Longing

Whispers shared
'tween bent heads
echo still in time.
Carry us to beds
seperate
yet aligned.

Lover, what soft whispers said
Between us
can fill this empty space?
Yet no Words need
at all be uttered.
No words need be said.

And trapped there in our near mouths
defences crumble down
until there is but only us.
We have no need of sound.

The rushing river of our blood
will drown out any woe.
And pulse, like thunder in our veins,
rages for what we know
will be the Ultimate joining.

Oh to make love to you!

Contributed and authored by Moontoadie

Books in PDF format to read:

Aleister Crowley - Cocaine
Michael Majerus - Atalanta Fugiens
Edward Bulwer Lytton - Zanoni
Aleister Crowley - La Gitana
Phil Hine - On Cursing

Read more »

Untitled Poem

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath amd tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, amd shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

Books in PDF format to read:

Sri Swami Sivananda - Thought Power
Aleister Crowley - Ahab And Other Poems
Paul Foster Case - The Life Power

Read more »

The Chimney Sweeper

When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue,
Could scarcely cry weep weep weep weep,
So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.

There’s little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head
That curl’d like a lambs back was shav’d, so I said.
Hush Tom never mind it, for when your head’s bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair

And so he was quiet. & that very night.
As Tom was a sleeping he had such a sight
That thousands of sweepers Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack
Were all of them lock’d up in coffins of black,

And by came an Angel who had a bright key
And he open’d the coffins & set them all free.
Then down a green plain leaping laughing they run
And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.

Then naked & white, all their bags left behind.
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.
And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy,
He’d have God for his father & never want joy.

And so Tom awoke and we rose in the dark
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
Tho’ the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

by William Blake

Books in PDF format to read:

Howard Phillips Lovecraft - The White Ship
Aleister Crowley - The Winged Beetle

Keywords: dons guide  angelic liber logaeth  egyptian magic  black magic  evocation heptarchia french  

Read more »

The Comet

So well with word
the seducers voice was heard
o'er the whisper of the linen.

"And so,' said she,
'Let us e'er be
skyclad 'neath the Heavens".

"Dance with me sweet Temptress.
Let our limbs entwine
upon this bed so downy soft.
'Tis ours, not yours or mine.
Of what I speak
there is no Telling
For it is ever as it is not.
We have one place yet
for our dwelling
never found, yet always sought."

And so with eyes aglow
with Midnight
and a smile handsomely done,
The seducer lifted one fond finger.
Touched her breast with one fond finger.
And shuddering,
near undone,
the lady asked:

"What is it that you speak of love?
What have you and I?
Are we not here to live
and couple 'neath th' inky sky?"

Slowly tracing circles
as his mouth found hers to dine,
the lover whispered tenderly,
"We have an aeon of time."

"Say it is not true!' cried she,
'Say it is not so!
An aeon is so little
and we have so far to go!"

He held his distraught lady.
Brought his mouth down to her lips
and they touched at face and belly,
from shoulder down to hip.

"Alas it is so little,
But far more than many men
have in their meager lifetimes
and so lady, we shall begin."

Close became then closer
'til there was no light to be seen
'tween their naked bodies
flaming liquid sheen.

Upon the deepest darkest night
cast eye to the sky above
and see racing 'cross the heavens high
two lovers burning with their love.

Authored and contributed by Toadie

Books in PDF format to read:

George Robert Stowe Mead - The Corpus Hermeticum
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - The Hermit
Sir William Stirling Maxwell - The Canon

Read more »

The Witches Creed

Hear Now the words of the witches,
The secrets we hid in the night,
When dark was our destiny's pathway,
That now we bring forth into light.

Mysterious water and fire,
The earth and the wide-ranging air,
By hidden quintessence we know them,
And will and keep silent and dare.

The birth and rebirth of all nature,
The passing of winter and spring,
We share with the life universal,
Rejoice in the magical ring.

