richardkaczynski.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Something I’ve not seen before: loose issues of The Universal Free Mason. I’ve only ever come across a single bound volume in the wild (i.e., outside of libraries). The magazine was published by the American Masonic Federation, whose officers were found guilty of fraud in the early 1920s… /1

submitted 5 hours ago • 1 comment

One year ago today, “Friendship in Doubt: Aleister Crowley, J. F. C. Fuller, Victor B. Neubirg, and British Agnosticism” joined the Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism Book Series as its newest release. Thanks to everyone for reading, and to @oxunipress.bsky.social for believing in this project.

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

On the 425th anniversary of the martyrdom of Giordano Bruno at the hands of the Roman Inquisition on February 17, Gallowglass Books released a gorgeous lithograph by Jose Gabriel Alegría Sabogal depicting the immolation of the celebrated mystic, cosmologist and Gnostic saint. /1

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Scenes from a European bakery Me: I’d like the prune pączki, please. Baker (grabbing a single-serve baggie): Sure! Which one of these would you like? Me: All of them.

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

“The Lady and the Beast” is a much-needed book devoted to artist Frieda Harris, especially her years-long collaboration with Aleister Crowley on the Thoth Tarot. The culmination of Deja Whitehouse’s decade of painstaking work—organizing the Harris papers at the Warburg Institute, /1

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

I review the new English edition of a major magical text, Summa Sacre Magice: medium.com/@danharms_29...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Here’s part 1 of a 2-part chat with my long-time friend & colleague David Shoemaker, where we respond to questions from @maeviuslynn.bsky.social’s Discord, Orchard of Thelema. It’s a pleasure to discuss ideas with David, & see how our perspectives are similar/different. /1 youtu.be/IMDhOmOgXlo?...

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

The real lesson from Eyes Wide Shut is that you should be testing people BEFORE you let them into the temple.

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

Owen Ware’s Return of the Gods argues that British/German Romantics’ fascination w mythology was a forward-looking reinterpretation “to elevate the human imagination to higher stages of self-development in which philosophy and poetry, as well as intellect and imagination, form an integrated whole.”

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

Two brand new books in Jungian studies from @princetonupress.bsky.social: “On Dreams and the East” presents for the first time Jung’s 1933 Berlin conference on yoga & dream analysis at a precarious moment in world history. With material on Tantric yoga, mandalas & yantras, it sounds fascinating! /1

submitted 11 days ago • 2 comments

New post on my Substack about the strange society known as the Golden Dawn: "Fräulein Sprengel’s pronouns - Another story about a dodgy document" religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com/p/fraulein-s...

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

I'm delighted to be speaking at Treadwell's Books in London on 20 March about Pagan revivals through history. www.treadwells-london.com/events-1/pag...

submitted 14 days ago • 4 comments

I may not be able to attend the Ithell Colquhoun show at the Tate, but that didn’t stop me from ordering the exhibition book, which is filled with beautiful art, photos, and essays.

submitted 15 days ago • 1 comment

I dozed off on the sofa & woke from a horrifying dream. Someone was talking about a winter coat & said it was like the Detroit Lions football team: no down. I woke up in a cold sweat. Why was I dreaming about SPORTS?!? (That it makes no sense confirms I know nothing about sportsball…but still 😱)

submitted 17 days ago • 2 comments

New book mail: the two latest “Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic” releases from Stephen Skinner and Daniel Clark—the “Antipalus Maleficorum” of Trithemius, and the first English translation of the important text “Summa Sacre Magice” (books 1 & 2; books 3-5 will be in the next volume). So much reading!

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

Came across a very chill Great Blue Heron on my walk today with @maeviuslynn.bsky.social. It let us walk right by—the closest I’ve ever been to one—and we even got to see it fishing.

submitted 17 days ago • 2 comments

In Delinquent Elementals, @philh.bsky.social & @rodneyorpheus.bsky.social collect the best of Britain’s Pagan News magazine (which they co-edited) & recollect the Satanic Panic & British occult underground from the late 1980s. Pagan News ran plenty of great material, as this beast runs 656 pages!

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

The final issue of Minky Woodcock: The Girl Called Cthulhu is now out! Order online or find it at your favorite comic book store. Featuring 4 covers: Cynthia von Buhler (painting), Cynthia von Buhler (photo of @PearlsDaily), Luana Vecchio, @ragenruin (Claudia Caranfa) Order: ow.ly/AMW150UZLBA .

submitted 20 days ago • 1 comment

The two biggest-ticket items from Christie’s auction today of rare Crowleyana were: * “Gargoyles” in a custom Zaehnsdorf binding (one of two copies printed on vellum), which I expected to fetch a high price. *”Diary of a Drug Fiend,” which sold for a flabbergasting $41,000 😮

submitted 20 days ago • 3 comments

I’m super excited by this new book announcement from Manon Hedenborg White and Henrik Bogdan: “The Magical Diaries of Leah Hirsig, 1923-1925: Aleister Crowley, Magick and the New Occult Woman.” global.oup.com/academic/pro...

submitted 26 days ago • 4 comments

The Chaldean Oracles are lovely and fascinating, and this is a great overview for those unfamiliar with this text.

submitted 26 days ago • 1 comment

Another thought-provoking review of the Warburg Institute’s exhibition, “Tarot: Origins & Afterlives.” artreview.com/how-tarot-ta...

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

Walter Scott on his translation of Corpus Hermeticum I: "I have rewritten it freely, by way of an attempt to make it express what the author presumably meant"

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

I love this one. It is a great read for anyone interested in the esoteric side of Freemasonry. I would love to see this come back into print one day. @richardkaczynski.bsky.social

submitted 27 days ago • 1 comment

Bluesky esoteric book challenge. A book per day (it's okay to skip days if you're really busy), in no particular order, until you've shared ALL of the best occult books in your library. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! #Books #Esoteric #Occult #esotericbookchallenge #Witchsky #Booksky

submitted 27 days ago • 2 comments

Saw this candle at a local florist. IYKYK. #Heretic

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments