Review: Yoga Body – Mark Singleton

Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice – Mark Singleton
Oxford Press. 2010. 262pp. 9780195395341.

When most people think of yoga they get an image of people stretching, and posing, and breathing deeply. If you mention that yoga is a religious tradition most are confused, and some know that and either think that the religion has been stripped out of it, or that the Gods care how flexible you are. If you mention that the idea of yoga as being this physically focused system of stretching is less than a hundred years old then suddenly people get irate. People have a surprisingly vested interest in the historical authenticity of posture yoga, even when they’re doing it strictly for physical purposes.

This book challenges all of that, by examining medieval yoga texts, and modern yoga and fitness texts from the last century and a half Singleton manages to illustrate the best and most comprehensive history of modern Western yoga. He starts with the bold assertion that “there is little or no evidence that āsana (excepting certain seated postures of meditation) has even been the primary aspect of any Indian yoga practice tradition – including the medieval, body-oriented haṭha yoga.” ((3)) He then moves on to show that not only was this posture-based focus not included in traditional yoga, but it was considered backward and superstitious.

The book follows the complex dialectical history of yoga to the modern portrayal. Initially there is focus on the lack of focus (or mention) of physical postures in the traditional yoga texts -including the ones that are often sweepingly claimed to validate posture yoga like Patañjali’s yoga. Then slowly he builds an intricate picture that set the stage for posture-based yoga to arise. He moves into the confusion between fakirs and yogins to the Europeans (largely the British) and how that started a feedback loop. Around the turn of the 20th century there was an international obsession with fitness, various schools of acrobatics, gymnastics, and bodybuilding appeared at that time, and as India was under British rule it was caught up in this craze.

Singleton shows how the name yoga was appropriated or co-opted into this physical culture, starting off as more of a body-building system, and then into gymnastics and stretching, all the while moving farther away from the traditional yoga. I should clarify that Singleton doesn’t consider modern yoga as wrong, false, disconnected, or anything like that -though he may criticize the bad history involved- instead he states that modern yoga is just a natural progression of the system. While I completely agree with all his research and his analysis, I can’t agree with the conclusion. What yoga has become was not shaped by spiritual or cultural progression, but cultural oppression and colonization. What is thought of as yoga was created by an interaction between British laws outlawing yoga, European contortionism, and Swiss gymnastics. I cannot agree with the premise that it is a natural progression or part of the same continuum, I feel it is more of a deviation than a development. This is not to say I have no use for modern yoga, only that I recognize it as a modern system with no basis in historical yoga, and a physical practice. That being said this book is extremely well researched, well documented, and deeply analyzed (a nerd’s dream) and if you’re interested in yoga one way or another, I recommend you pick it up, and draw your conclusions from the research.

Review: Financial Sorcery – Jason Miller

Financial Sorcery: Magical Strategies to Create Real and Lasting Wealth – Jason Miller
New Page, 2012, 224pp., 9781601632180

We’ve all encountered that person who asks if magick works, why aren’t we all rich? We all probably have our own answers too, but when we pause to think about it, it is a good question. Why do so many occultists of varying stripes have trouble with money? We summon lovers, find jobs in odd places, protect our homes, and yeah magick the money to get us out of trouble, but outside of that emergency most of us have trouble with money or money magick.

“[T]he magic itself is fine: our spells usually work … The problem is in the application of our magic … …The attitude for most people seemed to be that when everything was okay, it was better not to give much thought to money at all.” (14) As Jason points out when people try money magick outside of emergencies, it’s often for exceedingly unlikely goals like winning the lottery. I’m in that boat. I’ve experimentally tried my hand at the lottery to no notable success, and while I’ve done great with having enough money to get by while in school and then some when I shouldn’t have the money, it’s always been that survival emergency money magick mentality.

That’s not what this book is about. There are sections about it, a sigil for getting some money fast, and a chapter on emergency magick, but for the most part it’s about prosperity and abundance. Repeatedly the message Jason gives is cut debt and expenses, increase income, and grow wealth. Emergency magick, is bad magick. Strategic magick, is good magick.

In this book Jason introduces a wide range of information regarding financial sorcery. Drawing on various traditions we’re given a list of figures to work with, from Vajrayana to Ceremonial Magick, from Catholicism to Taoism to African Diaspora Religions. Frankly I never like the section in books where the author lists a bunch of figures and says go work with them, but they’re not offered “as is” but more as a sample of who is out there, and that we should find whatever figure of prosperity we can to work with and develop a relationship with.

