The following is an excerpt from:
‘Stellar Magic: A practical guide to
the rites of the moon, planets, stars and constellations’ by
Payam
Nabarz (Avalonia, 2009). www.stellarmagic.co.uk
It was
launched at
the July full moon.
Liber Astrum By Payam Nabarz
To the Stars.
WITH holy voice I call the stars on high,
Pure sacred lights and genii of the sky.
Celestial stars, the progeny of Night,
In whirling circles beaming far your light,
Refulgent rays around the heavens ye throw,
Eternal fires, the source of all below.
With flames significant of Fate ye shine,
And aptly rule for men a path divine.
In seven bright zones ye run with wandering flames,
And heaven and earth compose your lucid frames:
With course unwearied, pure and fiery bright
Forever shining thro’ the veil of Night.
Hail twinkling, joyful, ever wakeful fires!
Propitious shine on all my just desires;
These sacred rites regard with conscious rays,
And end our works devoted to your praise.’ Hymns of Orpheus 1
In Plato’s Timaeus the view of the Planets and heavenly bodies
containing gods is discussed as the necessary force that moves the
planets around the earth. The Greek cosmology viewed the movement of
celestial bodies to be ‘resembling as closely as possible the perfect
intelligible Living Creature’. The laws of Newtonian physics have
long ago replaced the need for gods as the necessary force for movement
of stellar bodies, thus astronomy has taken over from astrology.
Yet, when walking on a clear night and staring at the stars, something
does capture one’s imagination. It may be the simple beauty of the
stars and the planets, or perhaps a religious meme that compels one to
head out night after night in the footsteps of the modern and ancient
stargazers. It is not only the full moon that turns people into
lunatics and poets; there are another subtle forces there too that
inspire us; the constellations. There has been much written about the
magick of the sun, moon and the planets, yet the gentler streams of the
constellations largely remain unspoken of. The constellations that are
popular are the twelve signs of the Zodiac, which are seen as part of
the celestial powers that influence us from birth. However, in modern
astrology the interaction with the constellations is a reactive rather
proactive relationship viewed as a unidirectional flow of energy from
the heavens to us; this is referred to as ‘divinatory astrology’ by the
Swiss mystical writer Titus Burckhardt in his book Mystical Astrology
according to Ibn Arabi2. The field of divinatory astrology is well
covered by thousands of books on the subject and it is part of popular
culture, with many newspapers printing daily horoscopes. The divinatory
astrology is practice which goes back centuries, for example in the
Persian Shah Nameh (Epic of
Kings) circa 1000AD we read:
‘When Feridoun had thus opened his lips he called for the book wherein
are written the stars, and he searched for the planets of his sons. And
he found that Jupiter reigned in the sign of the Archer in the house of
Silim, and the sun in the Lion in that of Tur, but in the house of Irij
there reigned the moon in the Scorpion. And when he saw this he was
sorrowful, for he knew that for Irij were grief and bale held in store.
Then having read the secrets of Fate, Feridoun parted the world and
gave the three parts unto his sons’.3
Another example is the well known testing of astrologers by Roman
Emperor Tiberius (42 BC –AD 37), his method of testing was: ‘Whenever
he (Emperor Tiberius) sought counsel on such (astrological) matters, he
would make use of the top of the house and of the confidence of one
freedman, quite illiterate and of great physical strength. The man
always walked in front of the person whose (astrological) science
Tiberius had determined to test, through an unfrequented and
precipitous path (for the house stood on rocks), and then, if any
suspicion had arisen of imposture or of trickery, he hurled the
astrologer, as he returned, into the sea beneath, that no one might
live to betray the secret. (Astrologer) Thrasyllus accordingly was led
up the same cliffs, and when he had deeply impressed his questioner by
cleverly revealing his imperial destiny and future career, he was asked
whether he had also thoroughly ascertained his own horoscope, and the
character of that particular year and day. After surveying the
positions and relative distances of the stars, he first paused, then
trembled, and the longer he gazed, the more was he agitated by
amazement and terror, till at last he exclaimed that a perilous and
well-nigh fatal crisis impended over him. Tiberius then embraced him
and congratulated him on foreseeing his dangers and on being quite
safe. Taking what he had said as an oracle, he retained him in the
number of his intimate friends.’ -6.21 The Annals by Publius Cornelius
Tacitus.4
However, the focus of the work in this book is on divinatory
astrology’s less popular cousin, which Titus Burckhardt refers to as
‘spiritual astrology’. The aims of following stellar workings are
to make such relationships a bidirectional flow of energy and to honour
the constellations in a same many modern Pagans honour earth, moon, sun
and the planets. To draw down powers of the constellations as some
modern Pagans draw down the moon or the sun, or as some magicians work
with planetary hours and days of the week for the ideal time in which
to achieve their aims or create talisman as we see in works like the
‘Picatrix’ or ‘The Key of Solomon’.
