BOOKS
Getting Higher is a manual for exploring the use of psychedelic substances in the contexts of spirituality, self-transformation and magic. This is the psychonaut’s essential guide. The techniques presented here work whether you’re a scientist or a shaman; there’s no requirement to believe in anything other than the wonder of your own neurochemistry and the value of the psychedelic experience.
Getting Higher is a toolbox for technicians of the sacred; ideal for both novices and experienced psychonauts. Inspired by the wisdom of ancient cultures, and informed by the latest advances in psychedelic science, this book is a powerful ally for all those following the Medicine Path.
Occultist and writer Julian Vayne was banned from speaking at the Oxford Psychedelic Society by the administrators at one of the University’s colleges. His crime? Being on record as having taken, and advocated for, psychedelic substances.
This is not the first time someone from his community has received such treatment from one of the UK’s most esteemed institutions. The Great Beast, Aleister Crowley, was similarly banned from the Oxford Poetry Society in 1930.
Crowley decided to print his lecture as a pamphlet to raise money for the Poetry Society instead. So it is that Julian has done the same.
The Fool & The Mirror reflects the latest work of occultist and writer Julian Vayne. Step through this magical looking glass and into a wonderland populated by artist sorcerers, cross-dressing witches, entheogenic adventurers, subterranean shamans, magical arachnids, DMT elves and many more! This wide-ranging volume offers examples of practical how-to-do magic embedded within the author’s lived narrative, and essays on landscape, queer identity, occult philosophy and politics, witchcraft, and drugs…he approaches writing as an artistic endeavour, conjuring scenes for the reader that are rich in meaning and powerfully evocative. Julian Vayne is known for his lively style, clarity of explanation, and inspirational insights. Down the rabbit hole we go…
This book is a curious thing. Part magical text, part art book, part psychedelic journal and part guidebook; it weaves ideas of folklore, mythology, magick, and psychogeography into a rich tapestry. It shows each one of us a way to enchant the landscapes we walk in, deepen our relationship with Nature and re-connect with the spirit of the lands we live in. Written in two parts the book recounts the authors’ different experience of a couple of West Country walks they undertook together in 2010. Part 1 discusses ideas surrounding psychogeography and lays out some practical exercises for you to try on your walks, while Part 2 brings together mythology and the physical experience of walking in the landscape to create a song to help awaken the Spirit of Albion.
Blending together the essences of Chaos Magic and modern Paganism, this book records the emergence of the new tradition of Chaos Craft. Many of the essays presented here were first brewed up in theblogofbaphomet.com. New pictures and fresh essays add spice to these existing writings, some of which, previously unavailable, comprise the secret rituals of this unashamedly syncretic form of occultism. The potion you may sample inside is infused with the flavours of Gurdjieff, mindfulness meditation, trance-bodywork, entheogenics, Wiccan and Sabbatic Craft. The mixture has been diligently stirred widdershins for two years as the Wheel of the Year cycled through the Colours of Chaos.
One could read this as a collection of tales recounting magical experiments in practical occultism. But it is also a record of a magical crisis of confidence, a dark night of the soul. There are various milestones on this journey, from the mysteries of Witchcraft to tales of the Elder Gods. As one might expect from such an articulate commentator, it also brings together practical how-to information, academic writing, and far reaching metaphysical exploration including: Psychogeography and Magick, Transgressive bodywork, Our Vision of the End Times, Gender fluidity as spiritual process, The Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft, Zombies and the New Age movement, Buddhism meets Chaos Magick, Entheogenic magick, the law and social transformation, Mindfulness practice as the still point in the storm of chaos, The esoteric metaphysics of Pooh Bear, Tigger and Eeyore… and much more!