In Jason’s usual manner this book is a mix of different traditions and technology, as well as heavily grounded in practical magick and real world activity. Most chapters that explain how to do something magickally also give some options for the mundane side. Looking to get in a bit of extra cash in a crunch? Jason gives a website to sign up for focus groups in your area. Needing to manage and understand your expenses better? Here is a website that tracks all your money so you know where it is going. Most of these resources are only for Americans, the Canadian version of the focus group site has five focus groups listed across the country since March for example, but can give you a starting place to work from, ideas to look into.

Jason sets out to analyze our perspective on wealth and wealth magick, and by intelligently understanding and strategizing from there help the reader build stable and lasting prosperity. He takes us through daily offerings to spirits to help keep the gears going, to 16 Lightning Glyphs of Jupiter –a collection of 16 sigils for financial magick with all sorts of practical and specific applications–, to understanding how we hold ourselves back from financial freedom, to killing debts, to getting jobs and promotions, to starting our own business, to investing. Step-by-step through big picture and little detail magick Jason works to get the reader to a more prosperous place in their life. While not an advanced book in regards to technique –anyone with basic magickal/meditation experience could make use of the book– it is advanced in the strategy and process. Whether you’re drowning in debt, just getting by, doing well, or just looking to do better this book will have techniques, technology, and ideas that are relevant to you. Unlike most things in life, money will always be there, and it is always something we must deal with, so I really can’t think of anyone this book wouldn’t benefit, and would recommend it to most anyone.

And of course, if you like this book or just want to know more about the author you can check out his blog here.

Review: Tantra Yoga Secrets – Mukunda Stiles

Tantra Yoga Secrets: Eighteen Transformational Lessons to Serenity, Radiance, and Bliss. – Mukunda Stiles
Weiser, 2011, 361pp., 9781578635030

“Tantra has been greatly misunderstood, particularly in the West, where it is perceived primarily as sacred sexuality. This view is what I seek to transform with this book, so that the reader will not only understand but experience the wholeness of this path to communion” (4).

This opening line had me greatly reassured about this book. Tantra is horribly misrepresented, so honestly I was a bit apprehensive to read this book, but I quickly realized that Mukunda Stiles understood the nature of tantra and was not writing another crappy book on sex pretending to be ancient spirituality.

Now, too be clear, there can be sex involved in tantra, and this book has sexual exercises in it, but sex is just a small part of the system. “Tantra is not better sex. Tantra is sadhana to be free of karma” (271). Stiles also touches on how the system’s sexual aspects can be used if one is celibate/asexual, or if one is in a same-sex relationship, which might seem like a minor point, but is wonderful to see included.

So if tantra is more than just sex, what is this book about? “Sharing and being with Chinnamasta is to me the living experience of the mysterious delight of Tantra, that is continuously arising and expanding as the sacred tremor of the tantric spanda” (xi). Tantra is a religious path, considered a rapid path to enlightenment. The focus of tantra is about overcoming your restrictions, and self-transformation, through prana (energy) work, meditation, and mental development.

“These eighteen lessons are specifically designed to reveal your limitations” (xiv) and cover everything from sensing the flow of prana in your body, to healing with prana, learning how to use mantras, physical conditioning, and prayer. The book moves along at a quick pace, recommend no more than two weeks per lesson. If you’re looking for a system to work with and develop through that has clear exercises and timelines this is a great book to start with. Each chapter ends with a Question and Answer section with questions that Stiles has collected from internet correspondences and personal communication and classes, more than once a question that hit me throughout the chapter was clarified in this section.

What impressed me most was the seriousness and understanding of Stiles in regards to tantra and the limitations of the medium of text. “These Tantrik teachings rest on a cornerstone of experiential knowledge gained over the ages by the men and women of this lineage. That knowledge can only be summarized and pointed to in book form” (xiv). Also that “Chaitanya mantras are the most popular mantras given and yet, without empowerment from the teacher, they don’t produce the desired result. It is like having a lamp, but not plugging it into a circuit” (107). It is a pleasant surprise to see a book that explains it is not, and cannot be, the substitute for a properly qualified teacher, that some techniques are offered hypothetically and will only become alive with person-to-person transmissions.

