9 posts tagged “voudon gnosis”

The Voudon Gnosis snakeskin deluxe, in shimmering ophidian glory..

Dear Friends,

Our printers have just delivered the re-print of Voudon Gnosis to us.
It has been a frustrating delay for our readers and David Beth, but the wait is now over. We settle for nothing less than excellence.
We would also like to make it clear that we are using a different printer for Devoted and all future titles. But let's leave talk of that until after the weekend..

In Nomine Babalon

Scarlet Imprint x

Finally, a clear exposition of the Voudon Gnostic system of Michael Bertiaux and the work of La Couleuvre Noire.
The thriving multiverse of artistic imagination which this current represents has been explored by Kenneth Grant, but this is the first text giving the inside experience of an initiand.
A fascinating and challenging glimpse into the Voudon system, it is both a gateway for students and an inspiration for those looking for a more creative occultism.
This book is a perfect introduction to the complexities of that strangest of all modern grimoires, Bertiaux'sVoudon Gnostic Workbook.
Expanding upon the groundwork of his essay in Howlings, David Beth guides us through this eclectic, syncretic and highly personal system of sorcery which nevertheless has come from a genuine Haitian lineage.
Those looking for the wilder atavistic energies of sex magick, as we find embodied in the art of Austin Osman Spare, will find much of interest in this book. Voudon Gnosis outlines a more complex and highly developed system of sex magick than is found in the secret grade papers of the Western magickal tradition.

Voudon Gnosis covers:

Las Prise des Yeaux
Points Chauds
Spider Sorcery and Time Travelling
Elemental Sex Magick
The Grimoire Ghuedhe

With appendices on:

Nganga and the Fetish
A-Mor, an initiated analysis of Love

David Beth is the Sovereign Grand Master for the international Voudon Orders and is the Presiding Bishop of the Ecclesia Aeterna. A tireless ambassador, teacher and speaker, David is one of the key players and most charismatic characters in the modern occult revival.

A new reader review of David Beth's Voudon Gnosis:

Seized by the Eyes

Kenneth Grant has described the main purpose of his books as to prepare people for encounters with unfamiliar state of consciousness. In Voudon Gnosis, David Beth describes the principles in the works of Michael Bertiaux as leading to true Gnostic Luciferean transformation. Both Grant and Bertiaux have devised highly original systems of magic which draw on the creativity of the adherent. This is not a simple structured system of rote learning, rather they both offer guides or pointers into deep and complex magical universes which the adherent must learn to develop him or herself. In Bertiaux’s system, adherents use ‘La Prise des Yeaux’, a form of occult active imagination, to explore their magical universe, often documenting it through personal art works.

Bertiaux’s writings do not outline a linear system of magic or esoteric spirituality. Rather they delve into a complex but intriguing web of magical openings which could be analogised by the system of points chaud where magical entities are impregnated in the physical body of the adherent and then activated as required to meet certain purposes. His system is catholic by nature and purpose, and much richer by reason of this. By, as David Beth describes, using a range of spiritual and esoteric systems, it opens up a broad magical universe, which then allows for the absorption of the diverse range of energies.

Bertiaux’s magnum opus, the Voudon Gnostic Workbook, is a dense, complex and voluminous compilation of papers on the magical system he has worked on and helped develop over the last number of decades. Finally back in print in an affordable paperback edition, it a dense and bulging tome of truly occult methodology and philosophy. It is a foreboding text with a seemingly multitude of ports of entry.

David Beth has chosen some of the key elements of the system and provided a lucid exegesis in a slim and attractive volume published by Scarlet Imprint. Expanding on an article originally published in the Howlings anthology, the text has been expanded on and structured in an even more user-friendly manner. There are also some extra diagrams, which help facilitate a clearer comprehension of the complex areas covered.

