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The notable L W deLaurence returns to this blog with another excellent work, this time compiling a laundry list of phenomena together (telepathy, spiritualism, somnambulism, mesmerism, and clairvoyance) to analyze them and draw them together while explaining, basically, their function and use. As usual, the notable (notorious?) author manages to remain collected enough to...

This intermediate length work is presented here partially for cautionary reasons; Mesmer and his school of thought were briefly accepted as miraculous and spiritually significant until the fraudulent nature of some of his practices were exposed. That being said, this text is mostly a compilation of testimonial work regarding the efficacy of magnetic bathing and associated...

This fine work is essentially about autosuggestion and its various uses. Since it dates to the dawn of the 1900s, these were profuse in number- it is worth noting that a few of the usages of the same therapeutic means are still accepted even to this day by some, including in some cases, mainstream medicine. Hypnosis after a fashion is still utilized to some degree of success...

This very short manuscript is slightly amusing as well as informative; it gives a good mid 19th century (and then-rational) look at mesmerism and hypnotism- applauding the latter, even in its rationalism, for abilities which are now seen as bunk just as much as the way the author here chastises Mesmer as having been a fraud (he was.)

It is true, though, that some of the abilities...

While extremely short this work needed to be released in a modern edition because it is perhaps one of the best examples of claims made by proponents of hypnotism in its era; its efficacy at treating certain disorders is now beyond question but claims here that it works almost invariably and can cure everything from tuberculosis to asthma of course are now rendered into the same...

This work is quite interesting; and at this point it takes quite a bit to trip my interest since I read and edit similar works all day. Written at the dawn of the 20th century, it is partly about how to mesmerize (theory and action both) and partly about mind reading and similar topics, but it meanders into the realm of sociology and begins, about two thirds of the way through, to...

Charles Leland (who is notable for his most famous work, Aradia, and for some other significant folkloric work especially in Italy) wrote this work under a different title originally but ended up creating this variant (which was published posthumously) for an American audience. It is quite good, and fuses a bit of fairies and folklore in with its essentially psychological content...

This work is one of the better things that LW DeLaurence wrote. Containing fewer self-advertizements and a lot more how-to content, it dispels some myths about mesmerism and hypnotism, and proposes about a dozen methods by which various suggestive states can be induced- including the famous trick of hypnotizing a chicken using a chalk line or a finger (it apparently does indeed...

This short work is a sort of wrap-up and short addendum to my other political releases; a treatment of some propaganda deployed by the corporate media, politicians, etc- dwelling on the behavioral. Within this tract I try my best to educate on this topic so people will hopefully be able to resist, to some degree, the same strategies.

26 pages.

This work is something I do not necessarily agree with in an occult sense but, for historical reasons and because of its (extremely) interesting take on the Salem Witch Trials, it is certainly worthy of inclusion in the ever-expanding library of releases here.

Written by Putnam in the middle of the 1800s, it is notable in that it makes the claim (though not directly) of a new...

Things are going along quite smoothly at present; due to the sudden coming of snow (far earlier than usual) I've gotten a little ADHD addled I suppose and I have three works not complete but all more than half complete; namely the (very good) South Sea Herbal, the Asuri Kalpa, and A work called "Everybody's Astrology." I figure at least one will be done before November ends, and the other two in...

The Book of Forbidden Knowledge should in no way be judged based on its era and type of manufacture. A simple paperback released at the dawn of the 20th century, it's really more of a modern grimoire influenced by the Oracle/Napoleonic tradition than it is a hand guide of trickery typical of that late Victorian age.

Covering charms, talismans, fortune telling, prognostication,...