Friday, September 26, 2014

Mastering the Tarot By David Newman

 In this four part Tarot course David will teach how to use the Tarot cards for divination, meditation, and as a practical tool to be used in Ceremonial Magick for both Theurgic and Thaumaturgic applications. The Tarot is more than just a system of divination; they truly hold all the secrets to the Sanctum Sanctorum.

David will introduce the tarot in an understandable and practical manner so that anyone can begin using their tarot deck for both divination and as a tool for meditation and self-discovery. David has been studying the tarot for over 20 years and is a well-known tarot reader and Occult scholar. If you own a tarot deck and would like to know how to get started using it, or you just want get a new prospective on the cards don't miss this class.


 David is a well known Psychic, Witch, and teacher in the Witch City (Salem, MA). Let David help you get the answers you need. With David's many years of reading and Psychic intuition he can assist you with problems in career, marriage, spiritual crisis and all matters of the heart.

Education and Experience
 David has more than twenty years experience perfecting his mystical gifts, which include Mediumship, Tarot, and Psychic Vision. Let him teach you powerful spells to bring health, love and financial security into your life, or to take control of negative situations and turn them to your favor.


Dates: September 24, October 23, November 20, December 18, 2014

Location: Hermetic Arts Learning Center

105 Bridge St. Salem MA. 01970

Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm

Price: $100.00 - all four classes

              For more information contact:

            DavidNewman@hermeticarts.com or call 772-380-2725                

Monday, September 22, 2014

Autumn Equinox - Thanksgiving


 Autumn Equinox marks the turning of the wheel and officially occurs this year on September 22 2014 at 10:29 PM. 

The word equinox comes from the Latin meaning ‘equal light’, which occurs twice in the calendar year. This is the time when both the Southern and the Northern hemispheres receive an equal amount of sunlight/day and darkness/night.  Autumn Equinox, gives a nod to its counterpart, the Spring Equinox, which traditionally occurs around March 21st. For those of us living in the Northern hemisphere we can expect shorter days, longer nights and colder temperatures.

The Wheel of the Year
Autumn Equinox is observed as the second of three harvest festivals.  The first falls on August 1st and the 3rd on October 31st. Autumnal Equinox is considered ‘Thanksgiving’ or ‘Harvest Home’ within many modern Pagan traditions and is celebrated as such.  The blessings of the gods, the balance of light and dark in the world and within ourselves is observed.

The ‘Other’ Thanksgiving
Mainstream Thanksgiving on this continent was first celebrated in the year 1607 in Jamestown.  The famous ‘Thanksgiving’ we learned about as children involving pilgrims and native people which lasted over three days, occurred in the autumn of 1621. 

The official date of Thanksgiving within the United States as we know it today has been celebrated at different times and in different states depending on the president in office at the time. 
 George Washington first proclaimed a ‘Day of Thanksgiving’ on Oct 3rd 1789 and declared the 26th of November to be the day to give thanks.  However, different northern states over the following years celebrated on different days or not at all depending on their governor at the time. Abraham Lincoln set the date in 1863 as the last Thursday in November proclaiming that it should occur annually throughout the country in order to accommodate those who worked in government departments. 

During Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s term in office, Thanksgiving moved to the last week in November, there being five weeks in November that year, and this was done in the hopes of boosting a weak economy during the final years of the Depression.  But the new date change affected millions of Americans and a vote as to the proper date was called for by both political parties. Unfortunately one could not be agreed upon and the term Franksgiving (Franklin/Thanksgiving) was coined creating the brief celebration of two Thanksgivings. The democrats bowed their heads and gave thanks on November 23rd while  the republicans enjoyed their feast on November 30th.   

Finally in the year 1941 congress voted to ‘split the difference’ firmly proclaiming the National holiday would be observed on the Fourth Thursday in November; the house agreed and order once again reigned.


Shared Symbols of the Season: 
Whichever thanksgiving one prefers and regardless of the month or date, we are all in agreement I believe that symbols for this, a time of gratitude, are harvested gifts of the earth, the waning of the light, and the introspective colder months to come.  

Festive decorations include harvest gourds, colorful fall foliage, cider, wine, apples, pumpkin pie, seeds, nuts and a hearty meal shared with family and friends.


So dear ones, whenever the season, whatever the reason, many blessings to us all!



http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving


Friday, September 19, 2014

Witchfather: A Life of Gerald Gardner

 Philip Heselton, renowned author and occult historian, specializing in the research of the origins of modern day Wicca and its founder Gerald Gardner will be giving a lecture on his two volume biography of Gerald Gardner “Witchfather”.

This is the first full-length biography of Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884-1964) – a very personal tale of the man who single-handedly brought about the revival of witchcraft in England in the mid 20th Century.

From his birth into an old family of wealthy Liverpool merchants, through an unconventional upbringing by his flamboyant governess in the resorts of the Mediterranean and Madeira, it tells how, having taught himself to read, his life was changed by finding a book on spiritualism.

During a working life as a tea and rubber planter in Ceylon, Borneo and Malaya, he came to know the native people and was invited to their secret rituals.

