Tag: symbolism

Secret Societies in America: Foundational Studies of Fraternalism Edited by William D. Moore and Mark A. Tabbert Cornerstone Book Publishers, 2011 294 pages Paperback $24.95, ISBN 978-1-61342-024-9 The magnitude with which fraternal organizations influenced American society and history is something that we hear a lot about through conspiracies, but not enough about from main-stream historians…. Read more »

The Arnemancy Podcast
Arnemancy
S01E02 - Cartomancy and Sortilege with T. Susan Chang
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As the entire Internet already knows, T. Susan Chang has incredible oracular powers, so when I tell you that she’s here on the second episode of the fledgling Arnemancy Podcast, it’s probably a sign that we’re building great things. Susan is co-host of the incredible Fortune’s Wheelhouse podcast and the author of Tarot Correspondences: Ancient… Read more »

The Lovers is the 7th card in the Major Arcana, so it’s number VI, because we start counting at zero with The Fool. As I frequently point out during tarot readings, every six is about love in the Tarot. Sometimes it’s not so obvious, such as with the Six of Swords, and sometimes it’s too… Read more »

This is a list of books on Freemasonry. In case it hasn’t been made abundantly clear by my numerous podcast appearances, public lectures, and short list of published articles, I’m a Freemason. This generates a lot of curiosity in those who aren’t Masons. Occultists and esotericists, the main audience for this website, have lots of… Read more »

Arts and Crafts in Ritual Magic

When a person gets involved in ritual magic, they probably aren’t prepared for the amount of artwork they need to create. Wands, altars, and magical tools and weapons all need to be created, typically by hand.

What is Alchemy?

Alchemy is an ancient practice that can be considered in part as a precursor to chemistry. However, like Freemasonry, it can be said to have both a speculative and an operative side. While “operative” alchemy deals with the transformation of base metals into gold, “speculative” alchemy uses similar symbolism, allegory, and language to speak of spiritual truths and a path to inner light and wisdom.

Learn about Giordano Bruno’s Art of Memory from De Umbris Idearum: On the Shadows of Ideas, recently translated by Scott Gosnell.This book contains both De umbris idearum and Ars memoriae, which are Bruno’s work on the nature of ideas and imagination as well as his complex mnemonic system.

In the wake of David Bowie’s passing, there have been many interesting articles making the rounds. Alex Sumner posted one titled “David Bowie: Closet Occultist,” in which he makes the argument that Bowie was secretly an occultist.

The Art of Memory, or ars memoriæ, is a mnemonic technique dating from classical Greece. The technique improves upon our natural memory through discipline, planning, and visualization skills. One of its core methods involves a memory palace, in which memorized architectural details are used to store striking images that aid recall.1 The memory palace technique… Read more »