fear' Is there esoteric symbolism in H.P.Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath? / Susan Gorman - Becoming a Sorcerer: Jean-Pierre Bekolo's Quartier Mozart and the Magic of Deleuzian and Guattarian Becoming / Book Reviews

In this collection of surrealist prose-poetry and Dada versicles, Parry''s alter-ego Caliban muses on queer sexuality and existential seclusion from the perspective of Shakespearean Noir. Moreover, by trying to capture the dark and twisted dwarf''s metaphysical lyrics moment by moment, the author slowly deconstructs himself as a willing prisoner on the magical island of violence and desire. After all, Caliban would claim that neither Browning nor Nietzsche had fully grasped the ethics of redemption, pure transcendence, or romantic passion, which can only be found in an unadulterated selfhood.''One of the few, if not only, works of Gnostic Fantasy in modern times. An "edge" literary movement, re-evaluating received perspectives on classical works and discovering "gnosis", in the sense of a Knowledge of our human hearts. Beautiful, invigorating and strikingly lucid. Its images need weeks to fully unpack, while its disturbing implications haunt a reader''s unsettled moods'' - Daniele-Hadi Irandost FRSA, founder and curator of TEDxLambeth''It is a descent into an underworld and a return as a sweat and semen stained, dirty, ugly, angry and very empowered God'' - Charlotte Rogers, award-winning author of P is for Prostitution''Parry is particularly adept at descriptions of the tenebrous side of life. He paints numerous pictures of darkness and evil in a very persuasive manner'' - Dr Bernard Hoose, former lecturer of Moral Theology at Heythrop College, University of London''Parry''s poetry traverses inner worlds reminiscent of those of Lautréamont, Bataille and the demonologist Collin De Plancy'' - Richard Rudgley, author and Channel 4 television presenter

The Typhonian deity Seth was once worshipped in Ancient Egypt. Followers of later schools obliterated Seth's monuments, demonised and neglected his cult. A possible starting point in the quest for the 'hidden god' is an examination of the life of Egyptian King Seti I ('He of Seth') also known as Sethos. When looking for an astral temple that included all of the ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses, the temple of Seti I proved itself worthy of examination. Many secrets began to reveal themselves. The essence of the real philosophy of the Sethian and indeed what Satanism is, stems from the author's astral wanderings in this temple. The temple is a real place, and like any temple no part of its design is accidental. It is a record in stone and paint of the Egyptian wisdom. It also fits quite well with the Thelemic mythos and tells lots of interesting things about the ancient Seth cult - if you have the eye to see it.Contents: Prolegomena to Egyptian magick; Setanism; Tankhem; Egyptian Magick and Tantra; Sexual Magick; Twenty Eight; North; The Crooked Wand.

The runes are a pan-European magical language. Its roots lie in the ancient pagan beliefs of our ancestors, who built many thousands of stones circles, long barrows and dolmens throughout ancient Europe. These same symbols and techniques were used by the pagan Celts and Germans. This book is a complete manual of magick based upon arcane symbolism and secret techniques.Contents:Meaning /Urda /Origins /Futhorc /Magical inscriptions / Memorial stones /Fascism / Titles / Cosmology / Nature / Qabala / Vision / Werdandi / Rune stance / Breathing/ Vowel song / Problems / Tune in / Health? / Divination / Alignments / Sigil sorcery / Seiðr and Seething / Energy /lda / Rune companion / Sources Jan Fries lives in Frankfurt near the Taunus Mountains. He is a musician, artist and magician. ''...eminently practical and certainly breaks new ground.'' - Ronald Hutton (author Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles)Recommended by The Cauldron ''a very meaty read...'' PJ in GippeswicPreface to the new editionWhen I went to school, my history teacher told us about the old Germani. In her opinion, the Taunus mountains were populated by a bunch of brawny brawlers who wore horned helmets and small pieces of pelt. They lived in hilltop settlements which were fortified by ringwalls. Barely able to manage agriculture, they had to rely on hunting to fill their stomachs. They lived in shabby huts with mud-plastered walls and when the Romans came, they fought the invaders with crude swords, pointy sticks and by hurling rocks at them...Nowadays, the ringwalls of the Taunus are known as the work of La Tène Celts, who lived on the heights in well organised cities. For this new edition much of the text has been rewritten and updated. A large section on the bronze ages, the Celts, Germani and the later Vikings added. The theme of Wodan and Helja has been elaborated with more detail on pagan Scandinavia. The chapter on magical rune inscriptions has been extended, on Seiðr/seething trances rewritten, the bibliography updated and twelve pages of new illustrations added.

Art in America by Aleister Crowley written for The English Review in 1913