To those who will only believe in phenomena which are reproducible at will, it is easy to answer them: you do not manufacture comets, meteorites, magnetic disturbances due to sunspots, and yet you observe them. Metapsychical phenomena are registered in the records of Occultism. That is all. The only thing to do is to check them. But the right remains to unite them amongst themselves by an attempt at a general explanation. The study of the Invisible, of the forces which it conceals, of the human fluids, is yet but at its dawn. Patience ! To deny is absurd. To observe is scientific. To think is wise. This is what I have done. It is what you will do after having read this book, the well arranged summing up of vast reading and lengthy thought.

This "compendium of information on the occult sciences, occult personalities, psychic science, demonology, spiritism, and mysticism" was one of a kind when it was first published in 1920 and is still considered the best in its field today. Spence organizes a world's worth of magic -- from "Ab" (a magical month in the ancient Semitic calendar) to "Zulu witch-finders" -- into 2,500 dictionary-style entries that explore concepts and personalities both familiar (Freemasonry, Morgan le Fay) and obscure: palingenesy (a process by which plants or vegetables are destroyed and then "resurrected"), Leonora Galigai (a 17th-century Italian aristocrat who was burned as a witch). A delight for devotees of the weird and the strange, and a valuable resource for students of mythology and the evolution of scientific thought, this important volume is at home in the libraries of all book lovers. Scottish journalist and folklorist LEWIS SPENCE (1874 -1955) was a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, and Vice-President of the Scottish Anthropological and Folklore Society. He published more than 40 works on mythology and the occult, including History of Atlantis, An Introduction to Mythology, and Myth and Ritual in Dance, Game and Rhyme.

An Essential Work of 19th-Century French Occultism from the Leading Intellectual of the Era Explore Papus's Pivotal Teachings on the Secret History of the World, Symbols and Their Meanings, and the Nature of the Magical Universe Available in English for the First Time One of the most important books in the modern history of occultism, Papus's Elementary Treatise of Occult Science helped establish the shape of occult thinking and practice for decades...and its legacy as a source of spiritual philosophy continues today. Never before published in English, this work explores a fascinating interpretation of the history of the world and develops a powerful approach to decoding esoteric symbolism, a crucial skill for contemporary occultists. Papus also provides a stunning analysis of ancient mysteries, including Hermeticism, astrology, magic, alchemy, theosophy, signification of numbers, the astral plane, sacred geometry, Kabbalah, the tetragrammaton, the pyramids, and much more. This premium hardcover edition introduces the contemporary occultist to the ideas of one of history's most profound metaphysical thinkers. Front Flap: "Let us open the door and let us not be blinded by the light which escapes it, let us not be afraid to say that which must be said, because the masters wished that certain mysteries be revealed...What then have you seen on the occult side of the Universe?"--Papus Elementary Treatise on Occult Science was one of the most influential books to emerge from the turn-of-the-century French occult revival--a detailed and readable description of the magical universe and humanity's place in it. Many important teachers and authors of the esoteric arts--including Madame Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, and Manly P. Hall--were influenced by Papus's vision of occult philosophy and the hidden side of history. This volume, translated and annotated by Mark Mikituk with a foreword by John Michael Greer, provides a captivating view of Papus's visionary mind and his radical ideas.

The original and authoritative A-to-Z reference guide to witchcraft, paganism, and magic, compiled by the famed nineteenth-century French occultist. Following its original publication in 1818, Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire Infernal became a landmark study of witchcraft, pagan religions, and the occult. The first reference work to seriously document manifestations, magic, and superstitions, this historical dictionary details beings, characters, books, deeds, and causes that pertain to the manifestations and magic of trafficking with Hell, as well as divinations, occult sciences, grimoires, marvels, errors, prejudices, traditions, folktales, the various superstitions, and all manner of marvelous, surprising, mysterious, and supernatural beliefs. A significant influence on the Romantic literary movement and notably consulted by author Victor Hugo, it remains an essential text for any student of the dark arts or demonology.

• Includes a dictionary of nearly 300 magical plants with descriptions of each plant’s scientific name, common names, elemental qualities, ruling planets, and zodiacal signatures, with commentary on medico-magical properties and uses • Explores methods of phytotherapy and plant magic, including the Paracelsian “transplantation of diseases,” ritual pacts with trees, the secret ingredients of witches’ ointments, and the composition of magical philters • Explains the occult secrets of phytogenesis, plant physiology, and plant physiognomy (classification of plants according to the doctrine of signatures) Merging the scientific discipline of botany with ancient, medieval, and Renaissance traditions of occult herbalism, this seminal guide was first published in French in 1902 as a textbook for students of Papus’s École hermétique and sparked a revival in the study of magical herbalism in early twentieth-century France. Author Paul Sédir, pseudonym of Yvon Le Loup (1871-1926), explains the occult secrets of phytogenesis (the esoteric origin and evolutionary development of the plant kingdom), plant physiology (the occult anatomy of plants), and plant physiognomy (classification of plants according to the doctrine of signatures). Unveiling the mysteries behind planetary and zodiacal attributions, he provides readers with the keys to make their own informed determinations of the astral properties of plants. Moving from theory into practice, Sédir explores various methods of phytotherapy and plant magic, including the Paracelsian “transplantation of diseases,” the secret ingredients of witches’ ointments, and the composition of magical philters. In the third section of the book, Sédir offers a dictionary of magical plants that covers nearly 300 plant species with descriptions of their astral signatures, occult properties, and medico-magical uses. Compiled from an array of rare sources and esoterica, this classic text includes a wealth of additional materials and supplemental charts and diagrams drawn from Sédir’s occult colleagues, all of whom adopted and expanded upon Sédir’s pioneering system of plant correspondences.

A valuable reference, this informative and entertaining volume presents a key to elucidating the symbolic worlds encountered in both the arts and the history of ideas. 32 black-and-white illustrations.

The subject of occultism, by which we mean those sciences, called transcendental and magical, a knowledge of which has been transmitted and accumu¬lated in secret, or is contained in books that have an inner or secret meaning, has been very fully dealt with during recent years by various students of eminence. But the works of these well-equipped investigators are, in most instances, unsuited to an elementary reader, and they are all somewhat expensive. It has remained for the results of their studies to be condensed into a port¬able volume, which shall conduct the inquirer into the vestibule of each branch of "the occult sciences," and place within his reach the proper means of prosecuting his researches further in any desired direction. It is such an unpretending but useful task which we have set ourselves to perform in the present volume, which em¬braces, as we would claim, in a compressed and digested form, the whole scope of occult knowledge, expressed in the language of a learner.