While this book has a few problems, including referencing important exercises that are included in other books, but not explained here, for the most part it is quite excellent. It may not cover the academic scope, or the theoretical cosmology that some people look for in tantra, when it comes to experiential work and self-development this book is amazing. To anyone with interest in a tantric path, or beginning self-work to overcome limitations, this is most definitely the book I would recommend for that.

Review: After the Angel – Marcus Katz

After the Angel: An Account of the Abramelin Operation - Marcus Katz
2011, Forge Press, 208pp B004XTJ0PA

Most magickians keep magickal diaries, very few of them are worth publishing, and even fewer see anything other than the magickian’s home. Marcus Katz shares his magickal diary from the six months he undertook the Abramelin ritual, and sought Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel. Very few books cover the ritual experience in such detail. It is refreshing to read the account of a magickian who did the ritual traditionally (or as traditionally as the modern world allows), rather than taking many of the shorter modern routes to the supposed same end.

Katz includes some of his process leading up to the ritual, the choice for performing it and the details behind it, he explains how his life changed after completely the ritual, but the bulk of the book is the journal he kept for those six months.

Early in the text Katz mentions “[i]f you are close to anyone and do not want to risk that relationship, do not undertake the Abramelin. It has to be performed when you seriously have nothing to lose” (26). Right away you become aware that this might not be a simple retelling, but something personal, and occasionally painful. Another way to see that, is an authentic account of the experience.

Each day is dutifully recorded and given a personal title by Katz. In reading the text there were a few times where I had to shake my head and put the book down because I found the similarity of experiences unnerving. While the external experiences of our Abramelin ritual could not be more different a lot of little things in the inner experiences matched up so clearly that I was shocked.

Katz has an insight to the ritual that I agree with; he calls it a “Self-Extracting Program” (40), that “the working is self-developing, like a fractal – once seeded, it opens up, unique to each Operation, but following the same intrinsic pattern” (37). It is personally fascinating to see where our Operations lined up, and where they differed, it was reassuring to read about the same reality hiccoughs, and the vacillation between ecstatic faith, and numbing doubt. The insight into Katz’s path and experiences is a great read for those like me who enjoy understanding how people interpret the world, and to observe the change in language and perspective as the ritual goes on it quite interesting.

This is not a book for someone wanting to learn the Abramelin, it is merely a recording of one man’s journey through it. To be honest I’m not sure if I’d recommend it for someone considering the ritual either, I’d be concerned of them reading about specific experiences and trying too hard to recreate them, rather than experiences what comes their way. That might seem overly cautious by I know one of my ordeals of the ritual was letting go of what I had expected during the Abramelin Operation, and letting life occur. For those who are curious of anyone’s experience on the Path, who want to understand and read the experiences behind the ritual, and maybe have walked similar it is definitely an interesting read.

Review: Quadrivium Oils

Quadrivium Supplies Inc. Ritual Oils.

Historically I’ve had mixed luck with Hoodoo oils, to the point that I stopped attempting to make use of them on advice of someone close to me. Of course my curiosity was piqued by the idea of ritual oils made for ritual magickians, and that’s just what Quadrivium Supplies Inc. manufactures.

The producer makes it clear that her oils aren’t Hoodoo oils, though they may draw some of their inspiration from them. Her oils may contain some of the same ingredients, or completely different recipes, and are created during carefully selected astrological elections. Really the oils seem more connected to Hermetic systems than anything else.

So what about the oils? Well I got my blue paws on four oils (appropriate from Quadrivium), Banishing, Love Drawing, Steady Work, and Money Drawing. When I opened my first bottle I was struck by the smell, it was something fresh, and complex, and I couldn’t place it at first, but the word I want to use is real. Back when I was toying around with oils years back it took me a while to realize that some oils are oils, others are plastic essentially. Quadrivium oils aren’t made from synthetic oils, but real herbs and oils. The proof is in every bottle, each bottle has a left-over, or a curio from the crafting process, some of the materia is in the oil. Not just a nice reminder that it is real, to me that’s a great choice as the materia itself is part of the root of the power of the magick, so keeping it in the oil makes sense to me. Reading through the Quadrivium blog you can easily see how important the use of real ingredients is to the owner, and really it’s a dedication that I appreciate in my magickal supplies.

Each bottle comes with a handy information card explaining the purpose of the oil, some of the details of ingredients and consecration, and a link to the site for more information on using the oil. The information on the site is of great use, some oils and applications are straight forward, others are more obscure, and it’s always nice to see the suggestion of someone else (especially the creator) on how to use the oils effectively.