Four times in the year the Great Sabbat
Returns, and the witches are seen
At Lammas and Candlemas dancing,
On May Eve and old Hallowe'en.

When day-time and night-time are equal,
When sun is at greatest and least,
The four Lesser Sabbats are summoned,
And Witches gather in feast.

Thirteen silver moons in a year are,
Thirteen is the coven's array.
Thirteen times at Esbat make merry,
For each golden year and a day.

The power that was passed down the age,
Each time between woman and man,
Each century unto the other,
Ere time and the ages began.

When drawn is the magical circle,
By sword or athame of power,
Its compass between two worlds lies,
In land of the shades for that hour.

This world has no right then to know it,
And world of beyond will tell naught.
The oldest of Gods are invoked there,
The Great Work of magic is wrought.

For the two are mystical pillars,
That stand at the gate of the shrine,
And two are the powers of nature,
The forms and the forces divine.

The dark and the light in succession,
The opposites each unto each,
Shown forth as a God and a Goddess:
Of this our ancestors teach.

By night he's the wild wind's rider,
The Horned One, the Lord of the Shades.
By day he's the King of the Woodland,
The dweller in green forest glades.

She is youthful or old as she pleases,
She sails the torn clouds in her barque,
The bright silver lady of midnight,
The crone who weaves spells in the dark.

The master and mistress of magic,
That dwell in the deeps of the mind,
Immortal and ever-renewing,
With power to free or to bind.

So drink the good wine to the Old Gods,
And Dance and make love in their praise,
Till Elphame's fair land shall receive us
In peace at the end of our days.

And Do What You Will be the challenge,
So be it Love that harms none,
For this is the only commandment.
By Magic of old, be it done!

Doreen Valiente, "Witchcraft For Tomorrow" pp.172-173

Also try this free pdf e-books:

Howard Phillips Lovecraft - The Street
Howard Phillips Lovecraft - The Tree
Tarostar - The Witchs Spellcraft Revised

Read more »

Paganistic Poem

By Daniel Edmonds

Go ahead and talk about us, as we seem to make you doubt,
Because God has condemned us by what we can't live without.
Preach at us when we draw near just like all Christians do.
But don't come running back to us when spirits walk on through.

We freeze your conversations when we pass you on the street,
If only we saw your true God, oh wouldn't that be sweet
We may well be exploited by your taunts forevermore
But we will not be swayed from the things we most adore.

We endured with admiration of our gods through burning days
And salvaged what we could from our true Karmic Phrase
To say what we believe is wrong, you really have some nerve
We deserve some freedom from the one you claim to serve.

Say that we are sinners, as we have no common sense?
As if we'd copy what you do at our own self-expense!
You look up at your "true" god to receive his holy smile,
It doesn't mean that we agree, or will change our pagan style.

You can laugh at our starvation, and our divining games,
But know that when we rest at last, our time will come again
You've picked up quite the story, likely brainwashed from the womb,
What happened to love thy neighbor - you've been corrupted, but by whom?

Books in PDF format to read:

Anonymous - Pagan Stones And Gems
Anonymous - Pagan Germany
Rodolfo Amadeo Lanciani - Pagan And Christian Rome

Read more »

Love Is The Law

Do what thou wilt is the Whole of the Law
The time of The Will
Bursts forth Now, in the Spring
Implacable bud!

Let your Love burst forth and blossom freely
Thunder of roses
Unfettered by harsh will
Love willed to be Free

To soar with on Her Wings into New Heavens
Over pure New Earths
Love is Will purified
Love is Her own Law!