In following the approach of using star lore for spiritual astrology
and not just divinatory purposes, we are in good company as this is in
line with ‘The Chaldæan
Oracles’:
‘Theurgists fall not so as to be ranked among the herd that are in
subjection to Fate.’ The Oracles also tell us: ‘Direct not thy mind to
the vast surfaces of the Earth; for the Plant of Truth grows not upon
the ground. Nor measure the motions of the Sun, collecting rules, for
he is carried by the Eternal Will of the Father, and not for your sake
alone. Dismiss (from your mind) the impetuous course of the Moon, for
she moves always by the power of necessity. The progression of the
Stars was not generated for your sake. The wide aerial flight of birds
gives no true knowledge nor the dissection of the entrails of victims;
they are all mere toys, the basis of mercenary fraud; flee from these
if you would enter the sacred paradise of piety, where Virtue, Wisdom
and Equity are assembled.’5
The point is succinctly made by W.W. Westcott in his introduction the
Chaldæan Oracles:
‘Although destiny, our destiny, may be ‘written in the Stars’ yet it
was the mission of the divine Soul to raise the human Soul above the
circle of necessity, and the Oracles give Victory to that Masterly
Will, which:
Hews the wall with might of magic,
Breaks the palisade in pieces,
Hews to atoms seven pickets . . .
Speaks the Master words of knowledge!
The means taken to that consummation consisted in the training of the
Will and the elevation, of the imagination, a divine power which
controls consciousness.’6
In another words, an initiate has to exceed the total sum of their
programming, and using their spiritual training, go beyond the
boundaries set at time of birth, be they social, intellectual,
physical, astrological, or religious boundaries. An initiate at all
times aspires consciously to improve themselves, and, for example, as
Sufis aim to become an ‘Insan Kamil’ (a perfect or complete human). An
intellectual study of the occult and mysticism on its own is not
enough; let us look at magical arts and witchcraft. The word art is
important here, magic can be an art like any other art; witch-craft is
a craft like any other craft. When someone practices an art or craft,
be it painting, academic research, music, gardening or sport etc… they
are all going on similar skill journey to their fellow magical arts
practitioners. It is the journey, the trials, approbations, and
continuous overcoming of obstacles and pushing oneself to improve that
makes the difference and can result in making contact with your divine
spark, the higher self or according to Greek philosophy your Daimon or
the Holy Guardian Angels in Christian and Zoroastrian religions. The
rough Ashlar stone becomes smooth or the grape turns to Sufi’s wine of
ecstasy, the comic transformation and metamorphosis. What is
interesting is when someone masters their art or craft or sport; their
piece of music, or performance, or spell or rite, or painting etc. This
transforms them, and also influences others in a major way too.
The Chaldean Oracles
encourage us to: ‘Explore the River of the Soul,
whence, or in what order you have come: so that although you have
become a servant to the body, you may again rise to the Order from
which you descended, joining works to sacred reason….Every way unto the
emancipated Soul extend the rays of Fire……Let the immortal depth of
your Soul lead you, but earnestly raise your eyes upwards…… Who knoweth
himself, knoweth all things in himself.’ This is a highly significant
text which draws upon Neo-Platonism and other teachings; therefore the
whole text of the Chaldean Oracles is part of the recommended reading
and bibliography, which is detailed at the end of this book.
This magical and religious approach to the constellations is not a new
idea; indeed it can viewed as the root of many ancient religions. Prof
Franz Cumont in his ‘Astrology
and Religion among the Greeks and
Romans’ raises the issue of ‘the idea that the primary source of
religion was the spectacle of celestial phenomena and the ascertainment
of their correspondence with earthly events, and he (Dupuis) undertook
to show that the myths of all peoples and all times were nothing but a
set of astronomical combinations.’7 The field of archaeoastronomy has
shown us numerous religious structures since the megalithic had
cosmological roles and were aligned to the stars, moon or the sun. For
example from the period Callanish in Scotland, Stonehenge in England,
the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, and Newgrange in Ireland,
The central role of the stars in root of religions is echoed in our
time also in a myriad of manifestations; from Star Gate fans, to UFO
enthusiasts, to fanatical Solar Temple cult followers. From the
ancient stargazers to modern astronomers and New Age astrologers the
stars still inspire - the thoughts of the Magi still resonate today.