“You hold in your hands the material result of many years’ hard craft. This book contains some of the secrets of Life itself; or rather, the occult deity of Life on Earth, Baphomet. Horned, vital, beautiful, awe-full, our aeons old Chaos Magick idol finds a name from the Knights’ Templar, then goes incognito through the Enlightenment (when flourished those great natural philosophers beloved of science historians), before emerging via devil worship and witchcraft into this era of Deep Ecology…”
It’s all right here; sex, drugs, witchcraft and gardening. From academic papers, through to first person accounts of high-octaine rituals. In Magick Works you will find cutting edge essays from the path of Pleasure, Freedom and Power. In this seminal collection Julian Vayne explores: The Tantric use of Ketamine, Social Justice, Green Politics and Druidry, English Witchcraft and Macumba, The Magickal use of Space, Cognitive Liberty and the Occult, Psychogeography & Chaos Magick, Tai Chi and Apocalyptic Paranoia, Self-identity, Extropianism and the Abyss, Parenthood as Spiritual Practice, Aleister Crowley as Shaman…and much more!
Now That’s What I Call Chaos Magick gives the beginner and experienced practitioner alike a modern, 21st century view into the powerful and often misunderstood magical current called ‘Chaos Magick’. Written in a clear and easily accessible style it examines the theory behind many techniques used in magical, artistic, religious and scientific systems of thought; then links and applies them towards desired goals. Separated into two volumes the book can be used by the reader as a workbook with rituals, techniques and exercises to be followed, as a window into contemporary magical thought at the turn of the century or simply as a roller coaster of a good read! However you choose to use it, this book will leave you feeling positive, inspired and ready to apply any of the methods presented to your own life.
Ranging across both published and anecdotal evidence, Pharmakon traces the story of drug use as a means of self-exploration. By examining apparently simple questions such as ‘what is a drug?’ Pharmakon deconstructs and reconstructs the idea of drug experience. Experiences that the author believes are fundamental to the process of self-actualization and learning. This book is aimed at both the general reader and those who are interested in the use of drugs in a spiritual context. Delving into areas as diverse as philosophy and neurochemistry, this is a book that in both style and content seeks to invent a new understanding of drugs in culture.
From my professional work as a teacher: This is a book about the learning potential of objects – whether they’re rare artefacts in museum collections, or found objects discovered at a local car boot sale. This book grows from the simple fact that learning by engaging with objects can be a powerful experience. Whether you’re a museum or gallery professional, a schoolteacher, an interpreter, or simply intrigued by this method of teaching, there will be something here for you. Wonderful Things is packed with bright and tested ideas – often in the form of games – which will help people of all ages relate to, understand and explore museum objects. After an exploration of the process of learning from objects, the book puts these principles into practice, in the form of over 50 easy-to-set-up games, designed to facilitate creative interaction with objects.
COLLECTIONS FEATURING ESSAYS BY JULIAN
For over thirty years the international network of the Magical Pact of the Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT) has been creating a community of esoteric practice that continues to grow and change. The essays presented here are the work of occultists who are current members of the British Isles Section of the IOT. Within these pages you will find first-person accounts of magical explorations, descriptions of techniques, philosophical reflections and more. This is a record of what contemporary chaos magicians do…
As our relationship with the world unravels and needs to take a new form, The Wanton Green presents a collection of inspiring, provoking and engaging essays by modern pagans about their own deep, passionate and wanton relationships with the earth. Where do we locate the sacred? In a place, a meeting, memory, a momentary glimpse? The Wanton Green provides no easy answers and instead, offers a multitude of perspectives on how our relationships with the earth, the sacred, the world through which we move are forged and remade.
From the shelves of mainstream bookstores and the pages of teen magazines, to popular films and television series, contemporary culture at the turn of the twenty-first century has been fascinated with teenage identity and the presence of magic and the occult. Alongside this profusion of products and representations, a global network of teenage Witches has emerged on the margins of adult neopagan Witchcraft communities, identifying themselves through various spiritual practices, consumption patterns and lifestyle choices. The New Generation Witches is the first published anthology to investigate the recent rise of the teenage Witchcraft phenomenon in both Britain and North America.
Memento Mori is a unique feast of offerings exploring a variety of magical and mythological perspectives on death, dying, mortality and beyond. With contributions from sixteen international writers, this collection gathered together by Kim Huggens, offers a great diversity of both historical and contemporary perspectives. It includes experiential accounts and scholarly research for readers interested in magick, paganism, mysticism and mythology.