Sun is born again in primitive Light
With Arian Force
In the Spring House of Mars
New Life Exploding

From cold Winter's Icy dark Womb
Gives force to our Wills
Time of re-SOL-ution
We are born again

Juices of Spring wash us from Winter Womb
As Spring buds push out
We drop from Her belly
Like damp, new born colts

This is the time to re-SOL-ve our new lives
With Nature's Forces
Supporting and healing
As Old Winter dies

Also try this free pdf e-books:

Aleister Crowley - The Book Of The Law
Aleister Crowley - Book 4 Part Iv The Law
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - Living With The Lama

Read more »

To The Evening Star

Thou fair-haired angel of the evening
Now, while the sun rests on the mountain’s light
Thy bright torch of love
Thy radiant crown
Put on and smile upon our eveningbed
Smile on our loves
And while thou drawest the bluest curtains of the sky
Scatter thy silver dew
On every flower that shuts its sweet eyes
In timely sleep
Let thy west wind sleep on
The lake speaks silence with the glimmering eyes
And wash the dusk with silver
Soon full soon dost thou withdraw
Then the wolf rages wide
And the lion glares thro’ the dun forest
The fleeces our flocks are cover’d with
Thy sacred dew: protect them with thine influence.

by William Blake

Books in PDF format to read:

Howard Phillips Lovecraft - What The Moon Brings
Howard Phillips Lovecraft - The Lurking Fear

Keywords: array  array  array  array  array  

Read more »

The Hermit Hymn To Solitude

Book: The Hermit Hymn To Solitude by Aleister Crowley

Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhasa. Venerable Lord and Best of Friends. We, seeing the cycle in which Maha Brahma is perhaps more a drifting buoy than ourselves, knowing that it is called the walking in delusion, the puppet show of delusion, the writing of delusion, the fetter of delusion, are aware that the way out of the desert is found by going into the desert. Will you, in your lonely lamaserai, accept this hymn from me, who, in the centre of civilisation, am perhaps more isolated than you in your craggy fastness among the trackless steppes of your Untrodden Land?

Download Aleister Crowley's eBook: The Hermit Hymn To Solitude

Books in PDF format to read:

Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - The Hermit
Arthur Edward Waite - The Hermetic Museum
Aleister Crowley - The Heart Of The Master
Aleister Crowley - The Hermit Hymn To Solitude

Read more »

Various Essays On Lucid Dreaming

Book: Various Essays On Lucid Dreaming by Stephen La Berge

A number of Techniques facilitate lucid dreaming. One of the simplest is asking Yourself many times during the day whether you are dreaming. Each time you ask the question, you should look for evidence proving you are not dreaming. The most reliable test: Read something, look away for a moment, and then read it again. If it reads the same way twice, it is unlikely that you are dreaming. After you have proved to yourself that you are not presently dreaming, visualize yourself doing what it is you'd like. Also, tell yourself that you want to recognize a nighttime dream the next time it occurs. The mechanism at work here is simple; it's much the same as picking up milk at the grocery store after reminding yourself to do so an hour before.

At night people usually realize they are dreaming when they Experience unusual or bizarre occurrences. For instance, if you find yourself flying without visible means of support, you should realize that this happens only in dreams and that you must therefore be dreaming. If you awaken from a dream in the middle of the night, it is very helpful to return to the dream immediately, in your imagination. Now envision yourself recognizing the dream as such. Tell yoursel, "The next time I am dreaming, I want to remember to recognize that I am dreaming." If your intention is strong and clear enough, you may find yourself in a lucid dream when you return to sleep.

Even if you're a frequent lucid dreamer, you may not be able to stop yourself from waking up in mid-dream. And even if your dreams do reach a satisfying end, you may not be able to focus them exactly as you please. During our years of research, however, we have found that spinning your dream body can sustain the period of sleep and give you greater dream control. In fact, many subjects at Stanford University have used the spinning technique as an effective means of staying in a lucid dream. The task outlined below will help you use spinning as a means of staying asleep and, more exciting, as a means of traveling to whatever dream world you desire. When spinning, try to notice whether you're moving in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. - Stephen LaBerge and Jayne Gackenbach

Download Stephen La Berge's eBook: Various Essays On Lucid Dreaming

Books in PDF format to read:

Anonymous - Black Book Of Forbidden Knowledge Lucid Dreaming
Dean Hildebrandt - Essay On Enochiana
Stephen La Berge - Various Essays On Lucid Dreaming

Read more »

I Am A Witch

In deepest night, in forest deep,
In broad daylight, awake, asleep,
I am a Witch at every hour,
Touching magick, wielding power.