Solid information, and beautiful scents are nice and all, but when I get something for a magickal purpose there is one thing I’m looking for above all; results. So far from my tests with the oils, I’d have to say the results are good. I planned on testing Love Drawing on a quick visit to a club, more to gauge reactions than seeking something. Sadly my experiment was interrupted as I stopped by at a friend’s house on the way, and the latent tension of our relationship kinda surfaced. Interrupted experiment, but a good result. When I was going to try a candle experiment with the oil my phone rang, considering the person on the other end rarely calls I answered it assuming emergency (nothing that bad), but in the process got oil on my phone. I forgot when I got my smartphone nine months ago I putting any dating apps on them, cause they’ve been dead, suddenly I was getting messages on two apps I couldn’t even remember how to navigate it had been so long. Again, not the expected outcome, but I’d tally that up as a good result. I used Steady Work in a working with a client to get them a job, and while they don’t have a job yet, they’re in contract negotiations, which considering they’ve had less than five interviews in the last 18 months, seems like it is a good start. So far my experiments are showing something is going, results, I approve.

If you’re looking for ritual oils, I cannot recommend Quadrivium Oils enough. Hand-crafted, real ingredients, astrological elections, and a passionate creator, you don’t need anything more in quality supplies. Even if you’ve had bad luck with oils (I know I did) I’d recommend giving these a try, the difference in quality might surprise you and change your mind. All the information is on the site for where to buy the oils in person or online.

Review: Vajrayogini – Elizabeth English

Vajrayogini: Her Visualizations, Rituals, and Forms – Elizabeth English
Wisdom Publications. 2002. 563pp. 086171329X.

Vajrayogini is one of the primary female figures of Vajrayana Buddhism. Her practice stems from the earliest reaches of Tantric Buddhism and continues to be popular to this day. Beautiful and fierce, loving and powerful. This massive tome is all about her. Let me make this clear though, this text is academic, it’s adapted from a thesis, nearly 600 pages. If you’re curious about Vajrayogini, this isn’t the book for you, if you’re a practitioner of her sadhanas, this still might not be the book for you, but if you’re very serious about understanding her, this is the book for you. (Or if you have a lama like mine who insisted I read this as part of my preparation for her empowerment.)

This book isn’t about Vajrayogini in general, but specifically focusing on her appearance in a twelfth or thirteenth century manuscript that collected sadhanas devoted to her. English states that “I hope the book will serve a double purpose: examining, from out textual evidence, the cult of Vajrayogini in India prior to 1200 C.E., and shedding light on tantric sadhana meditation” (xx). She accomplishes both goals quite well, it’s dense and academic, but thorough and well laid out.

The text follows the origins of the wrathful and erotic in Tantric Buddhism to Saiva praxis. Saiva mythology being adapted into a Buddhist cosmology is explained in a way that really clarifies a lot of the history and connection between the traditions. For those of us who practice Vajrayogini sadhanas and/or rituals of emanations of her (like Machik in some conceptions) there is an explanation of 17 different forms and emanations of Vajrayogini and what they mean and represent and where they came from. For the symbolism of figures like Vajrayogini this is the most detailed and complete writing on the topic I’ve ever come across.

Moving from the figure of Vajrayogini herself English explores the sadhana, breaking it down into smaller parts, while offering remarkably in-depth analysis of these sections. From benedictions, to creating the Circle of Protection, to Generating Vajrayogini to the mandala, and into specific practices. This is 110 pages of how to do the basic rituals, while that might sound like it will teach you, it requires a lot of prior knowledge to understand how to assemble and use all this information.

As someone who has been practicing chöd for coming up on two years, this book was very insightful due to the connection of Machik (founder of chöd) being an emanation of Vajrayogini. This is a book that takes a lot to read, it is long, complicated, and dense, but for those serious in their practice it is a great text to read, though one that will constantly have to be referred to in order to make use of the massive amount of information there in. If you’re interested in the tradition and history of Tantric Buddhism this text also has a lot to offer.

Review: Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy – Scott Michael Stenwick

Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy – Scott Michael Stenwick
Pendraig Publishing. 2011. 178pp. 9781936922048.

“Dee’s obsession with scrying and communication has been picked up by many modern practitioners of Enochian magick, and from reading some accounts one might be led to think that this is all the system is good for.” (50) I admit, I was in this category, I wasn’t an Enochian magickian, but that’s what I thought the system was for, and my few experiments in the system with friends were for information. This book aims to dispel that idea, as well as the mono-focus on the Great Table which is even more prevalent in the magickal community.

