Gnosis, in its more modern definition, and the four Ecclesias, temples, or churches are a feature of much of the inner order work of the Order of the Gnostic Star. It is used in most of the ordeals and workings that span the fourth-degree through the seventh, and even beyond into the mythical eighth-degree. However, there was very little documentation that defined this archetypal structure, nor any kind of explanation as to its importance and how it fits into the Order’s symbolic correspondences. I have written this article to help to define the four Ecclesias and to show their impor ..read more

 It has been a while since I performed a magical ordeal, and in fact, it has been quite a while. Recently, I created a time line to examine when I had undergone my most intense and powerful ordeals, and based on my calculations, the last major workings that I had performed were on the Summer Solstice of 2017. That’s almost seven years ago this coming summer. Since that time, however, I have written and published seven books, and each book was not an easy task to complete, especially the one dedicated to talismanic magic. So, it would seem that I have not been complacent and that my effo ..read more

The Winter Solstice is here, and as we celebrate the various holidays associated with this time of year, I often pause to reflect on what I have accomplished over the year and what I can look forward to in the coming year. Yet this coming year is very different for me than any previous year in the last decade or so. I have been working very hard with my new publisher, Cross Crow Books, since I was let go by Llewellyn, and by the end of year in 2024, I will have ten books in print with another one forthcoming early in the following year. That is, in my opinion, quite an accomplishment. I am ..read more

  As I read the news each day with a certain sobriety and sometimes, despair, I see our age becoming contaminated by perspectives, beliefs and opinions that would have been normal in the dark ages of the 12th century, but has no real place in our post modern world. Often, I feel that some of my fellow citizens are quite ignorant, misinformed, selfishly motivated, self-absorbed and incapable of seeing any higher purpose in life outside of their narrow communities. This is not the majority of the citizens of our nation who are so indisposed, but enough of them to either vote to end our re ..read more

  Recently, like over the Thanksgiving holidays, while I have been struggling to recover from a low grade diagnosis of pneumonia, I started writing and assembling the book “Abramelin Lunar Ordeal,” which is the eleventh book that I written since 2006. Like Liber Nephilim, there was a lot of material that had already been written, and I had sorted that material out so I could pull it into my manuscript. Therefore, it only took me around two weeks to complete the manuscript, but now I will need to fully edit it, insert footnotes and citations, insert the proposed artwork and diagrams, prod ..read more

  Many years ago, back in 1990, I started on a magical journey that led me to evoke the four chiefs of a body of fallen angels named the Nephilim by some, but who were known as the Beni Elohim, or Sons of God. They were a part of the angelic host known as the Watchers. How did that journey start out? Where did I get the idea that these angels even existed and were an important part of the occult and magical lore from antiquity, through the Middle Ages, to the Renaissance, Dr. John Dee, Enochian magic and to the 20th century Golden Dawn, Thelema and to the present century. There was no do ..read more

  Since the grimoire-only crowd and their ritual tech has become quite popular, they have espoused a spirit-only model of magic. That approach has given short shrift to a perfectly acceptable, and I might add, useful model of magic, which is a major part of a number of different, albeit, modern systems of magic. While it is true that the learned and literate of the previous age believed that humanity lacked any kind of personal power to effect the world around them, we now know that this is no longer the case. Human beings have a greater potential to effect the world around them, and th ..read more

  I just got back from my six day visit to New Orleans, and I am still feeling the effects of that visit. NOLA is a very magical place, and it has captured my heart in ways that I would not have expected. After walking many hours through the French Quarter, listening to wonderful Blues and Jazz music, saw the grave of Marie Leveau and toured the grave yard, and explored several occult bookstores all within walking distance from each other, I can say that I am quite enchanted. No other city that I have ever visited pridefully advertised itself as the locale of Voodoo and Witchcraft. No ..read more

  Klee - Diana in the Autumn Wind I can say with little doubt that I was born a Witch, but it took me until my mid teens to actually realize what that was. What kind of child I was could be summed up with the words, overly imaginative, romantic, creative, dreamy, a loner, disconnected from reality, and somewhat hyper active. I was obviously suffering from some degree of ADHD, and that was exacerbated by living under a father who was temperamental and physically and abusive. When other kids in my class thought about who would be successful in life, I would likely have been considered near ..read more

  As Witches and Pagans, our beliefs and practices have established a practical theology that proposes an immanent and intimate encounter and engagement with Deity. While monotheistic traditions had adopted a theology that proposed that Deity was both transcendental and immanent, in practice they established a Deity that was purely transcendental. This is why Islam and Judaism held forth sanctified individuals who acted as intermediaries for their Godhead (i.e., prophets, high priests or sheikhs), and why Christianity established a Son of God that was both flesh and blood, mortal and al ..read more