The place of stellar magic in modern occultism is best seen in works of
Rudolf Steiner and Aleister Crowley. Aleister Crowley talks of the Star
Goddess Nuit in his Book of
the Law (Liber AL vel Legis) in depth,
indeed the first chapter of this book is of Nuit speaking directly to
the reader; for example, she states: ‘I am the blue-lidded daughter of
Sunset; I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky.’ and
‘Had! The manifestation of Nuit, The unveiling of the company of
heaven, Every man and every woman is a star.’
He also refers to Nuit in a number of his other works, for example: ‘It
is written in The Book of
the Law: Every man and every woman is a Star.
It is Our Lady of the Stars that speaketh to thee, O thou that art a
star, a member of the Body of Nuith! Listen, for thine ears become
dulled to the mean noises of the earth; the infinite silence of the
Stars woos thee with subtile musick… For inasmuch as thou hast made the
Law of Freedom thine, as thou hast lived in Light and Liberty and Love,
thou hast become a Free-man of the City of the Stars…’- Liber CVI.8
Rudolf Steiner the founder of Anthroposophical Society also developed a
stellar based approach philosophy, and, in 1913 built the first
Goetheanum, a physical temple so to speak, to connect to the stars. In
his words:
The stars once spoke to man.
It is world destiny that they are silent now
To become aware of this silence can be pain for earth humanity
But in the deepening silence
There grows and ripens what human beings speak to the stars
To become aware of this speaking
Can become strength for Spirit Man.
In his view the stellar connection was a crucial step in one’s
spiritual journey: ‘Steiner explained that to know the human being, one
must take … the heavens and the earth as your province and discern the
rhythm that beats between them’. 9
Figure: Orion Altar and Orion Constellation: as above, as below.
(Image
credit: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA)
and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team). Persian
text from the Burj Nameh.
My own interest in theurgy and stellar magic is rooted in the Mithraic
Mysteries. In this stellar religion, the individual’s soul is seen to
have descended from the starry heavens to earth and at death the soul
makes its journey upwards again into the firmament, a vision similar to
vision of Jacob’s ladder. The initiatory system allowed the neophyte to
become familiar with the cosmos, and learn the star ‘signposts’ which
would have allowed his return journey to be smoother and reach a state
of henosis. The cave-like temple, (called a Mithraeum) was a
representation of the universe; here the initiate ascended through
various planetary degrees and learned about the constellations and
their meanings. The Mithraeum is an authentic microcosm, literally a
model of the heavens. Roger Beck describes the Mithraeum as an ‘image
of universe’. The Planetary initiates were:
• Mercury (Corax/Raven)
• Venus (Nymphus/ bee chrysalis or male bride)
• Mars (Miles/ soldier)
• Jupiter (Leo/ lion)
• Moon (Perses /Persian)
• Sun (Heliosdromus)
• Saturn (Pater)
According to the Porphyry, On
the Cave of the Nymphs: ‘Thus also the
Persians, mystically signifying the descent of the soul into the
sublunary regions, and its regression from it, initiate the mystic (or
him who is admitted to the arcane sacred rites) in a place which they
denominate a cavern. For, as Eubulus says, Zoroaster was the first who
consecrated in the neighbouring mountains of Persia, a spontaneously
produced cave, florid, and having fountains, in honour of Mithra, the
maker and father of all things; a cave, according to Zoroaster, bearing
a resemblance of the world, which was fabricated by Mithra. But the
things contained in the cavern being arranged according to commensurate
intervals, were symbols of the mundane elements and climates.’10
The central iconography of Mithraism (For full details see The
Mysteries of Mithras: The Pagan Belief That Shaped the Christian World
by Payam Nabarz) is called ‘Tauroctony’ or the Bull Slaying, this was a
representation of the night sky and structure of the Mithraeum building
lends itself to contain all the symbols of macrocosm. The scene shows
that Mithras, while facing away from the bull, has one leg on the back
of the bull, one hand holding the bull’s head, and the other hand
stabbing the bull in the neck, where blood pours forth. Around him are
a dog, a raven, a scorpion, a snake, a lion, and a cup. From the tip of
the bull’s tail, a shaft of wheat is growing. The cloak of Mithras is
the night sky with stars; the signs of the zodiac surround the whole
scene. The symbols of the seven planets are present; the two
torchbearers of Mithras stand at either side of the bull-slaying scene.