The Heptarchia Mystica is a section of Dee and Kelly’s work that is often overlooked and separate from the Great Table. It is also closer in structure and usage to the grimoires of the time. If you’re a grimoiric/Solomonic magickian (like me) some of the mainstream Enochian system can see a bit much to get into, but the Heptarchia Mystica is more accessible and familiar in many ways. It gives a collection of planetary Kings and Princes, as well as the evocations for each figure, and how to work with them, in a style far closer to what you get from the Lesser Key than from most Enochian texts.

This book is more than just printing of the oft ignored text, but also a general book on how to work with it. It was written with the “intention that you as an aspiring magician should be able to pick up this book and begin working magick right away” (53). If not for the fact that it requires specific ritual items like rings and lamens, this goal seems to be hit. The reader is led through a cursory history of the system and then some preliminary magick. Stenwick takes the standard banishing 101 seemingly required in every magick book, and goes a step farther. Instead of just giving the standard LBRP, the reader is given to Enochian inspired banishing/invoking rituals based on the Pentagram and Hexagram rituals. These are not simple rewrites of changing a name you sometimes get in books where they replace a name and claim it is Celtic (or whatever), but actually fairly distinct rituals I found quite enjoyable. Also Stenwick mentions what he calls the various fields: the effects of combining the different invoking and banishing rituals of the pentagrams and hexagrams. I had toyed with what these combinations too, but he takes it a step farther and discusses each combination and what they are best used for. It was an unexpected inclusion, but I definitely got a lot from it. Aside from the meat of the text that is something I will definitely do more work with.

The Enochian system is Christian in inspiration, it is a fact you can’t really get around, as such a lot of the prayers and evocations are quite Christian. On the other hand Stenwick is not, he’s a Thelemite, so each prayer is presented in its original form and then followed by a more Thelemic form, which often didn’t require too drastic of a change. I really liked this modification, as my belief system is far closer to the Thelemic system in philosophy than the Christian, and I know a surprising amount of Ceremonial Magickians have issues working with an overtly Christian system.

The book had a few formatting errors that irked me. Many of the internal page references were off by a page or two, so when working from the book you have to mark it somehow so you know to turn to the right page. Also sections that were supposed to be italicized so the reader would know what to omit or change were not actually italicized. In the grand scheme these are minor, but interfere just enough with the text to be a gremlin in the book.

For seasoned Enochian magickians, grimoiric/Solomonic magickians looking to break into Enochian systems, or occults of any shade looking for something new to try, this book is a good place to start. Largely complete within itself, and focusing on an uncommon part of a popular tradition, this is an excellent book to explore.

Personally I’m going to harass friends and family to borrow some Enochian gear, and get to work. If you want to read more by Scott Michael Stenwick, you can follow his blog here or comment specifically on his forum post, which is a blog post that looks like it will be question and answer, and discussion with others who have enjoyed this book.

Review: Watcher Angel Tarot and Guidebook – Michelle Belanger and Jackie Williams

Watcher Angel Tarot Guidebook: Myth, Meaning, and Creation – Michelle Belanger and Jackie Williams
Emerald Tablet Press. 2011. 312pp. 9780983816911.

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” Genesis 6:1-2

Such a little innocuous line, often overlooked and forgotten, yet containing the seeds of a beautifully deep myth expounded upon in the Book of Enoch. Watcher Angels, the sons of God(s), fell to the Earth and took up human mates, and taught the secrets of heaven. That is the theme of this deck. I’ve talked about this deck before but it is time for a proper review.

In the introduction Michelle says “I didn’t want simply to design another Tarot built on the bones of the Rider-Waite-Smith. I wanted to revision the Tarot entirely, allowing the symbols to speak through me and to find expression in some vital and personal myth.” (12) And that is what you find with this deck. It isn’t a Rider-Waite-Smith clone with angel wings drawn on it, it isn’t a clone with some of the images and settings shifted around, it is a fairly different beast altogether.

The deck was designed from the ground up. Looking at the overarching traits of the Major Arcana a parallel from the Enochic myth was chosen, for the most part one of the Watcher Angels themselves represents the Majors, each assigned according to what they did, and what they taught. For instance you have Kasdeya who taught “all the wicked smitings of spirits and demons, and the smitings of the embryo in the womb” as Death, and Shemyaza the leader of the Angels in the Fall as The Fool.