The influence that the dead and ancestors have on religion, magic and everyday life is reflected and honoured in prayers, poems, songs and art and is explored in the essays in this unique book.
Can drugs be used intelligently and responsibly to expand human consciousness and heighten spirituality? This two-volume work presents objective scientific information and personal stories aiming to answer the question. The first of its kind, this intriguing two-volume set objectively reports on and assesses this modern psycho-social movement in world culture: the constructive medical use of entheogens and related mind-altering substances. Covering the use of substances such as ayahuasca, cannabis, LSD, peyote, and psilocybin, the work seeks to illuminate the topic in a scholarly and scientific fashion so as to lift the typical division between those who are supporters of research and exploration of entheogens and those who are strongly opposed to any such experimentation altogether.
Our civilization is in crisis. As we confront ecological collapse, political control, wars of terror, and wars on consciousness, XVI proposes gnostic strategies for liberation. We seek emergence from this state of emergency. Sixteen essays from contemporary occult practitioners that reveal a creative and passionate engagement with the world. Attacks on our freedoms can lead to freedom, the sudden enlightenment, the lightning path and the initiatory crisis that the tower also represents.
The artificers behind this project are John Michael Greer, Ramsey Dukes, Carl Abrahamsson, Eric K. Lerner, Raven Kaldera, Michael Idehall, Peter Grey, Dr George J Sieg, James Wasserman, Hafiz Batin, Dr Dave Evans/Francis Breakspear, Stephen Grasso, Kyle Fite, Julian Vayne, Orryelle Defenestrate Bascule, Peter J Carroll and Alkistis Dimech.
The largest symposium of its kind, Breaking Convention features more than 120 academic presentations biennially, and is widely regarded as the foremost global platform for serious research into psychedelic science and culture.
Within these pages, edited by the amazing Nikki Wyrd, are essays on philosophy, epistemology, ways of learning, thoughts on systemic hierarchy, and the development of aspects of 20th century culture—including comedy, counterculture, and postmodernism—as well as psychedelic literature. Includes essays from from Tim Harwick, Matthew Clark, Christopher Letheby, Lindsay Jordan, Nadia VE, Niklas Serning, Oli Genn-Bash, Ellie Lee and Nina Lyon, Luke Goaman-Dodson, Michael Montague, Tharcila Chaves, Jo sie Malinowski et al, Regina Hess, David Luke et al, George Erving, Luke Walker, Sam Knot, Eric Maddern, Elizabeth Joyce, Julian Vayne, Sam Gandy and William Rowlandson.
Neurotransmissions presents an interdisciplinary selection of 23 essays first presented at Breaking Convention 2013, the 2nd conference on psychedelic consciousness, culture and clinical research, held at the University of Greenwich, London. It spans the sciences and humanities, from philosophy and neuroscience though to chemicals. Cross-cultural approaches explore the use of psychedelics in New Guinea, Central and South America, British free festivals, electronic music and backwards in time to the ancient civilisations of India and Rome.
A collection celebrating 60 years of the Museum of Witchcraft including essays by Ronald Hutton, Judith Noble, Damh the Bard, Helen Cornish, Gemma Gary, Patricia Crowther, Pete Jennings, Simon Costin, Ralph Harvey, Cassandra Latham-Jones and many more.
BOOKS BACK CATALOGUE
In our modern technological world, we have access to the religious and philosophical belief systems of a whole range of cultures, and this has become coupled with a new attitude that the individual is ultimately self-responsible. In this new age, we understand that we must find out through our own efforts our individual route to spiritual understanding.
Increasingly, modern psychologists are discovering the validity of ancient symbolic systems such as the Tarot, and in this thoughtful yet straightforward guide, the authors offer a skilful interpretation of this ancient art for the modern reader as a guide to a deeper understanding of who we are and our unique place in the world.
