en-US Wed, 23 Apr 2025 08:32:48 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg ReadStatus9343085212 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 08:32:48 -0700 /review/show/7512334668 Steve is currently reading The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
]]> Review7436058712 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 03:54:55 -0700 /review/show/7436058712 Steve gave 5 stars to Bitter Magic (Kindle Edition) by Nancy Hayes Kilgore
In Audearn Scotland around the 1800's when catholics and protestant were still at each other's throat there lived in Scotland a certain cunning woman named Isobel Gowdie. This women had commerce wit the faery queen and king. Her charms would heal just about an sickness. In the end she was accused of practicing witchcraft and using baneful magic to harm her neighbors. Held in a tower witches were imprisoned, denied food and sleep and ultimately tortured. In the end everyone confesses just o escapre the torture, because once one was accused they were automatically considered guilty. The people of Auldearn were beyond dirt poor. they lived in hovels with mud as a floor. Oftentimes there was not enough food to feed the starving children. In each of these villages there was a lord who sort of owned everything. If there was a shortage they would often plunder from the peasants. the peasants were often oppressed by the lords and their only recourse was magic.

Nancy Kilgore did some serious research for this book, she researched Isobel Gowdie and Scottish witchcraft. She also studied the coventers who were part of the reformation. People's view on faeries and magic was in the process of change. Some of the religous people felt that the only power on earth was that of god and that devils and faeries was the stuff of mere fantasy. Other moched both religion and magic. Many of the Lutherans and presbyterians believed that Catholicism was filled wit superstition and the magic was a result of that. During this time there was much upheaval and the English had nominal control over scotland.

The story itself centers around three women. The first and most obvious is Isobal Gowdie. Next is Margaret she is the eldest daughter of the Hays family. Third is Katherine Collerace who is a deeply religious and compassionate woman who believes strongly in god and in kindness. For Margaret this is a journey into another world. Meeting with her friend Henrietta is a meeting that will change her life forever. As she was riding wit her horse she has a chance encounter with Isobel Gowdie. they exchange a few words and then as she is about to go back to her castle she hears the rustle of hooves . The MacDonald's raid the village an steal plenty of crops and cattle. At this point Margaret's life will change drastically. Her friend Henrietta is kidnapped and she meets and English soldier named Andrew. The English soldiers are tasked wit rescuing Henrietta but cannot find her. As the search progresses the soldier and Henrietta develop a courtship. No one can find her until Isobel gowdie uses her second sight. That is when her friend is found. This prompts more meeting between Isobl and Margarete. Margarete explores the reals of magic with Isobel. She learn charms to heal sick people and she gets great insight into the world of magic. But things come to end when isobel is accused of witchcraft and confesses. No one knows for sure the ultimate fate of the accused witch but the ending does put a more positive spin on things. ]]> ReadStatus9327087684 Sat, 19 Apr 2025 09:25:28 -0700 /review/show/7501192108 Steve wants to read A Season of Madness: Fools, Monsters, and Marvels of the Old-World Carnival by Al Ridenour
]]> Review7455904391 Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:14:08 -0700 /review/show/7455904391 Steve gave 4 stars to Jim Morrison, Secret Teacher of the Occult: A Journey to the Other Side (Kindle Edition) by Paul Wyld
If there was a bible to Jim Morrison's life and how to be like him I would say the best go to book would be "No One Here Get's Out Alive" . This book somehow gets into the nooks and crannies of Jim's life and somehow manages to garner some occult secrets. It is common knowledge among Jim's fans that he was impacted immensely by the death of native American Children he saw lying dead on the road after a traffic accident. He believed one o the souls entered him and lived through him. It could have been the source of his divine madness. Jim could be classified as one of those poet thinkers who sa away rom the crowd and sought mysical wisdom. He was meant to open the doors to the mystical world and lead others to it. While in high school he would devour many written works penned by many great thinker and poets. He would read Nietze, Rimbaud, Zeligman, T.E Lawrence and many others. He spend high school in Alameda wit his girlfriend Tandy Martin. His father was in the navy and wa a hihly decorated officer as well, Jim and his dad did no get along too well. In fat they were polar opposites. Whie his dad was tightly would and uber disciplined, Jim was wild and unruly .

These prophetic poets often times were isolated from everyone else. Poets and mystics try to develop something called faculty "X" According to Colin Wilson this faculty is the laten power in human beings to reach beyond the present. It gives them a glimpse into another world, the world of the subconscious. Jim saw his role as helping humanity wake up and shake off the shackles of society and pursue thei enlightened dreams. Often times these messianic mystics are persecuted by those that want to remain asleep and by those who want everyone to remain asleep. This could be evidenced by the way Jim had all those run ins with law enforcement. Messianic people often had a masochistic streak. Jim would often confront people without having the intention of hurting them. .T.E Lawrence could also endure lots of pain and seemed relish in it.

