The Roots of Modern Magick: An Anthology

276 Pages·2004·45.24 MB·English

by  A. H. Greenfield

The Roots
of
Modern Magick
Glimpses of the Authentic Tradition
from
1700-2000
Allen H. Greenfield
“What Secret Power Did This Man Possess?
An “ad parody” by Jonathan Sellers.
The Roots
of
Modern Magick
Glimpses of the Authentic Tradition
from
1700-2000
An Anthology by
Allen H. Greenfield
[illustrated and introduced by Jonathan Sellers]
Manutius Press
2006
Second Revised Edition
Copyright © 1998, 2004, 2006 by Allen H. Greenfield
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval
system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by
a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in
a magazine, newspaper or broadcast.
Second Edition: April 10, 2006.
Cover image, “The Burning Bush”, by Daniel Eisman.
Graphic Design by Jonathan Sellers.
Introductory Remarks and Afterword — Copyright © 2001-2006 Jonathan Sellers.
Set in Linotype Memphis and Bauer Bodoni. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Printed in the United States of America.
Acknowledgments
T
HIS book is unique in a number of ways, and could not have been
so with out the assistance and generosity of a number of persons
and institutions. For one thing, most past histories of the authen-
tic occult tradition, including Freemasonry, have been heavily tilted towards
that tradition in gentile Europe, although both the utterly crucial ecstatic and
Cabalistic aspects should by themselves have made obvious that much of that
tradition comes from “the other side of the ghetto wall” – from European
Jewry, including and especially those elements linked to the teachings of the
Caballa, or hidden tradition in Judaism. The first Masonic inspector-general
of America was a Jewish Mason named Stephen Morin, and the author finds
this not coincidental. If nothing else, I have endeavored to tell the story of the
roots of modern occultism with an eye on each side of the ghetto wall.
The author wishes to thank John Crow the front cover design of this vol-
ume.1 The outstanding painting “The Burning Bush” which appears on the
cover is published with the approval of both the father of the late artist Dan-
iel Eisman, Dr. Michael Eisman, and the Board of Congregation Beth Or of
Springhouse Pa., the current owner of the painting, and especially Liz Hirsch,
Executive Director of Beth Or. A word must be said about the remarkable
young man who painted “The Burning Bush”. I first saw this painting as
reprinted in the Fall 2004 issue of Reform Judaism, page 80. Reform Judaism
was also kind enough to give its permission to access their high resolution scan
of the painting for our cover.
“Daniel Hirsh Eisman was a Down Syndrome man who graduated from the Special
Education department of Norristown High School, Norristown PA. Until the onset of
leukemia he worked at the North Penn Training Center in Lansdale, PA., and was a
member of Temple Sinai in Dresher, PA…. Danny steadfastly refused to explain any of
his works or, with a few exceptions, even to give them titles. The titles that have been
given are barely evocative of the wide range of emotions indicated in these colorful can-
vases. Rather than explain, he suggested that we enter into the painting and see beyond
the color and form for our own interpretation.”
We suggest our readers do the same.
1. The typestyle for the cover has changed in this Second Revised Edition, executed by Mr.
Sellers, with due acknowledgment to Mr. Crow, for his original cover..
Also to be thanked are the past editors of Agape, the journal of U.S. Grand
Lodge of The Ordo Templi Orientis, Content Love Knowles and John Lowell
Crow, who first published several of the essays that have become chapters
of this book. In similar fashion, my thanks go to David Scriven, on whose
web site several other essays first appeared that have found there way here.
Similar thanks go to Gerald del Campo for first publishing “the speech never
delivered” on contemporary Gnostic practice. All of these are chapters in the
saga of occultism in the three centuries I attempt to illuminate here. I must
single out the research work done in conjunction with David Zietz Dipl, AP,
Acupuncture Physician, my primary consultant on acupuncture, for his in-
valuable contribution. The staff of Antiquities of the Illuminati were helpful
in many ways. Finally, I wish to thank James Baker, Martin Starr, William
Breeze, and Joscelyn Godwin, without whose wise counsel and assistance in
research and in the field, I could not have produced nearly as accurate a pic-
ture of the seminal Hermetic Brotherhood of Light.
Dedication
THIS VOLUME
IS DEDICATED
TO
B.Z. GOLDBERG,
WHOSE VOLUME
“T S F ”
HE ACRED IRE
FIRST INTRODUCED ME AS A YOUTH TO THE AUTHENTIC TRADITION OF SPIRITUAL IL-
LUMINATION LYING AT THE CORE OF THE GREAT RELIGIONS AND PHILOSOPHIES OF THE
WORLD.
— ALLEN H. GREENFIELD