One of the Mithraic mysteries is that the bull slaying scene is a
representation of the constellations the Perseus (Mithras), Taurus
(bull), Canis Minor (dog), Hydra (snake), Corvus (raven), and Scorpio
(scorpion). The wheat is the star Spica (the brightest star in the
constellation Virgo); where the knife enters the bull, it is the
Pleiades; the life giving blood of the bull is the Milky Way. The two
torchbearers, Cautes and Cautopates, symbolise the equinoxes. Cautes’
torch is pointing upward: the spring equinox. Cautopates’ torch is
pointing downward: the autumn equinox.
Mithras slaying the bull. Rotating double-faced altar panel, side
A.
Musée du Louvre, Paris. (Photograph by P. Nabarz with kind
permission of the museum.)
Several key images around the central Tauroctony scene are important
because they contain a creation story. In the beginning Mithras is
asked by the Sun to kill the first bull, but he is reluctant to do
this. The Raven, messenger of the Sun, comes to him again with the
message. Mithras goes into the field and captures the bull, and with
his might, lifts the back legs of the bull over his shoulder and drags
him to the birth cave. The crescent moon over the bull suggests its
connection to the moon. As Mithras kills the bull, from his blood come
wine and all the plants that cover the earth. The tail becomes wheat,
which gives us our bread. The seed and the genitals of the bull are
taken to the Moon Goddess and purified, giving rise to all the animals.
Hence, by this slaying of the first bull, life comes onto the earth.
The new life on Earth is growing very slowly, due to drought. Mithras
as the mediator between Heaven and Earth is asked to solve this
problem; however, this means a conflict with the Sun, who has been
burning the land. The battle between Sol (the sun) and Mithras results
in Mithras overcoming the planetary sun and becoming the Invincible
Sun. Sol kneels in front of Sol Invictus while Mithras holds the
constellation the Great Bear in one hand. This emphasizes his power as
the stellar god, one who moves the cosmic pole as well as causing the
precession of equinoxes. Mithras and Sol then become friends and shake
hands with their right hands. Mithras is referred to kosmokrator (ruler
of cosmos) and also rules the movements of the earth and the seasons as
his number is 365, number of days in a year.
The emblems for first Grade the Corax, appear toward the
bottom of the
left photo and the grades proceed upward in order to Grade seven, the
Pater, at the top of the right photo. The emblems, or tokens, for each
grade are shown as follows. The tokens of Corax under the planet
Mercury are: a Raven, a Caduceus, and a small beaker. The tokens of
Nymphus under Venus are: an oil lamp and a diadem. The tokens of Miles
under Mars are: a lance, a helmet, and a soldier’s sling bag. The
tokens of Leo under Jupiter are: a fire shovel, a rattle (sistrum), and
a thunderbolt. The tokens of Perses under the Moon are: a sickle, a
Persian dagger, and a crescent moon with a star. The tokens of
Heliodromus under the Sun are: a torch, a seven-rayed crown, and a
whip. The tokens of the Pater under Saturn are: a Phrygian cap, a
libation bowl, a staff, and a sickle.
In making their Hermetic ascent, the Mithraic initiates were magical
cosmonauts, making astral journeys and making preparations for their
final destination; returning to the Milky Way. The Neoplatonic based
ideals allows the ascent of the soul through the planetary spheres, an
initiatory voyage to purify the divine aspects hidden in mankind from
its contact with matter from birth. For further details of
Mithraic cosmic soul travelers and star talk see ‘The Religion of the
Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire: Mysteries of the Unconquered Sun’
by
Roger Beck.
Figure: Pleiades altar and Pleiades Constellation: as above,
as
below.
Pleiades Constellation photo credit: NASA, ESA AND AURA/CALTECH.
The following rites are experimental and designed to help to increase
our knowledge of the stars, to learn about their myths and finally to
allow connection to these stellar bodies and revelation of their
mysteries to each person in their own way.