I am Goddess, Neverborn;
I wear the crescent, wear the horn,
I cast the circle, raise the cone,
And pour the wine when power's flown.

"An ye harm none, do as ye will"
Heal always, never kill,
Work your will but Earth revere,
And every creature living here.

Celebrate as the Wheel turns,
Dance and leap as bale fire burns.
Sing to Goddess, Moon times three,
Drink to God, stag-horned He.

Soar upon the astral planes,
Visit woodland fairy fanes,
Swim with dolphins in the sea,
Say to all things, "I am Thee."

Live in peace with cowan folk,
Touch with magick, give them hope;
Live with kindness, die with peace,
In Summerland to find surcease.

by Amber K.

Books in PDF format to read:

Dr Leo Martello - Weird Ways Of Witchcraft
Marian Green - A Witch Alone
Alfred Elton Van Vogt - The Witch
Anonymous - So My Kid Is A Witch

Read more »

How Far

How far do you walk
and where do you go
for it happens so often
this walk that you do
that it's peaceful to know
it is only for you.
While on this Earth-walk
our conscious becomes alive
and it's Through this awareness
that we can survive.
So, I ask you now in all seriousness
where is this place of Trust and Innocence
that we are told so often, Really exists.
So try not to struggle and be balanced in Thought
for it doesn't matter at all where you will start
The secret you'll find is to stay True to Yourself
so you can be you and nobody else.
Our lives are a gift for us to embrace
So my question to Thee?
Is why do we hate.
I don't know why
It's so hard to explain
The Beauty and Peace even the Pain.

(c. Roy Rindom, January 26, 1993)

Books in PDF format to read:

Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - You Forever
Aleister Crowley - To Man
Edna Kenton - The Book Of Earths
Samuel Liddell Macgregor Mathers - The Tarot

Read more »

Hymn To Pan

Book: Hymn To Pan by Aleister Crowley

HYMN TO PAN: This poem, Together With extracts from the Book of the Law and the Collects from the Gnostic Mass formed the Last Ritual at aleister crowley at his funeral in Brighton on December 5th, 1947.

Download Aleister Crowley's eBook: Hymn To Pan

Books in PDF format to read:

Devi Spring - The Emerging Indo Pagans
Aubrey Bell - The Magic Of Spain
Aleister Crowley - To Man
Aleister Crowley - Hymn To Pan

Read more »

Odin Lament

by Carol E. Meacham/Kano Runstafr Odinsdottir @ Copyright 1991 by Carol E. Meacham

This poem may be used in ritual, but I ask that you give appropriate author credit if published.

