Ancient Jewish Magic: A History
Gideon Bohak
(ISBN-13: 9780521874571)
# 15 halftones
# Page extent: 496 pages
# Size: 228 x 152 mm
$135.00 (R)

Saluete, and welcome to my report on Step 1 of our first laboratory experiment!

MAGIC: FRONTIERS AND BOUNDARIES
A conference at the University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
12-15 June, 2008

Keynote Lectures

Another interesting (and expensive) book from Brill:

" This book explores philosophical theories which in the Renaissance provided an interpretation of nature, of its laws and exceptions and, lastly, of man’s capacity to dominate the cosmos by way of natural magic or by magical ceremonies. It does not concentrate on the Hermetic and Neoplatonic philosophers (Ficino, Pico, Della Porta), or on the relationship between magic and the scientific revolution, but rather upon the interference of the ideas and practices of learned magicians with popular rites and also with witchcraft, a most important question for social and religious history. New definitions of magic put forward by certain unorthodox and “wandering scholastics” (Trithemius, Agrippa, Paracelsus, Bruno) will interest readers of Renaissance and Reformation texts and history."

A new book has appeared on the market from E.J. Brill. At USD 299, it's not cheap... but surely a valuable resource to those who can afford it.

"The daunting writings of Paracelsus—the second largest 16th-century body of writings in German after Luther’s—contributed to medicine, natural science, alchemy, philosophy, theology, and esoteric tradition. This volume provides a critical edition of essential writings from the authoritative 1589 Huser Paracelsus alongside new English translations and commentary on the sources and context of the full corpus. The Essential Theoretical Writings incorporate topics ranging from metaphyics, cosmology, faith, religious conflict, magic, gender, and education, to the processes of nature, disease and medication, female and male sufferings, and cures of body and soul. Properly contextualized, these treatises yield rich extracts of Renaissance and Reformation culture, soundings of 16th-century life, and keys to an influential but poorly understood early modern intellectual tradition."

Greetings everyone!

Details regarding the first lecture of our Esoteric Primer Series (Jamuary 16th, 2008; 7-9 p.m.) have been posted on our event calendar. You can also access this information here.

Ordo Magni Operis is happy to announce that our new book, The Esoteric Arts: A Primer is now available for sale at our storefront.

After a year of silence, Ordo Magni Operis is pleased to announce the 2008 public Esoteric Primer Series!

A new ezine dedicated to various aspects of Alchemy, practical, theoretical, and spiritual, has been launched, and it first issue has just been published!

From the front page:
"Up to the present, the concept and connotation of Alchemy has undergone a divergence of perception, while steadfast groups and individuals preserve the traditional principles. In one direction this divergence leads to complete ridicule of a pursuit having the sole intent of transmuting Lead into Gold; in the other is a nostalgic appropriation of the term, often in a commercial appellation for a product having seeming magical qualities or capabilities.