Member: FredSmeegle

Owen's book sounds fascinating! I'll have to add that to the reading list. Right now I've been focusing on books for my dissertation -- primarily Nomads and the Outside World by Khazanov. I did finish just last week A.E. Waite's Pictorial Guide to the Tarot, which was interesting but didn't go into the history of the different cards or divination as much as I would have liked. It was mostly a description of his deck.

posted by marc_beherec at 3:56 pm (EST) on Mar 29, 2009

Cool. Let me know what you think of Waite.

I'm interested in Modernism as well. I don't know about Owen's book, though. How is that?

posted by marc_beherec at 1:03 pm (EST) on Feb 9, 2009

Waite was very prolific (not to mention a member of the original Golden Dawn). The Rider-Waite Tarot was indeed based on his Pictorial Key to the Tarot. I greatly enjoyed his Book of Ceremonial Magic (which is an expansion of his Book of Black Magic). I've been meaning to read his Holy Kabbalah, which has been sitting on my shelf for years (as has The Way of a Pilgrim, incidentally).

Of course, Lovecraft read Waite's work and considered him pompous, and I can see why. He is extremely well-read, and his books are rather dense. For his time, he was one of the most brilliant and knowledgeable occultists, though it's possible that some of the new translations that are coming out of the old texts may be better than what Waite had to work with.

posted by marc_beherec at 4:59 pm (EST) on Feb 1, 2009

I'm pleased you find my library interesting. Let me know if you have questions or wish to discuss books.

posted by marc_beherec at 11:26 pm (EST) on Jan 19, 2009