In all much o what yo read here can be found in" No One Here Get's Out Alive" but I was unaware o Jim's dealings with he occult. Jim read Seligman's "History of Magic and the Occult" and Colin Wilson's "The Occult" when he wsas in high school and had no idea that they strongly influenced him. Of Course he one time married a witch named Patricia. Jim was a Dionysian mystic o poet which meant that he reached ecstacy and wisdom through strong drink and physical exertion and relations. If you are a fan of Jim and the Occult this book is one you will enjoy. ]]> ReadStatus9233434444 Wed, 26 Mar 2025 01:15:13 -0700 /review/show/7436058712 Steve is currently reading Bitter Magic by Nancy Hayes Kilgore
]]> Review7399474278 Tue, 18 Mar 2025 04:29:41 -0700 /review/show/7399474278 Steve gave 5 stars to Raziel's Paths of Power: Volume I: 72 Angels of the Name (Kindle Edition) by Jareth Tempest
Follow is a simple path working to reach the angels. the first angels will work with Israel; the author depicts the angel as a She. Once you start with Raziel you wait a moment to get a response then you choose the angel you want to work with you, the path working for that angel and you say its name and you wait for a response from that angel. Raziel is the guide; he is the psychopomp. Here is a sample ritual that you can use at one close your eyes step two think about the time you have messed up or been foolish step 3 imagine your Divinity approaching. next you say the name which in this example is na ka eeahoheh. Then you imagine the deity spreading throughout your heart and body knowing that you and God are one and you can act with the divine Authority. Motions work very strongly with magic when you can write an invocation for an angel that includes an intense amount of their feelings with the situation being described. one can also leave offerings not just food or drink but other things like incense candles different objects flowers are also good some people don't like fruit because fruit rots and the angels don't really eat it but the offerings are kind of like extra credit you don't really have to do it either by the way Angels do not like bodily fluids but they do like wine though. and important note about magic you must create a pathway in the physical world for the magic to manifest itself for example if you want a job you have to fill out a resume new job applications dress up and go out for job interviews or you have to be invest in the stock market or some other investment it's not going to happen just on its own just because you invoked an angel. here are some examples of pathworkings. they are very simple.
The first One is Raziel. You can start off by pronouncing his name Raziel. your past working is inside a dark cave a waterfall at the exit of the cave in the distance at the exit the sun shines through the waterfall creating rainbows a light filled Forest of pine trees. rossio helps you grow in wisdom guide you through the inner world in the dark Mysteries and he reveals the secrets about your life and Magic you can free you from your old ways of thinking and increase your second abilities he also guide you to other spirits

The next angel I chose to document here is Chahoel or Kah Haw El. His path working is dark clouds gathering rain falls in the dust a muddy puddle. This Angel helps you connect to your personal magic and the energies in the world around you you can also help you develop your magic repel Vermin and thieves and help you trust in yourself as a magician.

You know that I like to work with is Hahael The path working is a dog walks through a field a dove freezes and listens for danger she runs into the forest stunning Stillness and silence. how's powers are showing you where you need to go Bringing peace to build a home helping with politics and trade and help create wealth out of your knowledge and intuition and he gives definitive answers

The angel Shahael Angel that will help you heal and recover from illness increase your energy and maintain your health or help you start a new Venture thus increasing your passion of life so you can Thrive rather than survive the path working as a tall strong Mountain black storm clouds low in the sky the clouds Collide into the mountain the storm piles up against the mountain unable to pass.

Examples of working with angels people have found Angels be very powerful allies to work with this path is simple not too complicated not too expensive and be useful for most people

