Xeroxial Editions has recently published a new book by Peter Lamborn Wilson, Abecedarium.

Amazon.com‘s product description is remarkably brief, describing it as an: “Alphapoetic meditation on the etymology of the English alphabet with diagrams by the author.”

It shouldn’t surprise me given the poetry of his work published under the name Hakim Bey, but Wilson has published two other books of poetry with Xeroxial Editions: The Universe: A Mirror Of Itself (1993) and Gothick Institutions (2005). More to add to the list. 

From the review on Brainwashed.com:

In this meditation on the mysteries of A through X (Wilson affirms that X is the actual and secret last letter of the alphabet), seed thoughts are planted as he rambles through a mnemonic chain of Cabalistic associations connoted by each letter. He cracks their individual codes and makes public what had previously been private and veiled. In doing so he continues the work Gerard de Nerval begin when writing in Aurelia that “the magic alphabet, the mysterious hieroglyphics, reach us only in a defective corrupted form, altered and falsified either by time or by those beings who have a vested interest in our remaining ignorant.” Ancient imageries are unearthed by following the mutation of the alphabet from Hebrew to Hieroglyphic to Proto-Sinaitic and into its transition phase before it was stamped and sealed in the Roman mold.

The keyword for this week seems to be poetry. First with Ashley Naftule‘s review of Datura, then my stumbling across Crowley in a litcrit book on poetry, now Wilson has a new title. Poetry often seems overlooked, yet it ranks highest in literary esteem.

Abecedarium‘s release spotted on Technoccult.com

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I can’t seem to escape Crowley. He’s everywhere and in everything. Like q-ball.

I’ve been reading Paul Muldoon‘s excellent book, The End of the Poem, which collects a series of lectures he delivered over five years at Oxford under this title. I’m only about two thirds of the way through The End of the Poem, but I’ve immensely enjoyed  what I’ve read so far.

Each lecture focuses on a specific poem, and Crowley features quite prominently in Muldoon’s reading of “Autopsychography” by Fernando Pessoa.

Pessoa first came to my attention when I heard that letters between himself and Crowley were to be auctioned off. But after reading this poem, and Muldoon’s extrapolations I really want to read more of his work, especially The Book of Disquiet, several poems of which seem to have been written shortly after Crowley’s Book of Lies first came out, and which may have been directly influenced by it.

Including the account of Pessoa’s role in assisting in the charade of Crowley’s false suicide: Continue reading »

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Ashley Naftule is a used bookseller by day and a playwright by night. He doesn’t currently maintain a proper blog, but he can be reached via Facebook and Twitter.

To be honest, I’ve dodged a serious bullet with Datura. When its editor, Ruby Sara, put out a call for submissions on Scarlet Imprints last year, I almost submitted a handful of poems for inclusion. The thought of an anthology of occult-themed poetic work and essays on the mystical aspects of the creative process struck quite a nerve with me, and I was eager to contribute. Luckily a combination of a busy life at the time and a creative dry spell prevented me from sending Sara anything by the deadline, and after reading through Datura, I’m deeply thankful that the few pieces I was able to conjure up never got sent her way. For even if they were accepted and published in the pages of Datura, the quality of the content is so high my work would have looked like utter shit next to everything else between its covers.

Datura contains the work of 26 poets, that work being a mix of 6 essays and 47 poems. When I picked up Datura, I was really eager to read the essays. Scarlet Imprint has published three other anthologies in the past – Howlings, Devoted, and Diabolical -  and their occult essays were absolutely stellar. While I do love poetry, and have a deep fondness for the Pagan and fortean realms, I’ve read enough awful odes to Odin and tree-spirits (and composed quite a few myself, to be fair) that the thought of a book devoted to such poetry might be a risky gamble. I figured that six good essays could make up for some lousy astral-poetics. Thankfully while the essay-work is every bit as good as I hoped it would be, the poetry in Datura manages to keep its nimble-feet from stepping into the bear-trap of twee Pagan cliches. Continue reading »

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Bought Crowley books that is.

An order came in today bearing a few of the books that are still in print that I didn’t already have. Including: Diary of a Drug Fiend (pictured right), White Stains, and the Sutin biography, Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley.

From the out of print market I also picked up The Revival of Magick and Other Essays (Oriflamme).

It’s great to see that Moonchild is in print again, even if it is a limited edition (I’ve already pre-ordered a copy), but with so many titles going out of print, I feel like I have to rush to fill the gaps in my library while I still can.

Whatever polarization there is amongst readers of Crowley, we’re not “beyond the books” (there is no such thing). This OOP situation needs to be rectified. I still can’t find a decently priced copy of Confessions.

Also, thanks to Joseph Thiebes who, on Plutonica.net’s Facebook page, let us know that Buying Crowley Books isn’t just a Facebook group and a Twitter account – it’s also a blog! Complete with an “Anti-Boycott” manifesto.

Final point, unrelated to Crowley (for now), but still on a bookish theme: the Esoteric Book Club is up and running. Check in and let us know where you’re at.

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Teitan Press has released a new book, Thorn in the Flesh: A Grim-memoire, by Rosaleen Norton.

Thorn in the Flesh is comprised poetry, Norton’s reminiscences and various occult jottings, with reproductions of two photographs of Norton, as well as examples of her art.

I’m not familiar with Norton, but Wikipedia informs me she was an Australian artist and occultist of some renown. She certainly sounds like she lead an interesting life.

Excerpt from an e-mail received from Weiser Antiquarian: Continue reading »

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