All the way back to 1991. Magic brewed up in my first coven. Seeds of Magick inspires free-thinking occultism as it explores the ideas of magic as a whole and introduces the reader to a particularly potent magical system called “Serket”, a tool for developing personal power to transform life for the better.
Exploring techniques as varied as shamanism, bodymind skills & ritual, through the medium of the tarot. Two pathways interweave through the text. One concentrates on the development of psychic sensitivity, divination & counselling, as well as discussing their ethics & practical application. The other leads the student deeper into the realm of Inner Space, exploring the Self through meditation, pathworking, physical exercises & ritual. Both paths weave together to provide the student with a firm grounding in many aspects of the esoteric. A ‘user friendly’ system for unlocking all your latent magical talents.
TRANSLATIONS
Czym sa ceremonie psychodeliczne? Czemu moga sluzyc? W czym pomagaja i jak wygladaja? W niniejszej ksiazce, Julian Vayne, wytrawny praktyk zachodniej tradycji ezoterycznej oraz wschodnich systemów medytacyjnych omawia psychodeliczny trójkat, na który skladaja sie substancja psychoaktywna, nasze nastawienie i otoczenie. Przedstawia rózne metody, dzieki którym doswiadczenie psychodeliczne moze stac sie dla nas czyms bezpieczniejszy, glebszym i madrzejszym. A przy okazji radosnym i zabawnym. Autor, bedacy czolowym przedstawicielem brytyjskiej sceny psychodelicznej, laczy perspektywe magiczna z dorobkiem badan naukowych, w których mial okazje uczestniczyc jako jeden z pionierów wspólczesnego renesansu badan nad odmiennymi stanami swiadomosci.
Quem – ou o que – é Baphomet? Uma das formas do Demônio, o Deus Cornífero dos pagãos, o Grande Espírito, o Anima Mundi, a Grande Divindade da Biosfera? A resposta para esta pergunta depende de quem a responde: Thelemitas, Satanistas, Magos do Caos, Maçons, Cientistas. A ideia de Baphomet é complexa demais para que haja consenso.
Sementes de Magia libertará o leitor do receio de práticas e rituais mágicos e permitir-lhe-á desenvolver o seu poder pessoal – o poder de tornar a vida melhor. O método que os seus autores utilizam para contestar falsos conceitos e superstições em relaçãó à magia consiste em apresentar uma descrição franca e reveladora do seu próprio trabalho como praticantes, incluindo ainda um programa de autodesenvolvimento e a explicação dos rituais dos quatro principais festivais do ano. Esta obra, fruto de investigação profunda, além de proporcionar grande prazer de leitura, indica o caminho para melhor compreender o ocultismo.
SELECTED JOURNALS, PERIODICALS AND ZINES FEATURING ESSAYS BY JULIAN
The Psychedelic Press Journal is a limited edition, print-run only, quarterly journal that has been published since 2012. It is dedicated to exploring the role and reception of psychoactive substances in culture, history, and science – with a critical, entertaining, and playful eye.
Contributors include leading experts, writers and adventurers from all aspects of psychedelia. You will find articles on the latest research, thoughtful comment, and opinion on contemporary and historical issues – along with poetry, creative and experimental writing.
Showcasing a variety of well written perspectives is what lies at the heart of the journal’s mission.
Black Mirror is a peer-reviewed series that seeks to examine ways in which the occult and the esoteric have been at the heart of art practice now and throughout the modernist period. It is produced by a group of artists and researchers and much of the work examined will be practice-led. Hence this volume includes both essays on contemporary and modernist work, and new works by artists. This first volume explores the contested territories of both the arts and the esoteric, which are inhabited by artists, occult practitioners and academics alike.
This issue of the journal Ashé includes examinations of the Rise of Logos and the Fall of Eros by Dirk Dunbar, Mary in the Qur’an by Chelsea Luellon Bolton, the Sacred Geometry of the Resurrection of Christ by T.C. Eisele; essays on magick by Julian Vayne and Charlotte Rodgers; meditations on suffering and the divine by G. David Schwartz and Robert A. Kezer; new fiction by Clifford Garstang; and poetry by Adam Shechter.