Seven of Pentacles. RWS: A man leaning on his hoe. Watcher Angel: A man leaning on his...

The Minor Arcana form an entire story of their own; from Ace to Ten, Pentacles, to Cups, to Wands, to Swords, they lay out the entire tale. Pentacles are just after the Fall, the struggle to learn and build a world. In Cups they have established themselves and enjoy the world. With Wands they show their children the mysteries of heaven and magick. Finally with Swords their children turn upon each other. Since each suit contains its own story arch it is a remarkably easy deck to learn, though initially I was wary of the differences, because even if you have a moment of uncertainty when you place the card in the story it becomes clear what it represents. The meanings, the keywords of the cards are standard, but they way they play out in the Enochic myth is quite different.My only complaint with this system is it falls into an earlier interpretation of the Tarot, since the Swords are about the war among the children, the majority of the Swords are negative and challenging cards. Something many decks do but I dislike.

The artwork in this deck is phenomenal. The images are deep and complex, without being cluttered, in a lifelike and detailed painting style you’re not likely to see in a Tarot deck. Colours are rich and vibrant, and thematically carry between the suits. Jackie has a wonderful talent and her skill really brings the images to life. For me it is the settings, wings, and faces that really get me. The backgrounds are evocative, be they a shifting patch of colour or an elegant city vista. The wings just look better than most angel depictions –it’s a personal gripe of mine. Lastly the faces are very engaging, haunting, and real. The entire deck is viewable here on Jackie’s site and will show far better than I can describe.

The companion book was refreshingly honest. “I won’t lie and say that this deck was merely the product of detached academic research. There is a great deal of vision and inspiration, myth, dream, and magick woven into this work.” (19) Or as Jackie says it is “a deck designed by two psychics with input from the universe.” (29) All things considered it’s something I’ve found odd that so many deck creators shy away from discussing. In fact the companion book is remarkably complete, perhaps too much for some cases, but as it says you can skip the sections that don’t interest you. The book contains Jackie and Michelle’s stories for making the Tarot, the years of planning and research for Michelle, the years of painting and living the cards for Jackie. Michelle leads you into the research and struggles, Jackie even gives interesting advice on paper and paint types. Their stories are followed by the myth of the Watchers, how it relates to Campbell’s Monomyth as well as to the Book of Enoch and related texts. It moves into tarot history, where it came from, how it became part of the Western Mystery Tradition, beliefs about the tarot, and then finally the interpretations of the cards. If you’ve never dealt with the tarot before this book covers pretty much all the basics you’ll need, and if you’re familiar with the tarot and don’t care about personal stories you can skip to the back where you can learn about the cards and understand why Michelle and Jackie made the choices they did in illustrating the deck.

I will fully own up to a triple bias with this deck, Michelle and Jackie are friends, and personally I love the Enochic mythology. That being said, I don’t believe it is my bias speaking when I say this has quickly become one of my favourite decks; the beautiful art, the compelling myth, it just makes this a wonderful and unique deck.

Review: Geomancy – Franz Hartmann

Geomancy: A Method of Divination – Franz Hartmann
Ibis, 1889. 2005. 222pp. 0892541016.

Geomancy is one of my favourite methods of divination, there is something beautifully elegant in the way the figures change into each other, the flux and flow leading from a handful of simple dots into a complex reading of twelve or more figures. Yet it is also a system that is often overlooked, and the reprinting of Geomancy will hopefully help with that. Using a stick and sand, paper and pencil, or even dice (my preference), and a bit of practice and you can quickly be engaged in some very deep explorations of the world.

Hartmann’s Geomancy was originally published in 1889 but despite being an excellent book and still being relevant today it never saw much circulation. This edition, published 115 years later, is the original book but the contents have been reorganized to make it easier to use and navigate. This book starts off with the basics of geomancy as a system: the symbols, the casting, the associations, and quickly moves into detailed examples. The layout, with the previous one unknown to me, is a very useful method building up in complexity as you read, as well as being logically laid out for later examination.

The method and style of geomancy in the book is an older form, the astrological and planetary associations taken from Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy. This might be confusing if you’re used to a newer system like that shown in John Michael Greer’s The Art and Practice of Geomancy (which is still an excellent book), and I’m not sure how to synthesize them. The book also gives a new order for the planetary hours that I’ve never seen before and I do find confusing, the order of the planetary days.

