The Magus (Illustrated Edition)

Isis Unveiled, published in 1877, is a book of esoteric philosophy, and was Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's first major work. It is composed of two volumes, the first concentrating on science, and the second on religion. The two volumes support the idea of spirituality and theosophize in accordance with it. Blavatsky herself distinguishes between spiritual phenomena and Spiritualism, the religious system. She supports the verity of spiritual phenomena, not the views of the Spiritualists, which she wrote about extensively in such works as The Key to Theosophy. The volume on science attempts to show how science can be just as dogmatic as religion, and betrays its own scientific method by denying spiritual phenomena with no scientific proof against it, meanwhile citing various scientists of renown that have acknowledged the necessity of a spiritual reality. The volume on religion attempts to expose the hypocrisy of certain established religions by focusing on how and where they have strayed from their origins and worked counter-actively, while simultaneously tracing the doctrines of the most revered mystics and philosophers to a common spiritual root.

The Lesser Key of Solomon
by S.L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley

This edition of the Lesser Key of Solomon is based on manuscripts from the British Museum, edited by two prominent occultists. Although Mathers took lead on the body of the text, Crowley's literary fingerprints are all over this book, such as the polite sniping at A.E. Waite, the Preliminary Invocation, and the essay The Initiated Interpretation of Ceremonial Magic, which is clazzic Crowley.

This is a considerably cleaned up and modernized version of the Lesser Key, which is obviously intended to be used as a working document for serious magicians, rather than a rigorous transcription of the source manuscripts. However, the information presented here dovetails with the other Goetic grimoires and this version is considered one of the best of this literature.

In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom
by Franz Hartmann

Book Description: "Franz Hartmann, who also wrote the esoteric novella With the Adepts, published this short non-fiction summary of the Rosicrucian question in 1890. He reviews the well-known history and literature of the Rosicrucians. In the last two chapters Hartmann presents what he believes to be the core doctrines of the 'true' Rosicrucians." (Quote from sacred-texts.com)Table of Contents: Publisher's Preface; Preface; Introduction; The Hermetic Philosophy; Mediaeval Philosophers; Among The "adepts"; The Rosicrucian "orders."; Pseudo-rosicrucians?impostors And Fools; Appendix. The Principles Of The Yoga-philosophy Of The Rosicrucians And Alchemists; Alchemy; EndnotesAbout the Publisher: Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, Esoteric and Mythology. www.forgottenbooks.orgForgotten Books is about sharing information, not about making money. All books are priced at wholesale prices. We are also the only publisher we know of to print in large sans-serif font, which is proven to make the text easier to read and put less strain on your eyes.

About the Author: "Franz Hartmann (1838 - 1912) was a German physician, theosophist, occultist, geomancer, astrologer, and author of esoteric works. He wrote esoteric studies and a biography of Jakob Bohme and of Paracelsus. He translated the Bhagavad Gita into German and was the editor of the journal Lotusbluten. He was at one time a co-worker of Helena Blavatsky at Adyar. In 1896 he founded a German Theosophical Society. He also supported the Guido-von-List-Society (Guido-von-List-Gesellschaft),"

This concise work on 'The Hermetic Philosophy' outlines seven universal principles: Mentalism, Correspondence, Vibration, Polarity, Rhythm, Cause and Effect, and Gender. 

The Kybalion, originally published in 1912, is a short volume (223 pages, 7.5" x 5" hardcover) that presents, with commentary, the basic Hermetic principles. The author(s) of the book are anonymous.

Chapter 1 provides background on Hermetic philosophy, and describes the overall purpose of this book: "In the early days, there was a compilation of certain Basic Hermetic Doctrines, passed on from teacher to student, which was known as 'THE KYBALION,' the exact significance and meaning of the term having been lost for several centuries. This teaching, however, is known to many to whom it has descended, from mouth to ear, throughout the centuries. Its precepts have never been written down, nor printed, as far as we know. It was merely a collection of maxims, axioms, and precepts, which were non-understandable to outsiders, but which were readily understood by students, after the axioms, maxims, and precepts had been explained and exemplified by the Hermetic Initiates to their Neophytes ... We herein give you many of the maxims, axioms and precepts of THE KYBALION, accompanied by explanations and illustrations which we deem likely to render the teachings more easily comprehended by the modern student, particularly as the original text is purposely veiled in obscure terms." (Note: as is common in many books of this era, the author(s) make extensive use of what today would be considered non-standard capitalization and punctuation.)

The Hermetic principles, familiar to any who have done basic readings in western esoteric philosophy, are outlined and then examined in depth. (For those not familiar with them, the principles include such ideas as "As above, so below; as below, so above," "opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree," "nothing rests, everything moves," "the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left," "every cause has its effect; every effect has its cause; Chance is but a name for Law not recognized," "the universe is mental, held in the mind of The All," and "the Laws governing the nature of the universe can be used to transmute the undesireable into what is worthy.")

Quotations taken from the source material ("The Kybalion") are given, and then explained very clearly.

The chapters are as follows: 1. Hermetic Philosophy 2. Seven Hermetic Principles 3. Mental Transmutation 4. The All 5. The Mental Universe 6. The Divine Parodox 7. "The All" in All 8. Planes of Correspondence 9. Vibration 10. Polarity 11. Rhythm 12. Causation 13. Gender 14. Mental Gender 15. Hermetic Axioms.

Whether or not you agree with Hermeticism, this book and/or the material from the original "Kybalion" served as important source material for many of the key Hermetic writers of the 20th and late 19th centuries. This book should be included in the library of anyone seriously interested in western esoteric philosophy.