About the Study Group

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A Magical Bastard is either fatherless – self-created – or has more fathers than they can decently acknowledge.  In this group we will collaborate to interpret magical texts that have been formative for each member, and to integrate theory with experience.  We will respect one another’s experiences, in a world that still claims (with decreasing plausibility) to reject magic itself.  By these means we will attempt to teach one another the unknowable, and maybe score diamond grills and gold hubcaps along the way.

We welcome anyone who loves magic and the art of conversation, regardless of their tradition or experience level.  There will probably be a lot of Thelemites in the group, but these sorts of hardships must be borne.  Please do read the week’s text, if you are coming!  Our plan is to always provide a free online copy.

We convene weekly on Wednesdays (Mercury’s day) from 7:30-9:30 PM at The Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave, in Berkeley. Check below for each week’s texts – and may they bring you joy and power!

If you have questions or would like to be added to the mailing list, please write anika.m.g@gmail.com

The bastard in me honors the bastard in you.

June 24th: The Book of Pleasure

Further selections from Austin Osman Spare’s The Book of Pleasure! Please read pp. 73-112, from “The Cloudy Enemies Born of Stagnant Self-Hypnotism” through “Note on the Difference of Magical Obsession (Genius) and Insanity.” If you didn’t catch the earlier sections, please don’t be deterred. These are worth reading on their own.

May 13th: Liber Null

In honor of Peter Carroll, we read Liber Null this week. Unto him may there be granted the accomplishment of his will!

Citizen Maxwell would like you to read the introductory pages (8-11) and the Wikipedia article on the IOT.

Yoko YOLO recommends:

Liber MMM (13-23)

Random Belief (73-77)

Alphabet of Desire (78-88)

Reincarnation (104-105) [mainly to speculate about Carroll’s possible attempts at immortality]

May 6th: John Dee’s Five Books of Mystery

This coming Wednesday, at the recommendation of Frater Ex Nihilo – John Dee’s Five Books of Mystery, as edited by Joseph H. Peterson.

They request that you read the following pages:

42-46: Just pretty pictures of some of the tools of the art, what was known, and what was constructed.

56 – 86: Dee’s long prayer, receiving of most of the instructions for the magical instruments, getting a bit bitch slapped by the angels multiple times.

245-254: Lots of stuff, but this is where the shewstone materializes from the spirit realm.

If you have trouble with the first link, try this one. You can scroll down and manually load the PDF.