Ritman Library endangered again, help save it!

This morning we received the following communication on behalf of Professor Wouter Hanegraaff, Professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy and related currents, University of Amsterdam.

Everyone in our field should know of the vital importance the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica has played in the collection, conservation, and dissemination of esoteric literature, much of it in rare and first editions from the fifteenth century to the present.  Its helpful and highly qualified staff, publications, exhibitions, and open-bay collections have fostered scholarship to an unprecedented extent in Europe and more widely in the international community since 1957.

The collection is now in danger of sale and disposal.

Prof. Wouter Hanegraaff, Chair of the History of Hermetic Philosophy at the University Amsterdam, would welcome all expressions of support for the maintenance of this unique and irreplaceable resource for our studies. Please write to him expressing your support for the BPH.

Please sign this petition, and feel free to spread the word to anyone you think should know about this. For more information, read the note below.

Express your protest against the dissolution of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica (Ritman Library)

It is widely known that the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam, founded by J.R. Ritman, was in great danger in the 1990s, when the ING bank took possession of the collection and threatened to sell it. Fortunately, the Dutch government intervened: the BPH was put on the list of protected Dutch heritage, and the State eventually acquired over 40% of it. The books remained at the same physical location, integrated with the rest of the collection, and the government would eventually acquire all of it. As part of this process, there were great plans for further expansion. Largely due to the financial crisis and a change of government this was taking somewhat longer than originally anticipated, but nobody doubted that the library was safe.

Last week this turned out to be incorrect. An extremely valuable medieval manuscript owned by the BPH (The Grail of Rochefoucauld) was put on sale at Sotheby’s, and this triggered a reaction from the Friesland Bank, which took possession of the library, that had apparently been brought in as collateral, in order to get back a 15 million euro loan from mr Ritman. At present the BPH is closed, and intense negotiations are going on behind closed doors. It is impossible at this moment to predict the outcome, but there is no doubt that the situation is extremely serious. There is a very real possibility that the Friesland bank will try to sell at least the ca. 60% of the library that is still owned by mr Ritman, and nobody knows what implications this will have for the rest of the collection and the BPH as a whole, including its staff. The brand-new government of the Netherlands has announced a program of radical financial cuts in the culture section and elsewhere, which makes a renewed intervention from that side highly unlikely.

If the Ritman library would go down, this would mean an enormous blow to international scholarship in hermetic studies. The damage would be irreversible. By signing this petition you express your concern, and ask the Dutch government and the Friesland bank to do their utmost to ensure that the collection will be saved and will remain available for the international scholarly community.

Additionally, you can express your concern by means of a signed letter. The initiative for this petition comes from the Center for History of Hermetic Philosophy and related currents at the University of Amsterdam (organizationally independent of the BPH, and not in any danger itself), so please send your letter to its director: Prof. Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Oude Turfmarkt 141-147, 1012 GC Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Email: w.j.hanegraaff [ at ] uva.nl

Reading The History of British Magick After Crowley II

In his first chapter, Evans discusses ‘magic’ and sets it apart from ‘stage magic’. Although he immediately recognises that both his subjects Amado Crowley and Kenneth Grant have elements of trickery to their characters. Furthermore, he argues that their magic is useful to practitioners although both men allow “some apparent historical errors of fact.” This latter point fascinates me. Does it say something about the tradition of magic? For instance, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers claimed to be of Scottish heritage and a noble, using the title ‘Comte de Glenstrae’.

The second chapter is on the subject of knowledge acquiring. In this chapter it becomes apparent that Evans’ isn’t working within the academic tradition of  ‘Western esotericism’, but in History. The academic discipline of Western esotericism grew in the last ten years with two MA programs in Amsterdam and Exeter and two scholarly societies. Nevertheless, by quoting Sir Keith Thomas Evans comes closes to a remark by Arthur Versluis on the subject of studying Western esotericism. Both authors argue for an understanding of the research subjects and the “mental climate” of these subjects.

On the subject of ‘magic, religion and science’ and their relationship much can be said. For instance, that James Frazer claimed that magic was merely the first stage of human development, followed by religion and finally science. However, Evans only quotes historian Alex Owen and magician Lionel Snell on this subject. As Owen delivered an interesting monograph on the subject of magic in the nineteenth century, her comments on this point are valuable. With regard to the reason of the contribution on this subject by Snell, I’m puzzled. Is his comment included because the book is intended for a wider audience than academics alone, or for some other reason?

My conclusion up till this point is that these chapters/paragraphs seem to touch upon interesting subjects and areas of research, but they don’t deliver. Why say something about an interesting subject as “how to approach magic as an academic”, but only devote one page to it? There is a suggestion of a deeper and well-researched subject, but it doesn’t materialize that well in this context.

Apart from this review, I found others by Mogg Morgan and other people.

Reading The History of British Magick After Crowley

I recently purchased The History of British Magick After Crowley by Dave Evans. The main reason was that I wanted to know more about Kenneth Grant from an academic perspective. The only academic article on Grant that I could find was written by the author of said book in the Journal for the Academic Study of Magic. The book in question is based on Evans’ PhD thesis. However, as far as I can tell the book is not his dissertation, but a reworked version. Furthermore, the book isn’t published by an academic publisher. Although, it could have been as some academic publishers have series that publish PhD theses, for example ‘Aries Book Series‘ and ‘SUNY series in Western Esoteric Traditions’.  This raises the question of the book’s intended audience: “For whom is this book published?” Up till now, I’ve found some reviews but not by academics, but maybe I didn’t looked hard enough. Nevertheless, my conclusion is that this book is intended for a broad audience, for both academics and people interested in the subject. Or to quote Evans who says in his Preface: “any reader who has a basic knowledge of magic.”