]]> Review7322488645 Sun, 09 Mar 2025 06:51:39 -0700 /review/show/7322488645 Steve gave 5 stars to The Witch's Chronicle: A History of Witchcraft (The Witch Within) by Cerridwen Maeve
A book about the history of witches it is a perfect book for Muggles, children and people with no exposure to witchcraft. This book deals with the history of witchcraft starting All the Way from beginning of time back to the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt were priest in religious workers doubled as magical workers during the day helping people solve their problems . Whereas match could be seen as a force for good. It could also be seen as a force for evil because if you got one of these magical workers really angry, they could use magic against you. Magic also plays out during the great times as we go much later in two history Hecate was the main goddess of the witches for the Greeks and she’s featured in many mythologies and once again the witch is seen as someone who can do good and someone who can do great evil turns men in the pigs sorcery also had a place in the Roman emperor were magic were called upon to do various but also with times with craft was condemned and witches were killed basically. The attitude against witches carried over into the times of early Christianity, where we enter into the dark ages. Pagan traditions, often filtered through into the religion, and they were accused of being witchcraft. As you progressed to the middle ages, we have the witch hunts. The most famous of these is the Salem witch trials the Penndel witch Trials And they went across America and Europe. There were known as the burning times influential in these witchhunt was the malleus Mal Corum. It told the witch hunters how do identify witch and how to hunt for witches. Often times the victims of these witch hunts were elderly women who had property and no other family to protect them so the main thing was against women. Remember that Christianity taught that women were easy targets for the devil they were prone to sin and subject to temptation it was very easy to accuse someone of being a witch. The evidence was often spectrum meaning that there was nothing to back it up, and it was often based on someone’s visions as things progress and science took over and the enlightenment took over people demanded a more rational approach. people were not so suspicious as to be afraid of witchcraft and eventually witchcraft trial subsided, and the laws against witchcraft were repealed. The image of the witch changes over time at first it was an evil person. Then the witch becomes a symbol of resistance of sexuality and a more positive connotations Many different cultures are using their magic as a form of resistance and cultural identification they are trying to resist the pole, the dominant culture to make them erase their culture once again a great book for beginners someone who who is just new to the history of witchcraft and it’s a great children’s book ]]> Review7368478970 Sun, 02 Mar 2025 07:41:09 -0800 /review/show/7368478970 Steve gave 4 stars to The Martians: Evidence of Life on the Red Planet (Paperback) by Nick Redfern
Lately with the probes landing on Mars and taking photographs on some really strange things and with Elon Musk talking about settling Mars with a colony of human by the year 2015 Mars has been a topic of interest. The big question is can life be sustained on Mars or has there been life on Mars in the past . Author Nick Redfern believes that life on Mars has been there in the past and that it was rather intelligent, probably more advance than we are today. He furthermore believes that some of these Martians left the planet Mars and settled down here on earth, which is why some of the human beings have an Rh negative blood.

There have been connections with Mars in the past some of the most notable connections are in the work of fiction. The author of Gulliver‘s travels wrote a book in which he documented two moons rotating around Mars. This was well before we even knew that Mars had two moons orbiting around it Also other authors have speculated that their pyramids on Mars and they’re oboist on Mars and it turned out they were correct some people believe that Martians in the past or in the present were sending us signals that could be radio signals given to someone like Nicola Tesla, who is a great inventor he believed he heard signals from Mars Other people have also heard communication for ours from their radio, or they have heard it through a psychic connection. Remote viewing has also been employed to explore the surface of Mars besides, the Rover and other pros are going around collecting information about Mars. One person is named Ingo Swann and he was one of the people who was given a assignment to remote viewing of Mars there were several others in this as well, and they would view the surface of Mars, both the past and the present, and they would also view our moon And the moons on Mars and what they found was rather interesting. They saw pyramids obelisk. They also saw a huge spider, light creature, a face, hugging, alien, tight creature and long tall Spinley people walking around Mars of course this was in the past there’s an area in Mars called Cydonia, which has pyramids very similar to what is an Egypt also a sphinx or a dog like creature very similar to Egypt they also found a structure very similar to Stonehenge on Mars. These are rather interesting fines, which is at a connection between Mars and earth in the past they’re various theories as to how and why the Martian civilization got wiped out One speculations at asteroids from the asteroid belt, came hurtling towards the planet and destroyed it. Another speculation at the Martians were a war like people who use nuclear weapons on each other and wiped out their planet yet a third speculation states that the asteroids destroyed their planet what was left of Martian civilization turned on each other with nuclear warheads. Some of the Martians that made their way to earth may have established colonies in our planet and they may have Wage War on each other. One of the most spectacular examples of this is in the Bible when they talk about Sodom and Gomorrah the way he describes could be nothing else, but nuclear warheads. There’s a final theory that states at the Martun came down to Earth along side. Some ultra terrestrial are an alternative human race that is living underground and they decided that they’re gonna live here and they take common cause against us because we’re such violent people so we could be sharing the planet with Martians and with people in an underground civilization or more advanced than we are but only by a little bit This book is juicy. It has lots of information. I really enjoy reading Nick Redfern‘s work. I certainly look forward to reading more of his books and find them more about life on Mars. ]]> ReadStatus9092378868 Wed, 19 Feb 2025 16:59:37 -0800 /review/show/7337472054 Steve is currently reading Songs for the Brokenhearted: A Novel by Ayelet Tsabari
]]> ReadStatus9071025388 Sat, 15 Feb 2025 04:16:37 -0800 /review/show/7322488645 Steve is currently reading The Witch's Chronicle: A History of Witchcraft by Cerridwen Maeve
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