This is indeed the basis of Aleister Crowley’s saying of ‘Every Man and
Woman is a Star’, and we all aim for our one star in sight. A view that
we have inherited from the Ancient Greeks, as we see in Plato’s Timaeus:
‘Thus he spoke, and once more into the cup in which he had previously
mingled the soul of the universe he poured the remains of the elements,
and mingled them in much the same manner; they were not, however, pure
as before, but diluted to the second and third degree. And having made
it he divided the whole mixture into souls equal in number to the
stars, and assigned each soul to a star; and having there placed them
as in a chariot, he showed them the nature of the universe, and
declared to them the laws of destiny, according to which their first
birth would be one and the same for all,-no one should suffer a
disadvantage at his hands; they were to be sown in the instruments of
time severally adapted to them, and to come forth the most religious of
animals; and as human nature was of two kinds, the superior race would
here after be called man. Now, when they should be implanted in bodies
by necessity, and be always gaining or losing some part of their bodily
substance, then in the first place it would be necessary that they
should all have in them one and the same faculty of sensation, arising
out of irresistible impressions; in the second place, they must have
love, in which pleasure and pain mingle; also fear and anger, and the
feelings which are akin or opposite to them; if they conquered these
they would live righteously, and if they were conquered by them,
unrighteously. He who lived well during his appointed time was to
return and dwell in his native star, and there he would have a blessed
and congenial existence.’11
According to the classical writers it is not only the human souls that
originate in the stars and strive to return to them. The gods too have
their origins among the stars, in the Hermetica (the Greek Corpus
Hermeticum) we read about the birth of the universe and life and
a
creation story which is centred on the stars:
‘In the deep there was boundless darkness and water and fine
intelligent spirit, all existing by divine power in chaos. Then a holy
light was sent forth, and elements solidified out of liquid essence.
And all the gods (divide the parts) of germinal nature. While all was
unlimited and unformed, light elements were set apart to the heights
and the heavy were grounded in the moist sand, the whole of them
delimited by fire and raised aloft, to be carried by spirit. The
heavens appeared in seven circles, the gods became visible in the
shapes of the stars and all their constellations, and the arrangements
of (this lighter substance) corresponded to the gods contained in it.
The periphery rotated (in) the air, carried in a circular course by
divine spirit.’12
The scope of this book does not extent to the whole of 88 modern
constellations, it only covers some of the main classical
constellations from the 48 classical constellations as seen in works
such Ptolemy’s The Almagest
(circa 150A.D.), Aratus’ Phaenomena
(275B.C.), Eratosthenes’ Constellations
(1st/2nd century A.D.), and
Hyginus’ De Astronomia
(1st century B.C.).13, 14 These are the most
ancient known constellations that are mentioned in Babylonian ‘A Prayer
to Gods of the Night’ (circa 1700B.C.) and Mul.APIN tablets
(600B.C.)
where the origin of our modern constellation is rooted in. 13-20
In Stellar Gnosis the four Persian Royal Stars or the Stellar
Chieftains are notes as holding the celestial throne. One of the
references to the Royal Stars is in the Persian Pahlavi Texts: 5
As a specimen of a warlike army, which is destined for battle, they
have ordained every single constellation of those 6480 thousand small
stars as assistance; and among those
constellations four chieftains, appointed on the four sides, are
leaders.
6. On the recommendation of those chieftains the many unnumbered stars
are specially assigned to the various quarters and various places, as
the united strength and
appointed power of those constellations.
7. As it is said that Tîstar is the chieftain of the east,
Satavês the chieftain of the west, Vanand the chieftain of the
south, and Haptôk-rîng the chieftain of the north.21
The four Royal Stars were recognised around 3000 BC and were used as a
marker of the seasons, the equinoxes and the solstices. However, due to
the Procession of the Equinoxes, their prominences has shifted as
seasonal markers and relate more to the time of the fire festivals now.
The four Stellar Chieftains or Persian Royal Stars, are the Watchers
and the Guardians of sky, these are thought to be:
East: Aldebaran, eye of the constellation Taurus. It was associated
with the vernal equinox.
South: Regulus, in the constellation Leo. It was associated with the
summer solstice.
West: Antares, in the constellation Scorpio, and heel of the Serpent
Bearer (Ophiuchus). It was associated with the autumnal equinox.
North: Fomalhaut, in the stream of the Water Bearer (Aquarius)
constellations, and in the head of the Southern Fish (Pisces
Australis). It was associated with the winter solstice.
The four Persian Royal stars also feature in Christianity, the four
faces of the Cherubim (the Bible book of Ezekiel. 1:10, 10:14) are the
four Persian Royal Stars.22 Their symbols are the lion, eagle/serpent,
man and wild ox (unicorn). The four royals stars (four creatures), are
said to found on each side of the throne of God (the Bible Book of
Revelation 4:7). The
four Persian royal stars and their constellations
also feature further in Christianity as the four Evangelists as well as
the Cherubim. The symbol for the four Evangelist are: Matthew as
Human/Angel (Aquarius), Mark as Lion (Leo), Luke as Ox (Taurus), John
as Eagle (Aquila/Scorpio).
