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This little booklet is a good overview of a few centuries of interesting Greek history, specifically looking at the change in its religious system as the region went from a relative backwater to a technologically advanced major trading center and military power. The rise of individualism, as a replacement for the old aristocratic system, and its considerable impact on...

This is an excellent book written under a pseudonym by Catharine Gore, a socialite best known for novels involving women being prim, proper, and exhibiting aristocratic tendencies. The folkloric and mythological content here is predominantly presented for the purposes of explaining why it is false and discredited- however my own interest was piqued even more by a few examples of...

This particular book is one of the better works of L W DeLaurence, and is entirely centered around the concept of death- attendant to this, it speaks of Hindu, Christian, and generally occult materials, ruminating on social issues like suicide and alcoholism, while also promoting spiritism and mediumship. It culminates with two bizarre chapters at the end of the book which...

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This intriguing work is, in my opinion, the best broad introductory guide to the fascinating (and expansive) subject of the worship of the human genitals and of reproduction, as the basis for (or a basis of) religion and religious practice. The subject can be sub-divided into various subtopics such as serpent veneration, archaeological remains of generative type, the cultus...

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This is an excellent compilation of folk tales and proverbs and miscellany related to Japan, written by the famous Lafcadio Hearn at the tale end of the 19th century. It has the value of being not only academically intriguing but interesting in the sense of the tales it compiles; the tradition of floating lamps out to sea for the deceased, the use of incense as a parlor game, and...

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This is a very exciting work; it combines segments and content from a half dozen sources, and was allegedly crafted by none other than Rosicrucian heavyweight Swineburne Clymer at the dawn of the 20th century. Despite the "grand grimoire" label most of the interior material comes from the Clavicle of Solomon and a variant of the Black Pulletand deals with magical talismans and...

 

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This work is a broad overview of a couple centuries of Greek philosophy from the era of Thales and similar figures, up through the age of Socrates. It importantly contains a section explaining the sophists, and the non-pejorative origin of that term, as well as some of the various theories and intellectual meanderings of the philosophers, like the concept of Atomism. Most Greek...

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This is a second short collection of magic-related poetry by A E Waite. Unlike "Lucasta", which was named after his wife, this collection deviates from the more romantic side of poetry and is slightly melancholic in nature; one of the inclusions here is a sort of short stage play containing interaction between a man and a fairy, and appears to be a symbolic reference to the...

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This nice collection of magic-related poems comes from none other than AE Waite of tarot deck fame, notable as well for compiling English fairy lore, and for his famous Book of Ceremonial Magic. Most of these poems are quite good, and I have attempted to retain their format entirely. A few typographical errors were corrected and that is the only meaningful change save for the...

 

This short work is part of the well regarded religion series of its era and delves partly into the evolution of religious systems "towards" pantheism and partly into a refutation of the belief that certain figures from before Spinoza conform, at least literally, to the pantheistic doctrine. A bit about the life and beliefs of Spinoza himself complete this work, which is...

 

This strange work was crafted by a man who, upon brief investigation, is one of the most enigmatic figures in the occult which I have encountered. A relatively high class lawyer of the 19th century, Hatch' best known work wasn't even written by him, and was made posthumously via automatic writing. This text contributes to the sense of oddity in the case of the author, since it...

 

This well made Theosophical work is, I think, my favorite by Besant thus far. It avoids some of the more strange material in that path associated with ethnic issues and focuses almost entirely on religious history- namely that associated with Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Christianity, proclaiming that those are akin to four epochs of spiritual development, with...