There needs to be one of these in every forum. Here are a few of the books I've either recently read or am currently reading: A Gathering of Masks by Robert Fitzgerald - An account of magical operations using Aleister Crowley's Liber CCXXXI and the channeled material that resulted. Best book on the subject I've come across so far (there aren't many). Aletheia: Astrology in the New Aeon for Thelemites by J. Edward Cornelius - I've never been much into Astrology but this particular book puts it into a perspective I can relate to. Evoking Eternity: Forbidden Rites of Evocation by E. A. Koetting - I only ended up with this one out of curiosity based on the huge praise it has gotten. It's a nice book on the subject of evocation but did not supply anything new, or, at least nothing that I personally didn't already know. I would recommend it to someone starting out and wanting to know what to do regarding the practice of evocation. Koetting's theories and practices seem pretty grounded and solid. Geosophia: The Argo of Magic by Jake Stratton-Kent - This particular book itself is in two volumes but as a whole comprises volume II of his Encyclopaedia Goetica series; the first volume being The Trve Grimoire. This is classic material. Though it is scholarly in scope, Jake seemed to go for a more mythical narrative of the material which makes it more interesting from an occult perspective. It is a practical book that doesn't read like one and there is a lot to absorb in it. I have only been slowly reading it off and on for the past few months.
Nalyd: I read that Gathering of Masks last year and found it good but hardly can remember any of it, but if you or anyone would discuss it, I could browse through it again and it would certainly come back. (I also did some workings and took some notes, made some projective thoughts about it, then.) Recently I read Paul Foster Case's Introdution to the Tarot, a short 30, 40 page pamphlet that was good, dense reading packed with information. Then I read Tarot and Magic by Gareth Knight. Especially the first half of it in that he deals with theory was good, he compares all the Major Arcana of various historic, classical and traditional card-sets; the most I got out of his 'original' tarot spread in that the cards are grouped around the virtues (Strength, Justice, Temperance, The World) in groups of four cards to each virtue with the Magician in the middle and the Foul outside [my version: Foul behind Magician]. The second part consists mostly of a pathworking of the MP including all perpendicular and neighbouring paths. It is ok, a bit more descriptive than poetically-projective but a good rehearsal. Right now I started to read Lon Milo Duquettes's Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot. For me this is the first book by that author that I'm reading and I'm only at the very beginning but noticed that he is very narrative and verbose (not to say wordy), it's not bad but more keyed to a magical beginner than the texts I (seem) to be used to, or maybe I'm just a bit spoiled by such mytho-poetic greats as Grant, Spare, Chumbley and Crowley who are all masters of literary-imaginative gates and wort-cunning. But all in all, and as far as I can judge from those few pages, Duquette's text has all the relevant background in it, lots of info and can- for me- be read like an enjoyable novel. So as a whole, my readings seem to be quite Tarot-centred, recently...
K., I'd be happy to discuss A Gathering of Masks. If I can find a particular angle to approach it for discussion I will start a thread on it. I also agree with your assessment of Understanding the Thoth Tarot. I read it when it first came out and thought it would have made an excellent introduction back when I was first studying the deck. However, I had already been into the Thoth for a while and paid my dues with Crowley's book. I like DuQuette's books but the main problem I have with this one is that it adds nothing to what Crowley himself already said about the deck in The Book of Thoth. In fact Lon fills his book with extensive quotes and/or paraphrases from Crowley's book. Perhaps some obvious points are made a little clearer and maybe more organized but other than that there is nothing new. Because of these reasons I do use the book as an easy/quick reference. There are also some important things that he brushes over or perhaps deliberately re-obscures maybe because he is a member of the Caliphate OTO. Not sure why. I am referring to the section at the end about using the deck for divination. Here DuQuette fails by casually dismissing this use. If there is anything in Crowley's book that would benefit from an explanatory commentary it is the method of divination that Crowley recommends, called the "Opening of the Key", which is very complex. Crowley himself doesn't say much about it but it is actually a very important magical operation and one of the cornerstones of the Golden Dawn magical system. Lon simply gives a useless little introduction and then quotes the entirety of the method as Crowley outlined it in the first appendix of The Book of Thoth. If anyone is interested in exploring this particular divinatory operation you can start with the volume nine section of Israel Regardie's The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic which explains the Opening of the Key spread in depth and its importance.
Grand Illusions: The Spectral Reality Underlying Sexual UFO Abductions, Crashed Saucers, Afterlife Experiences, Sacred Ancient Sites and Other Enigmas by Dr. Gregory L. Little - I have recommended this book so many times to various people over the years that I thought it was time to go back to it and see if it still speaks the same thing to me as I remember it. Wow, it speaks even more now because I have come to understand it experientially. I first read this book twice back in the mid-1990's and it really set me off with a theory of magical-paranormal phenomena that has held up nicely over the years; I've found nothing else that explains it better other than theories that are virtually identical to it. I won't get into the theory itself here. If anyone would be interested in discussing it I will start a separate thread.
Kenneth Grant: The Other Child and Other Tales. I have been reading Grant's stories bit for bit in the course of the last years. My favourites were Snakewand and Against the Light. Latter is also apt to further deepen his theories put forth in the latter works of the Typhonian Trilogies. Of course I can recommend them all, I'm a fan of his sometimes poetic, often mesmerizing prose-style and of his at times unconventional but strangely effective usage of certain words. A new one seems to soon come out posthumously (Grist to Whose Mill?) that he had written in his younger years.
I'm looking forward to getting Grist to Whose Mill? as well as several new books that have come out and are coming out from Starfire, Fulgar, Xoanon and Three Hands Press. I have not purchased a book in quite a while but when I get back to it these publishers are the first I'll be hitting. Most of my reading time lately has been spent combing over previously read books or books I've had for a while but never really read properly. Interestingly I read "The Other Child" (just the one story) about a month ago. I had read it back when I first got the book but I wanted to refresh my memory of it. I'd like to re-read "The Stellar Lode" some time soon as well. In the past week I've been looking at: The Magickal Essence of Aleister Crowley by J. Edward Cornelius The Vision & the Voice with Commentary and Other Papers by Aleister Crowley Secret Cipher of the Ufonauts and Secret Rituals of the Men In Black both by Allen H. Greenfield Been kind of on a Crowley/Thelemic/UFO kick lately.