The practical nocturnal rites and ceremonies here are created using a
myriad of hymns and tales, drawing inspiration and material from many
ancient, classical and medieval sources including: the Hymns of
Orpheus, Ovid’s Metamorphoses,
Plato’s Timaeus, the Hermetica: The
Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius, the Greek
Magical Papyri, the Chaldean
Oracles, the Persian
Shah Nameh ‘Epic of
Kings’ by Ferdowsi, Scipio’s
Dream by Cicero, the Persian
Pahlavi
Texts, Book of Enoch,
Bible Ezekiel
chapter, Egyptian temples and
texts, The Golden Ass
by Lucius Apuleius, the Zoroastrian
Yasht hymns,
Sufi works of Ibn Arabi and Rumi, the Kabalistic Sefer Yetzirah,
the Mithras Liturgy,
Persian Burj Nameh,
Hesiod Works and Days,
Homer’s
The Odyssey,
Porphyry’s On the Cave of
the Nymphs and Aratus’
Phaenomena.
In bringing these ancient rites into modern times, stellar related
material and ideals by modern poets such as WB Yeats, Robert Graves,
Sylvia Plath, and esoteric writers such as John Milton, John Dee, Elias
Ashmole, Francis Barrett, Rudolf Steiner, Aleister Crowley, Gerald
Gardner have also been included, giving a Bardic blend of the ancient
and the modern. The rites here ‘set the scene’ and after all the poems
and invocations are uttered, the point is reached in the rite where the
magus has to make his/her direct connection, and to draw inspiration
from the stellar well directly. The rites here are the beginning steps
on your stellar journey, it is recommended that you write your own
poems and invocations to the constellations and make your Path to the
stars.
Included amongst the rites are ceremonies with the constellations of
Perseus & Andromeda, Cygnus, Orion, the Pleiades, the Great Bear,
Draco, the twelve signs of the Zodiac, the star Sirius, the Moon, the
Persian Royal Stars, the seven classical Planets, and the Stellar World
Cave: the Mithraeum.
In the end of the journey the initiate will connect to ideal of: ‘When
you ascend to the sky, your power upon you, your terror about you, your
magic at your feet, you are helped by Atum just as he used to do, the
gods who are in the sky are brought to you, the gods who are on the
earth assemble for you, they place their hands under you, they make a
ladder for you that you may ascend on it to the sky, the doors of the
sky are opened for you, the doors of the starry firmament are thrown
open for you’23 - The
Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts.
This is a highly accessible, succinct and practical book on this
complex subject. It is written in such a way that it can be used as a
manual and workbook for practicing stellar magic or simply read for
gaining insight into star lore.
Author Biography:
Payam Nabarz is author of ‘The
Mysteries of Mithras: The Pagan Belief
That Shaped the Christian World’ (Inner Traditions, 2005), ‘The Persian
Mar Nameh: The Zoroastrian Book of the Snake Omens & Calendar’
(Twin Serpents, 2006), and Divine
Comedy of Neophyte Corax and Goddess
Morrigan (Web of Wyrd, 2008). He is also editor of Mithras Reader An
academic and religious journal of Greek, Roman, and Persian Studies,
Volume 1(2006), Volume 2 (2008) and Stellar Magic: a Practical Guide
to
Rites of the Moon, Planets, Stars and Constellations (Avalonia,
2009)
For further info visit: www.stellarmagic.co.uk
References
1. The Hymns of Orpheus translated by Thomas Taylor, 1792.
2. Mystical Astrology According to Ibn Arabi by Titus Burckhardt,
Beshara Publications, 1977.
3. The Epic of Kings by Ferdowsi Translated by Helen Zimmern, 1883.
4. 6.21 The Annals by Publius Cornelius Tacitus. Translated by Alfred
John Church and William Jackson Brodribb, The Complete Works of
Tacitus, 1942.
5. The Chaldæan Oracles Attributed to Zoroaster. Edited and
revised by W.W. Westcott, 1895, pp45-46. Sure Fire Press, Edition 1984.
6. The Chaldæan Oracles Attributed to Zoroaster by W.W. Westcott,
1895, p21. Sure Fire Press, Edition 1984.
7. Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks and Romans, Franz Cumont,
1912.
8. Liber CVI, Aleister Crowley.
9. Speaking to the Stars: In consideration of Cosmic Ritual by Mary
Stewart Adams in New View Winter 2006/7 p50.
10. On the Cave of the Nymphs in the Thirteenth Book of the Odyssey
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