I heard the horn's cry
Clouds on the wind fly
Wood smoke and blood's tang
The call of the wolf rang
Long and loud in the stillness
Deep and wide in the vastness
A star's shine in the vast night
A tiny spark, proclaiming it's right
To be, as I am, whole
By Odin's decree playing it's role
Until the hour of need
When all bonds are freed
And the final winter arrives
Of Odin's host, not one alive
To proclaim what has been
What was to be and be again
"It is time," declared our lord
"When death will wait on our swords
When Light will perish in the dark
When sons and daughters see the mark
Of That Which proves a dying day
Come to steal the souls away
From your old Father's hand
What warriors here, from every land!
'Twould be a sorry sight,
Were we not to fight
Against the Norn's decree.
Come, my shieldmen, to me!
Where is Thor, my warrior son
Who's chariot makes the day to run
Cursed Loki, trickster, fool!
Condemned to lie in the poison pool!
Go away from me, betraying child!
You who makes the Fates run wild!
Traitor to Balder, fair as the light!
Because of you, the world in blight.
Faithful Tyr, Mighty Thor,
Beautiful Freya, to live no more
In Asgard's sacred halls of gold
All for Loki, mischief bold!
Oh, that I might hold back time,
For one more day of fairest clime
But now Ragnarok will claim my bones
The world will end with agony's groans
As your wise old Father at last retires
To Hela's embrace and Muspellheim's fires
Oh, my son, my faithful wife,
How long, how long our graceful lives?
Oh Asgard, beloved golden land
How long, how long, your rule to my hand?
My ravens, my wolves, my Valkyries fierce
Death's cold barbs, my heart they pierce
I did not know, I could not see
The runes did not reveal that need
But no more words, now march on
To war, to death, 'til time is gone!
For all that we have given here
I will not flinch, I will not fear
Oh my children, fight well and true
I go before to welcome you
Go not easy into death
Let not Hela steal your last breath
Whatever is left beyond the veil
I know that you can never fail!
For was it not all foretold
In runes and stones and tales of old?
And through it all the sun will rise
You see, your Father is Truly Wise!
For was not a new day promised?
Ah, but that sunrise I will miss
For after me will come a new lord
To take up the fight and claim the sword
So sing of me, when you gather here,
I will listen, never fear
For though I am gone, my power fades
I still can hear your prayers for aid
And I will answer, as I may,
And help to chase your fears away."
So the Lord did go out to Ragnarok
Fought til Hela's cold arms did lock
About the AllFather's ancient form
Oh, what wailing, what storms!
Grievous day, to come at last
After so long the fateful blast
Brave Thor, taken by the Serpent's coils
It's poison in his veins did roil
Soon he, too, did follow the path
Vanquished by the Serpent's wrath.
There the Hammer did lay,
Quiet and still, it's master away
Gone forever from Thor's hand
Quiet and still, the newborn land
Without it's gods to guard
A new race to be it's ward
And tell the tales as were told
Of ancient gods in a land of gold.

Books in PDF format to read:

Aleister Crowley - 1907 Diary Fragments
Anonymous - Odinism And Asatru
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - Feeding The Flame
Aleister Crowley - Rodin In Rime
Hrafnagaldr Odi - Odin Ravens Song

Read more »

Poetic Edda Edda Saeundar Hinns Froda

Book: Poetic Edda Edda Saeundar Hinns Froda by Benjamin Thorpe

Saemund, son of Sigfus, the reputed collector of the poems bearing his name, which is sometimes Also Called the Elder, and the Poetic, Edda, was of a highly distinguished family, being descended in a direct line from King Harald Hildetonn. He was born at Oddi, his paternal dwelling in the south of Iceland, between the years 1054 and 1057, or about 50 years after the establishment by law of the Christian religion in that island; hence it is easy to imagine that many heathens, or baptized favourers of the old mythic songs of heathenism, may have lived in his days and imparted to him the lays of the times of old, which his unfettered mind induced him to hand down to posterity.

The youth of Saemund was passed in travel and study, in Germany and France, and, according to some accounts, in Italy. His cousin John ogmundson, who later became first bishop of Holum, and after his death was received among the number of saints, when on his way to Rome, fell in with his youthful kinsman, and took him back with him to Iceland, in the year 1076. Saemund afterwards became a priest at Oddi, where he instructed many young men in useful learning; but the effects of which were not improbably such as to the common people might appear as witchcraft or magic: and, indeed, Saemund's predilection for the sagas and songs of the old heathen times (even for the magical ones) was so well known, that among his countrymen there were some who regarded him as a great sorcerer, though chiefly in what is called white or innocuous and defensive sorcery, a repute which still clings to his memory among the common people of Iceland, and will long adhere to it through the numerous and popular stories regarding him (some of them highly entertaining) that are orally transmitted from generation to generation.

