In Pursuit of Mysteries

Thesis Masochism or “My Thesis is available…”

It is with only a minor feeling of dread that I make this announcement: For the few that have an interest in my Master’s thesis, I’ve made a book form of it available on lulu.com.

It is relatively short because of the guidelines for my program and I could have gone on at much greater length (ask me sometime about the twenty page fifth chapter that I removed or the whole section on talismans that was excised). For my occultist or cabalistic friends, many of the details will be old hat. Overall, chapters are kept to a fairly concise level without going off in all possible directions.

With these caveats in mind, it is available. I’ve made the PDF file of it freely available to anyone. There is a print version of it as well. The cost for that is the base lulu.com price. I’m not getting a single penny in return for any purchased copies. The print version is largely so that a few people, like my mother, can get decently bound copies of the thesis. For most othes, the PDF file will suffice.

I did purchase a copy of my own thesis (it is, indeed, a sad world) so I could make sure that the page flow, formatting, etc. was correct in book form. On the basis of that, I made a few changes (adding some blank pages in a couple of places and reformatting my table of contents) and also created a much prettier cover.

Hail to the King, Baby

On this longest night of the year, I look into the darkness and await the dawning of the light.

The lord of this world, literally the Light of the World, returns at dawn from this, the longest night of the year.

This is a time celebrated by many of our ancestors, both cultural and actual, over the generations back into the mists of time.

I’m not so much a Buddhist that I forget our pagan roots, just as the Thai, Japanese, Chinese and the other peoples of Asia have never forgotten their own non-Buddhist heritage.

At this moment, I will quote that hoary white and imperialist bard, Rudyard Kipling.

A Song to Mithras

(Hymn of the XXX Legion: circa 350 A.D.)

Mithras, God of the Morning, our trumpets waken the Wall!
‘Rome is above the Nations, but Thou art over all!’
Now as the names are answered, and the guards are marched away,
Mithras, also a soldier, give us strength for the day!

Mithras, God of the Noontide, the heather swims in the heat.
Our helmets scorch our foreheads, our sandals burn our feet.
Now in the ungirt hour—now ere we blink and drowse,
Mithras, also a soldier, keep us true to our vows!

Mithras, God of the Sunset, low on the Western main—
Thou descending immortal, immortal to rise again!
Now when the watch is ended, now when the wine is drawn,
Mithras, also a soldier, keep us pure till the dawn!

Mithras, God of the Midnight, here where the great bull dies,
Look on thy children in darkness. Oh take our sacrifice!
Many roads thou hast fashioned—all of them lead to the Light,
Mithras, also a soldier, teach us to die aright!

Western Esotericism and the Net

“Western Esotericism” as a field of study continues to develop within the halls of Academia. Last year, I attended the second International Conference on Esotericism at the University of California, Davis. This was organized by the Association for the Study of Esotericism (ASE), of which I am a member as well. The ASE has the official mission “to promote excellence in scholarship and teaching in the study of esotericism and mysticism. This is to be accomplished through conferences and meetings, publications, programs, and membership services” and is an academic organization primarily filled with the few professors teaching in this area, at least part of the time, and graduate students working on degrees focusing on some aspect of Western Esotericism.

There is a sister organization (in a way), the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE). I’ve been aware of the existence of it but did not find its web site until this evening. Strangely, roughly half of the membership of the European Society are Americans and I expect that I will probably join as well as it seems complimentary to the membership in the ASE.

It turns out that the ESSWE maintains a blog for their newsletter as well. This blog actually seems to receive posts on a regular basis. Among other items of interest are a report from the very recently held meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), which is the primary academic body for people working in the field of religion or religious studies in the United States. Within the AAR, there is a group focused on Western Esotericism, as well as one focusing on on Pagan Studies (the Conference on Contemporary Pagan Studies). The report on the blog gives some details of the events at the AAR meeting and is worth a read for those interested in such things.

Another item of interest is a post, “The Demarcation of Western Esotericism in Theory and Practice,” by Sara M. Thejls.

The Scandinavian members of ESSWE have also started up their own blog for the Scandinavian Network for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism (SNASWE). (You have to love all these acronyms…) This is edited by Henrik Bogdan whose recent work on comparing and contrasting Masonic, Golden Dawn, and Wiccan initiation ceremonies has finally been produced by an academic press. I read a copy of the dissertation that this is based on for my own thesis relating to the Golden Dawn and I like his work there and elsewhere.

There is also another blog run by the independent “Cambridge Centre for Western Esotericism” in the UK.

All of this is a relatively new development. A few years ago, there were very few people actively blogging or publicly discussing Western Esotericism on the Net. Those that had been were independent bloggers like myself, Grant Potts, or a few other parties. Most of the activity has been behind the relatively closed doors of small or private e-mail lists run by the few of us working actively in these areas (though there currently is no good list for discussing Western Esotericism). The move towards more public academic activity through the use of blogs is a nice change.