www.isisbooks.com

Publisher Marketing: This edition includes Liber 777, Gematria (from Equinox Volume 1, Number 8). Introduction by Israel Regardie.

Contributor Bio: Aleister Crowley:
Crowley was a prolific writer, poet, magician and painter. He devoted his life to exploring the world's many methods of spiritual attainment.

Publisher Marketing: Goetia refers to all the operations of that Magick which deals with gross, malignant or unenlightened forces.' Crowley's Goetia is brought to life with vivid illustrations of the demons. Commentary by DuQuette and Hyatt bring the ancient arts into the modern day.

Contributor Bio: Aleister Crowley:
Crowley was a prolific writer, poet, magician and painter. He devoted his life to exploring the world's many methods of spiritual attainment.

Lon Milo DuQuette:
DuQuette, since 1975, has served as a national governing officer of Ordo Templi Orientis, and influential magical society.

Publishers Marketing:  H. P. Lovecraft's compelling character, Abdul Alhazred, is brought to life in this epic tale detailing the mad sorcerer's tragic history and magical adventures. Alhazred tells his own life story, beginning with himself as a poor, handsome boy in Yemen who attracts the attention of the king for his divine skill in poetry. As the court poet, young Abdul lives a luxurious life at the palace, where he studies necromancy and magic. But falling in love with the king's daughter leads to a foolish tryst, which is ultimately discovered. As punishment, Abdul is tortured, brutally mutilated, and cast into the desert, known as the Empty Space. Battling insanity, he joins a tribe of ghouls and learns forbidden secrets from a stranger called Nyarlathotep. Thus begins his downward spiral into wickedness. Renamed Alhazred, he escapes the desert and embarks on a quest to restore his body and reunite with his true love. Traveling across the ancient world and fantastic realms, he is hounded by foes and tormented by the demands of his dark lord.

Publisher Marketing: This thought-provoking collection of magical texts from ancient Egypt shows the exotic rituals, esoteric healing practices, and incantatory and supernatural dimensions that flowered in the early Christianity that gave rise to the Dead Sea Scrolls. These remarkable Christian magical texts include curses, spells of protection from "headless powers" and evil spirits, spells invoking thunderous powers, descriptions of fire baptism, and even recipes from a magical "cookbook." Virtually all the texts are by Coptic Christians, and they date from about the 1st-12th centuries of the common era, with the majority from late antiquity. By placing these rarely seen texts in historical context and discussing their significance, the authors explore the place of healing, prayer, miracles, and magic in the early Christian experience, and expand our understanding of Christianity and Gnosticism as a vital folk religion.

This provocative collection of rites, spells, amulets, curses, and recipes of the early Coptic Christians documents Christianity as a living folk religion resembling other popular belief systems - something quite different from what theo-logical and doctrinal traditions have led us to believe. Like The Nag Hammadi Library, this extraordinary collection of little known incantatory texts radically alters our perception of Christianity as primarily a highly theological and orthodox tradition. These texts and illustrations show that the folk practices of the earliest Christians are quite similar to the day-to-day beliefs and rituals of spirituality that imbue indigenous primal religions and popular religion generally. Placing these previously unknown ancient texts in historical context and explaining their significance, Marvin Meyer and Richard Smith also reveal the place of healing, prayer, miracles, and magic in the Christian teaching practice. Illustrated with line drawings and photographs from the original ancient documents and containing a plethora of rituals, curses, and spells, Ancient Christian Magic is the practical and liturgical companion to the narrative and theological texts of The Nag Hammadi Library.

Contributor Bio: Marvin W Meyer:
Marvin W. Meyer is Professor of Religion at Chapman University and director of the Coptic Magical Texts Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity.

Richard Smith:
Richard Smith teaches at Claremont Graduate School and was managing editor of The Nag Hammadi Library ( revised edition ).