Download Benjamin Thorpe's eBook: Poetic Edda Edda Saeundar Hinns Froda

Books in PDF format to read:

David Allen Rivera - Controlled By The Calendar The Pagan Origins Of Our Major Holidays
Rw Rogers - Adapa And The Food Of Life
Snorri Sturlson - The Prose Edda Ver 2
Loptsson - Icelandic Poetry Or The Edda Of Saemund
Benjamin Thorpe - Poetic Edda Edda Saeundar Hinns Froda

Read more »

Sacred Trees

Sacred trees
You among all creation deserve high honor.
For all your long life your arms you raise,
Heaven-ward in endless praise,
Leaves upturned to the sun,
To the face of the God of Life.

Sacred trees
You among all creation deserve love.
You give of yourself freely, as laden branches bend.
You give of yourself completely, your fruit, your wood; your end
Becomes a new Beginning
As you return your gift of life
And once again to the body of Mother Earth.

Sacred trees
You among all creation deserve sanctification.
Giving of yourself, from without and within
You sow no hate, you make no sin
You give to us the breath of life, even as you die.
Pray we too, learn to live as trees.

Raven Le May '95

Raven is a woman of spirit living in Ohio, who describes her Spirituality as having a Pagan Heart and a Catholic soul. She is publishing a book of her poems in the near future. Copyright (c) 1995 belongs to the author.

Books in PDF format to read:

Aleister Crowley - World Tragedy
Yacki Raizizun - The Secret Of Dreams
Howard Phillips Lovecraft - Selected Novels
Friedrich Max Muller - The Sacred Books Of The East
Stephen William Hawking - Space And Time Warps

Read more »

The Abyss And Tabaet A Study Of Adversarial Mythology In Magick

Book: The Abyss And Tabaet A Study Of Adversarial Mythology In Magick by Michael Ford

The purpose of the following essay is to not only examine masks worn by the fallen angels throughout history as well as to examine the etymology of the spirit of self-liberation and opposition from the praxis of occult thought. The very passing of power in the Circle of Witchcraft And Sorcery is the averse way of bringing into union Daemon and Man, the intent of the Adversary is life and the Immortality of the spirit. As “Luciferian Witchcraft” and “Liber HVHI” provide a foundation of sorcery which incorporates an interwoven praxis of Antinomianism and self-deification, the essential origins of the Daemonic Feminine and Masculine should be further understood by its origins.

What is regarded as common knowledge depicts that the Luciferian spirit, what is found are the associative traits and that the Adversary has existed long before Christianity. The Avestan texts as well as the Denkard provide a wealth of knowledge of Ahriman from a right hand path point of view, consider as such a veil which can only be passed through by the Great Work of initiation.

The names and cultural expressions of the Adversary are briefly explored as an introduction, from the ancient Persian, Hebraic and even Norse, the Adversary appears in each. As tempter, war maker, wisdom bringer and devouring predatory spirit. Look to the common aspects which make the Opposer as a force of initiation.

Lucifer/Ahriman/Samael is a spirit which is made viable through the Adept his/herself, this force is expressive of the individual, thus each manifestation unique as the initiate in question.

Download Michael Ford's eBook: The Abyss And Tabaet A Study Of Adversarial Mythology In Magick

Books in PDF format to read:

Scott Cunningham - Earth Air Fire And Water More Techniques Of Natural Magic
Three Initiates - The Kybalion A Study Of The Hermetic Philosophy Of Ancient Egypt And Greece
Joanne Pearson - Wicca And The Christian Heritage Ritual Sex And Magic
Lisa Mcsherry - The Alchemy Of Abundance Practical Money Magic
Michael Ford - The Abyss And Tabaet A Study Of Adversarial Mythology In Magick

Read more »

Aois Dana Rhianon

Written by Anne Cross (Braiding-the-Wind) in March of 1996.

My imagination is a horse
a white horse
a grey horse
a black horse

She gallops the plains of Heaven
tossing snow from her hoofs,
Across a sky full of sunlight and angels.

