English Fairy Tales: Now Available!

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This nice volume is a compilation of fairy tales from England (as its title suggests) but it also contains a lengthy and helpful dissertation on the etymology of the fairy, its linguistic origins in Italian antiquity, and its similarity to the genii, the lamia, and the nymph. It is partly anthropological, therefore, and contains a number of allusions especially to Reginald Scott’s “Discoverie of Witchcraft” in which the European adaptation of such folklore is noted to have affected adults, not just children, and that such superstitions as “Robin Goodfellow” and fellow beings was rife for centuries.

171 pages.

Identity of the Religions Called Druidical and Hebrew: Now Available!

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This little work of religious history delves into the cultural as well as the linguistic, with its main focus being on correlating ritual and language between the Druids and Hebrews, positing a common prior origin, Antediluvian in nature. It goes into some detail about other contemporary spiritual and cultural groups as well, and while this kind of theory has largely been discarded in modern academia, it is more because of its religious connotations than any prevailing counter evidence.

70 pages.

Hebrew Idolatry and Superstition: Now Available!

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This present book is a work mainly of religious history, seeking to categorize the various “idolatrous” practices of the ancient Hebrews, claiming most of them can be established to have had a prior origin, and that they therefore did not originate with Judaism. Some of the claims here are anthropologically outdated but many have been continuously confirmed (sacred groves and witchcraft definitely predate Judaism and probably came from interactions with other regional tribes, for example.) The number of individual stories involving witchery, totems, etc, are profuse, and the work is a great springboard for further study.

51 pages.

A Brief History of Witchcraft: Now Available!

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This little work is a strictly academic entry, compiling, mainly, primary source materials from the Northampton witch trials, including some of the most bizarre accusations which can be gleaned from the period involving familiar spirits and the supposed practices of witches. Five people were the main victims of this particular outbreak of hysteria- it should be noted that I have left the primary source snippets intact in their (very) Old English form. Some adjacent hysteria and accusations are touched upon as well.

37 pages.

Human Ordure and Human Urine: Now Available!

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This most interesting work ties hand in hand with the contemporary study of phallicism and the first real effort to breach the moral taboos of anthropological study of prior years, when if reproduction or sin were discussed at all, it was with marked vehemence and plenty of superfluous language.

While the title of the work involves human feces and urine, it goes far beyond this, into sexual rituals, the consumption of foul, decomposed matter, of the use of animal dung and urine both in and outside of religious ritual, and is heavily sourced with references ranging from Torquemada to the US military of the late 19th century. It is an exceptional anthropological study of the topic, and covers dozens of cultures- tribes in India and in the Americas, the then-modern French peasantry, Persians, and more.

80 pages.

Sex Worship: Now Available!

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This intriguing work is, in my opinion, the best broad introductory guide to the fascinating (and expansive) subject of the worship of the human genitals and of reproduction, as the basis for (or a basis of) religion and religious practice. The subject can be sub-divided into various subtopics such as serpent veneration, archaeological remains of generative type, the cultus arborum, and so forth- this work briefly describes them and provides a good index to further reading, going to (painstaking and great) lengths to repeatedly disavow “obscenity” and “debauchery” and assuring the reader in typical early 20th century fashion that it intends itself only as an academic work. It is as amusing in its dryness towards the subject as it is historically interesting. The topic of the degree of influence the lingam and yoni had on the development of human religion is still hotly debated today, though some of the claims of the era have been widely accepted even by adherents.

102 pages.

Birds in Legend and Folklore: Now Available!

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This is a full length work dedicated to a fairly exhaustive treatment of hundreds of cultures spanning thousands of years in their use of birds in a folkloric capacity. The density of the book is high, owing to its academic, rigorous nature, and those intrigued by ornithology will probably enjoy this work as well as cryptid lovers and folklore buffs.

It is very much worth noting the symbolic significance of some birds over others; the crow, eagle, peacock, and dove stand out as the true “A-listers” of the avian world. It is not often that I am engrossed in the same work I am editing but this was definitely one of those happy times- the differential treatment of the Phoenix by a half dozen nations in the olden days is fascinating.

256 pages.

The Mythologies of Ancient Mexico and Peru: Now Available!

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This is yet another edition from the creation series of the early 20th century; and indeed it is one of the best pieces within the set.

The entire first chapter meanders through the concept of pre-columbian Nordic or Irish influence on Northeastern tribes in the Americas and then differentiates that with the Mexican )Aztec) and Peruvian (Inca) cultures. The two are then expounded on at length and largely contrasted; for example while the Aztecs probably sacrificed hundreds of thousands of people during their extremely brief period of existence as a local empire, the Inca rarely engaged in the practice. At all times this work compares both cultures to Christianity (as was the habit in the early 1900s) and exhibits a somewhat sympathetic view towards both cultures.

55 pages.

The Idea of God in Early Religions: Now Available!

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This work is one of the main texts crafted by FB Jevons; a relatively well known academic in his day, who managed to create, here, a work which would remain relevant after a century- it is a combination of strict religious history with linguistic anthropology; a fascinating field that most would benefit from studying at least in a basic sense.

Religious evolution is explored here; the development of polytheism, the difference between a “god” in the community sense and the personal daemon or fetish, and other related topics. It refers to numerous other works and is rigorously academic.

116 pages.

The Indigenous Drugs of India: Now Available!

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This intermediate-length medical work is one part anthropological text, one part recipe book, and one part good medical history. About 90% of the entries here are herbal; but it lists some minerals and chemical compounds and even a couple of insect species, all of which were apparently sold through the Indian subcontinent as medical materials in the 1860s.

The fascinating blend of scientific rigor with what amounts to folklore here is spectacular; I’m a bit of a sucker for such works since I studied anthropology myself; the occultist may find this text useful since it is basically derived from a blend of ayurvedic, islamic, and pan-european medical practices and explicitly involves the spiritual side of life (which tends to be the case whenever mortality is addressed.) It contains both local and Latin terminology.

135 pages.