Armed with the insight gained through reading Voudon Gnosis, the Voudon Gnostic Workbook becomes a much less foreboding document, and the true potential and scope of its magical system becomes much more clear. While there have be other primers of sorts for other magical systems, in particular thelemic magick, I have yet to read a text which is comparable in the effect it has had in introducing the possibilities and scope of a magical system or philosophy. While this is of course a function of staggering scope of Bertiaux’s system, credit must also be due to the author, David Beth, in unveiling some of the content of this ophidian chthonic current.

In addition to an explanation of some of concepts of voudon gnosis, there are also some very useful appendices. Of particular interest in an essay on an initiated interpretation of love, AMOR, which explores the conception of esoteric love, a subject I found fascinating. There are further instructional material on the use of fetishes and time travelling, expanding on materials touched upon in the main text.

Voudon gnosis has been produced in a limited edition and will no doubt soon sell out. It must surely classify as one of the most intriguing and practical occult texts published in recent years and should be classified as essential reading for anyone with more than a passing interest in esoteric methodology.

-David Heney

The spirits were out in force at the launch of Voudon Gnosis, we thought we'd share the write up of the event from Treadwells:

The official record of the Voudon Gnosis launch party is a little stream-of-consciousness, as the recollections of magical states so often are. The bare statistics are for the record:
The Book: Voudon Gnosis.
The Author: David Beth.
The Publisher: Scarlet Imprint / Peter Grey.
The Editor: Scarlet Imprint: Alkistis Dimech.
The Launch Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop.
The Drink: Rum & Coke, courtesy of Scarlet Imprint.
The Party: 80 of the most extraordinary magical people alive today who could make their way to Covent Garden.

So that's the raw data. Then to the ineffable. What a night it was.

Arrivals from Italy, from Central Europe, hugs and kisses in four languages, bags and cases piled everywhere in the corners of Treadwell's. The generosity of the publishers with Rum & Cokes in highball glasses. A senior Thelemite waving pom-poms over the author. Smoking of cigar in a ceremonial fashion. A voudoniste bookdealer lying on the Treadwell's kitchen floor in paralytic bliss. An occultist waltzing with a magical artist in the quiet upstairs of the shopfloor. The Bulgarian sitar-player laughing with friends. The raven-tressed New York fashion model smiling shyly. Excited murmerings about upcoming Kenneth Grant lectures. London's regal Isis priestess holding court at the bar. A Hecate priestess whispering into her ear the secrets of dark goddesses. The quiet ghost-hunter nodding gently. The editor in her stunning stilettos and gracious intelligence. Spare enthusiasts flirting amongst each other. The tarot master and the flame-haired shamaness laughing to banish mundanity with the legendary Stella Damiana.

And eventually, eventually... a bedraggled and happy departure before midnight from the little golden-lit shop into the night, to the after-hours clubs. Once again, the oak-panelled confines of PJ's piano bar in Wellington Street received the rum-sodden magicians for more drinks and their occult bonhomie.

This is one to remember. Thanks for being the most remarkable people.

Dear Friends,

We hope to see you at Treadwell's Bookshop this evening for the launch of David Beth's Voudon Gnosis. 

If you are not there it should look something like this:

Please insert your own cigar.

It promises to be a giddy Ghuedhe of a night.
 

In Nomine Babalon

Scarlet Imprint x
 

VOUDON GNOSIS by David Beth, a new title from Scarlet Imprint
Public Press Release

Dear Friends,

We have completed a sleek redesign of the www.scarletimprint.com website in preparation for the public release of Voudon Gnosis on October 1.
Do let your voyeuristic tendencies draw you to our new abode.

In Nomine Babalon

Scarlet Imprint x

Dear Friends,

Just a brief announcement.
We are preparing a new title for publication in October.

Voudon Gnosis by David Beth.

For those interested in the Voudon Gnostic Workbook and the world of Michael Bertiaux's esoteric voudon, this will prove to be an invaluable guide.

Those wanting all the booknographic details of the publication will have to wait a little while.
Pre-orders will be opening in mid september for our subscriber list.

If you want to get a sense for the text, fuller details can now be found on the scarletimprint.com website.

We can tantalisingly promise that there will be other titles before the end of the year.

In Nomine Babalon

Scarlet Imprint x