She weaves the woods of Faerie
with the mist thick around her hocks
Through a forest full of shadows and Sidhe

She stamps the depths of Hell
where the mire sucks at her knees
Past a valley full of Darkness and demons

She is my horse and I can guide her,
I can ride her,
But she is a hors and she can fight me,
She can throw me.

In the plains of Heaven, the woods of Faerie, the depths of Hell,
She can leave me to find my way home.

White horse child,
Grey horse child,
Black horse child.

To ride her takes courage,
To catch her takes words
Neither is easy -- especially if she's thrown you.

But I am the teller of tales,
speaker to the wind,
Listener to the sky,

And I will ride where my horse may take me.

Books in PDF format to read:

Stephen Mcnallen - What Is Asatru
Sepharial - Astrology And Marriage
Lil Bow Wow - What Is A Warlock
Confucius - Confucian Canon

Read more »

Myths And Myth Makers Old Tales And Superstitions

Book: Myths And Myth Makers Old Tales And Superstitions by John Fiske

IN publishing this somewhat rambling and unsystematic series of papers, in which I have endeavoured to touch briefly upon a great many of the most important points in the study of mythology, I think it right to observe that, in order to avoid confusing the reader with intricate discussions, I have sometimes cut the matter short, expressing myself with dogmatic definiteness where a sceptical vagueness might perhaps have seemed more becoming. In treating of popular
legends and Superstitions, the paths of inquiry are circuitous enough, and seldom can we reach a satisfactory conclusion until we have travelled all the way around Robin Hood's barn and back again. I am sure that the reader would not have thanked me for obstructing these crooked lanes with the thorns and brambles of philological and antiquarian discussion, to such an extent as perhaps to make him despair of ever reaching the high road.

I have not attempted to review, otherwise than incidentally, the works of Grimm, Muller, Kuhn, Breal, Dasent, and Tylor; nor can I pretend to have added anything of consequence, save now and then some bit of explanatory comment, to the results obtained by the labour of these scholars; but it has rather been my aim to present these results in such a way as to awaken general interest in them. And accordingly, in dealing with a subject which depends upon philology almost as much as astronomy depends upon mathematics, I have omitted philological considerations wherever it has been possible to do so. Nevertheless, I believe that nothing has been advanced as established which is not now generally admitted by scholars, and that nothing has been advanced as probable for which due evidence cannot be produced. Yet among many points which are proved, and many others which are probable, there must always remain many other facts of which we cannot feel sure that our own Explanation is the true one; and the student who endeavours to fathom the primitive thoughts of mankind, as enshrined in mythology, will do well to bear in mind the modest words of Jacob Grimm, - himself the greatest scholar and thinker who has ever dealt with this class of subjects,--"I shall indeed interpret all that I can, but I cannot interpret all that I should like." PETERSHAM, September 6, 1872.

Download John Fiske's eBook: Myths And Myth Makers Old Tales And Superstitions

Books in PDF format to read:

Nathan Elkana - The Master Grimoire Of Magickal Rites And Ceremonies
Talismagick - Love Spells And Rituals For Love And Relationships
Peter Henry Emerson - Welsh Fairy Tales And Other Stories
Gabor Klaniczay - Witchcraft Mythologies And Persecutions
John Fiske - Myths And Myth Makers Old Tales And Superstitions

Read more »

Fields Of Gold

my Pagan Heart brings me back
to another Time & days of old
when i once danced in fields of gold

wheat & barley skyward reached
as i danced in my bare feet
mother Earth & i are one
the seasons pass & all is done

i hear the call from deep within
to another time & days of old
when i once danced in fields of gold

Books in PDF format to read:

John Dee - The Calls Of Enoch
Asatru Free Assembly - The Lessons Of Asgard
John Earle - The Deeds Of Beowulf
Basil Crouch - Fairy Gold
Ea Wallis Budge - Legends Of The Gods

Read more »