The book has a structural position that I enjoy, it starts off with saying it is “recommended to keep a book for the purpose of entering the result of one’s calculations in practising Geomancy concerning future events.” (4) Without recording and analyzing your results you’ll never know how good you actually are, how helpful your reading is. Simple, and a dead horse I beat, but I love seeing authors stress the importance of recording your readings.

Related perhaps to being so structural is how much detail is put into the examples of the book. These examples explain what everything means according to the position/house they fall in when using an astrological cast. To get even more detailed 16 questions are asked and every possible outcome of the Witnesses and Judge is detailed so you can learn that reading as well as to begin to understand how it all comes together. These 2048 answers aren’t Hartmann’s original work, but are translated from a German text from the sixteenth century.

In order to be complete, the book (now) ends with a section on astrology, detailing the traits of the planets as well as their sympathies/antipathies with each other, and an explanation of the zodiac. The book’s appendix gives several different geomancy charts that the reader can photocopy and make use of to organize their readings.

If you’re looking for more information on this relatively unappreciated system of divination then this would be the book you’d want. If you’re looking to combine it into more of a magickal practice I’d suggest pairing it with The Art and Practice of Geomancy. Some of the attributions are different, but the rest of the procedures will work well together, especially with the deeper divinatory insight from Hartmann’s book.

Review: Chöd Practice in the Bön Tradition – Alejandro Chaoul

Chöd Practice in the Bön Tradition: Tracing the origins of chöd (gcod) in the Bön tradition, a dialogic approach cutting through sectarian boundaries – Alejandro Chaoul, Forewards by Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Snow Lion. 2009. 116 pp. with appendices. 9781559392921.

Chöd is a fairly obscure practice from Tibetan Buddhism and it also appears within Bön, the pre-Buddhist “shamanic” religion of Tibet. It is generally conceived as a Buddhist practice, framed in Buddhist imagery and philosophy, and the mythology places it firmly within the realm of Buddhism by use of its founder Machik Labdron, a Tibetan Buddhist saint. Yet in Bön the philosophy and mythology are a bit different though the practice is largely similar. So where did chöd come from?

Chaoul makes, what he believes, to be the first real study of chöd within Bön tradition. The book based upon his MA thesis at the University of Virginia, where he tried to find the interconnection between the two chöd practices. He did not focus on trying to find an origin for chöd but instead focused on how the practice has been shared and exchanged and developed between the two traditions. One tradition was not viewed as more legitimate or superior, instead Chaoul states “that the beauty of this rich, intricate, and often misunderstood practice, is to be found in the coexistence of many different views, which can expand beyond the traditional horizons delimited by social, academic, and sectarian boundaries.” (4)

I find this a curious and interesting case; as a perfect example of what he was studying Chaoul included in the book the sadhana called in English “The Laughter of the Dakinis” which is a sadhana within my lineage as well, even though his source is Bön and my lineage is Buddhist. So there I find not just the general sharing, but a specific ritual within both traditions. Personally it was a great book to read because of my lineage, my lama taught me (and understands this) through the Buddhist perspective and it was great to see the other, less common, perspective.

In fact in my initial chöd training I learnt that chöd had incorporated aspects from Bön, as it had from tantra and sutra traditions and even Hinduism, but I was unaware that there was a full chöd tradition within Bön. Most of this book made sense, and I could see the exchanges and changes, and some parts had me really wondering. For example when describing the tools the damaru (drum) is described as being made from two skulls (53) whereas I was taught, quite emphatically, that the damaru is to be acacia wood and the skull drums are from an unrelated tradition but due to similar appearance get associated with chöd, but should never be used for chöd. (Sidenote: The damaru shown on the cover is quite clearly not made from skulls) Things like this intrigue me, I want to learn is this a difference between Bön and Buddhist chöd, or is this lineage specific and my lama was speaking from his bias?

This book is highly academic, as mentioned it was based upon an MA thesis, it has 299 endnotes (to help make the point), so if you’re looking for an easy read, this isn’t it. This book is not appropriate for someone curious about chöd or looking to learn it, too much of the knowledge, history, mythology, and philosophy is chöd specific. For those studying chöd the complete sadhana of “The Laughter of the Dakinis” is included and “intended for use by those who have received transmission and explanation from an authentic lineage holder” (69) and if you are a chödpa (Buddhist or Bönpo) with an academic or bookworm leaning, this book is an excellent read and resource.