The Ignota Diary is a tool for discovery in the practice of everyday life. This beautifully designed diary and week-to-view planner is filled with historically significant magical and sacred dates from around the world. Drawn from events such as the Buddha’s birthday, esoteric festivals and artistic and occult history, the diary touches on the lives of characters such as Ursula K. Le Guin, Zora Neale Hurston, Carl Jung, Simone Weil, Aleister Crowley, George Bataille, Timothy Leary, Hilma af Klint, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, William Blake and W.B. Yeats.
This edition of Chaosphere Magazine is dedicated to the underbelly of the occult and esoteric with submissions from individuals who live and breathe chaos magic or find themselves on the Left Hand Path. Authors come together to create a one of a kind collection of occult rituals, interesting articles on philosophy and history, a short story, incredible artist works, erotic poetry, and lifestyle insights. Interview with one of the Fathers of Chaos Magic – Peter Carroll. Brought to you by Frater Nicht. Featuring Ruvell Saylon Ates, Michael Ford, Goatess Doomwych, J. PoirotM.DKSC-IV, Reverend Arturo Royal, Chaos Therion, Matanabuchas Amizu, Anpuchai, Babalonshi Biab Od Micma, Venger Satanis, Clive Cutter, Matt Kaybryn, Sylver Wytch, Frater Nosophorus, Dualkarnain Siyah-Chal, Julian Vayne, Frater Azotep, Kazim, Adam Iniquity, Sin Jones, Matthew Levi Stevens, Emma Doeve, and more…
Interview with one of the Fathers of Chaos Magic – Ray Sherwin. Brought to you by Frater Nicht and Primordial Urge Cover Art and submissions from Jason Sorrell. Also featuring Abdul Seti, Sin Jones,Siyah-Chal, Scott Ferry, Babalonshi Biab Od Micma, David Hartding, Elton Nesselrodt, Julian Vayne, articles by Templum Nigri Solis, David Lee Grind, Michael St. Ray, Dante Miel, and back cover and other art by Dempet Belysning.
Julian was the co-founder and co-editor, along with Catherine Summers of Pagan Voice, a Pagan zine that ran for several years in the early 1990’s. At its height Pagan Voice printed 1000 copies each month. Pagan Voice interviewed people as diverse as Terry Pratchett and Terence McKenna, from David Ike and Patricia Kennealy-Morrison to Serena Roney-Dougal and Richard Carpenter.
You may find copies still available around online. Archives are held at The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, Boscastle, Cornwall.
Chaos International was a magazine published in the U.K. from 1986 to the mid 90’s. It was dedicated to the study and practice of chaos magic. Since the inaugural issue in 1986, it attracted widely diverse authors such as Phil Hine, Stephen E. Flowers, Andrew Chumbley, Peter J. Carroll, Jaq D. Hawkins, Taylor Ellwood, Stephen Mace, and many others. Issue #7 contains both artwork and writing by Julian.
You may find copies still available online.
Talking Stick was one of the most diverse and well presented Pagan zines of the 1990’s. Led by the remarkable Amanda and Caroline Stick, as well as presenting this magazine and larger formal journal they also organized a seminal Pagan Moot in London.
You may find copies still available online.
BOOKS FEATURING RITUAL ART BY JULIAN
Over a period of 100 days from July to October 2009, 2,400 people stood on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square for one hour. They were free to do as they chose during this period in the spotlight. Nobody could predict what would happen or the scale of the response. Many thousands applied for the 2,400 slots and candidates were selected randomly. Millions watched the events as they were all filmed.
Having been chosen as a ‘plinther’ Julian chose to summon Baphomet into the heart of London on a bright August morning. This volume contains photographs of Julian including one of the ritual performance in which he wore the Baphomet regalia of the British Isles Section of the Magical Pact of the Illuminates of Thanateros. The mask used in this performance is currently on loan to The Museum of Witchcraft & Magic, Cornwall.
Order your copy. Article about this event on The Museum of Witchcraft Blog
Julian Vayne 