But it was only on his retirement to England, settling on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, that destiny took him firmly by the hand. Through various twists and turns involving naturist clubs and a strange esoteric theatre, he became friends with a group of people who eventually revealed their true identity to him – they were members of a surviving witch coven.

One evening in 1939, as the hounds of war were being unleashed, he was initiated into the ‘witch cult’ by these people, who called themselves ‘the Wica’. Gardner was overwhelmed by the experience and was determined that the ‘witch cult’ should survive.

This book chronicles his efforts over the remaining quarter century of his life to ensure not only that it survived but that it would become the significant player on the world religious stage that it now is – “the only religion that England has ever given the world”, in the words of Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at the University of Bristol, who calls it “… a very fine book: humane, intelligent, compassionate, shrewd, and based upon a colossal amount of primary research”. He describes Philip Heselton as being “… the most interesting, valuable and enjoyable author who has yet written on what is becoming one of the greatest riddles in the history of modern religion: the origins of pagan witchcraft. … Nobody has ever done more than Philip Heselton to reveal the world of magic, paganism, naturism and faerie that lay behind the garden gates of inter-war English suburban villas; and perhaps only he could have done it at all.”

 Philip Heselton – Brief Biography

Born on 29th March 1946, Philip's affinity with paganism has been life-long. 

Co-founder of the Ley Hunters Club with Jimmy Goddard they produced “The Ley Hunter” magazine in 1965. The subject of Earth Mysteries subsequently drove him to writing several books including “The Elements of Earth Mysteries” and “Leylines – A Beginner’s Guide”.

Having read Gerald Gardner’s “Witchcraft Today” in 1960 it greatly influenced him in the years that followed.  Feeling that paganism is about our own experience of the deeper side of the landscape around us, he wrote a series of books published by Capall Bann, including “Secret Places of the Goddess”; “Mirrors of Magic” and “Magical Guardians – Exploring the Spirit and Nature of Trees”.

Recently Philip has gone back to his roots in researching the sources of Gerald Gardner’s writings which has resulted in his latest books – “Wiccan Roots” and “Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration”.   "Witchfather: is his most recent gift to our community having been published by Thoth Publications 64 Leopold Street, Loughborough LE11 5DN in 2012.

Philip will be finishing the night with a Q&A session and book signing. This exclusive event at the Hermetic Arts Learning Center is not to be missed. We will be attending and are greatly looking forward to the event and a chance to meet this remarkable man.

Date: October 29, 2014

Location: Hermetic Arts Learning Center

105 Bridge St. Salem MA. 01970

Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm

Price: $ 40.00

              For more information contact:

            DavidNewman@hermeticarts.com or call 772-380-2725

Friday, September 12, 2014

The Life and Work of Aleister Crowley

 Clun Memorial Hall, Clun, Shropshire, SY7 8NY · Saturday 13 September 2014

The Life and Work of Aleister Crowley is a Conference organized by the Pagan Federation Mid-West and Wales.
Speakers booked are David Benton giving a talk on Aleister Crowley’s Early Life including the Golden Dawn and The Boleskine Retreat, Geraldine Beskin on Aleister Crowley and Dion Fortune Sexologist, Gary Nottingham on Progradior & the Beast: Frank Bennett and the Abbey of Thelema with Sef Salem and Robin Cousins also confirmed. A major gathering of Crowley experts so should be an informative conference. A good day out in the beautiful borders that we are more than happy to support.

Tickets will be priced at £10 for PF members, £12 non-members and £15 on the day for everyone. Proceedings start at 10.30am.
For more information contact the PF District Managers on 07968 599882 or email mwaw.dm@paganfederation.co.uk


There will be specialist books from us, Scarlet Imprint, along with other stalls, light snacks with tea and coffee, and a large free car park.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Plant Healer September Issue

Featuring experience-based & adventurous writings by teachers, practitioners & plant lovers combining inquiry, inspiration & skills in artful celebration of the evolving folk herbalism culture

“This is the first publication I've seen in my 38-year career that captures the wild diversity of herbalism in North America while still reflecting excellence and high-level practice… points of view from many regions, traditions, and schools of North American thought.. For the practicing herbalist from entry level to advanced, inclusively.”
-Paul Bergner, North American Institute of Medical Herbalism

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-Phyllis Light, Appalachian Center for Herbal Studies

 Member Subscription Includes:
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We invite you to join in the Plant Healer community, with a year’s Subscription to this paperless quarterly journal of the new folk herbalism resurgence.  Plant Healer Magazine is a downloadable, lavishly illustrated, full color PDF magazine with over 250 page-long issues! – dedicated to the further informing, inspiring and empowering of all you practicing herbalists and advanced herbal teachers, eager students and impassioned beginners, conservationists and activists, informal community healers and unrepentant lovers of plants… as well as everyone taking any responsibility for their own basic health needs or those of their families!  Plant Healer combines cutting edge science with heartfelt intuitive practice, personal stories that inspire and practical skills that enable.  Imagine mating a credible clinical journal with a lushly edgy arts and culture magazine, and what you get is Plant Healer.  There’s never been anything else like it, nor will there ever be.