Ancient Magick

The Hermetic Tablet is a bi-annual journal of Western Ritual Magick edited by Nick Farrell of the Magical Order of Aurora Aurea. Is has an excellent font, decorated first letters for each article, bibliography at the end of each article, and it is easy to read. Its price is a disadvantage, but with a self-publication, there is not much you can do.

Review no1 

Written by Eirini Tsotsou

One of the first attempts presenting and exploring the Goddess of the Three-ways, the Goddess who hold the keys to the whole world. A leading book for 2006! Hekate is now very famous in the Witchcraft community. This books consists of 3 parts. Part one is (pg. 19-38) is a small presentation to the history of the Goddess. The writer's points derive from ancient texts. There is a small table of correspondences, some clarifications about misconseptions that we still read on the web.

I saw this old book in the archaelogical museum of Eleusis. The author was a dedicated man who searched the mysteries of Eleusis. He was a well respected professor of archaeology in Washington University. In the first chapters there are many archaeological information about excavations and their meanings in Eleusis. A well written historical perspective follows. Then we have a written description about the place of the mysteries and how it was during the centuries until the roman influence.

I have read this book from the hellenic translation. The translation isn't good at all. The text is full of typos. Moreover, the writer is falling in the trap that he says in the introduction that other academics have fallen. He knows nothing about Witchcraft, though he expresses his personal view all over the book, saying that magick is something ultimately baneful, a habbit for idiots and poor, and maybe for women only.

This book of neoplatonic philosopher Iamblichos is a great synopsis of many teachings of ancient hellenic philosophy. I found pythagorian, platonic, aristotelic, neoplatonic teachings as well as pre-socratic, orphic... with the platonic current lead all the way to the end. Inside there are basic teachings from all schools written in a clear way, with a great flow of thinking and many of the teachings are repeated, so the reader consolidates them.