The appeal to a broad audience is probably the reason for the extensive subtitle. Which left me quite bewildered: is everything gonna be touched upon? Grant, Amado Crowley, Chaos Magic, Satanism, Lovecraft, The Left Hand Path, blasphemy and magical morality as well? This bewilderment stuck when I looked at the table of contents. The first six chapters with their paragraph (?) titles seemed fair enough. The chapters were somewhere between 6 and 14 pages long. However the structure of the rest of the book is very hard to comprehend. For example, the subject of Amado Crowley doesn’t get one or two chapters, but ten (!) ranging from 2 to 14 pages. In my opinion a chapter of 2 pages doesn’t constitute a chapter, but only a mere paragraph. The overall structure of the book and the story it tells, is lost on me at this point already. On the other hand, the lack of structure is somewhat ironic as one of the subject is Chaos magic…

Although the structure isn’t visible from the table of contents there certainly is one. The Preface states that first there is a “historical underpinning of the major figures in early 20th Century magic”, followed by an overview of the state of academic research on this topic. After this exposition, necessary for any academic/PhD thesis, Evans focuses on four topics: (1) the morality of the Left Hand Path, (2) the life and work of Amado Crowley, (3) the life and work of Kenneth Grant and finally (4) the emergence of Chaos Magic. Judging from Evans’ major areas of focus, British Magick after Crowley is dominated by the Left Hand Path of magic, Amado Crowley, Kenneth Grant and Chaos magic.

Although the book isn’t intended for an academic audience alone, I’m still very interested in his research question and the theoretical framework Evans uses on his four focus areas.

Coleman´s Mathematics of the Aeon

The first sentence of Aleister Crowley´s Onion-Peelings runs: “The Universe is the Practical Joke of the General at the Expense of the Particular, quoth FRATER PERDURABO, and laughed”. The various disciples of Perdurabo perceived this Joke differently. Some saw the joke and laughed, while others saw only tragedy the “Universal Sorrow”. Meanwhile, Frater Perdurabo was beyond either of these perceptions, as he realized that the truth can not be expressed.

The central message of Onion-Peelings is that all life is in essence tragic. It is this theme of tragedy, sorrow and suffering that pervades the work of Jaz Coleman and Killing Joke. Furthermore, it must be the main reason why Killing Joke chose this piece of Crowley on their album Brighter Than A Thousand Suns, on which I wrote before.

The theme reappears on the last song of the Joke’s 1994 Pandemonium album: ‘Mathematics of Chaos’. On the album, the song is remixed by bass player and trance producer Youth. The original version is, as expected, different and is called the Aotearoa Mix. The word ‘Aotearoa’ is Maori for New Zealand, the country where Jaz Coleman lives. On this original mix a laughing person can be heard. I interpret this to be a reference to someone laughing at the Universal Joke of Frater Perdurabo. Possibly even Jaz himself!

In the first verse, Coleman paints a picture of chaos and suffering and concludes, rather gloomily, that “every time we try to impose order we create chaos”. Humankind´s feeble attempts to put an end to the chaos, can only spawn chaos. Chaos comes from our innate aggression. “Nature, red in tooth and claw”, as Alfred Lord Tennyson put it over more than a century ago. Aggression and the creation of chaos is part of our nature and the cosmos. As a result, relief can be found nowhere. Or, it must be the realization of Coleman that at the end of his life “all is as it was always meant to be”.

The second verse is devoid of hope and relief as well. There is only irony, cold irony. The meek shall not inherit the world, no matter what the Bible says. The person that takes care of others is struck by a lethal disease and dies of cancer. Coleman cries out to the godhead and asks for love in a universe filled with suffering and chaos. But no relief is coming, the loving god is absent. This absence of relief is enhanced by the music of the track. The song seems to march relentlessly forward, the forward movement is reinforced by the trance-like mix of Youth. Which is precisely the reason why I prefer the album version over the Aotearoa Mix.

In the last verse, the powerlessness of humankind is showcased by the UN, unable to stop ethnic cleansing. The verse ends with the realization that life, the cosmos must be a joke. Although, Coleman refers to the fact that men can perceive the chaos and suffering and is unable to stop it, I think that the joke refers to the Practical Joke of Frater Perdurabo.

The idea that chaos rules the universe returns to the work of Coleman. Centerpiece of the Democracy album is ‘Aeon’. In that song Coleman again deals with chaos ruling the universe. The same sense of helplessness is felt by Coleman. However, this time all is not lost. As I wrote elsewhere, the entire album has a new-agey feeling to it and is therefore far more uplifting than any other Killing Joke record.

The last verse of Aeon offers visions of the blissful state that we get after tapping into the Aeon, the New Age. Could Jaz Coleman have found a way out of the chaos and suffering that permeates the universe between recording Pandemonium and Democracy? I think that it is even possible that Coleman himself has experienced this blissful state first hand. After all as he has hinted that he received magical training.

I interpret  ‘Aeon’ as the end of the quest to get out of the chaos, suffering and helplessness that is the world view offered in  ‘Mathematics of Chaos’. ‘Aeon’ offers relief and salvation and therefore stands out as a lone beacon of hope in the work of Killing Joke.

U2′s remasters and the case for a sessionography

Axver presented a nice overview of the bonus material on the remasters. He adds some interesting information on songs recorded on the various sessions. I realised that we have little knowledge regarding the various songs recorded by U2 through the years. We have the U2 Live book that presents us with set lists and facts on almost all U2 concerts. We lack a similar listing of all the songs recorded during the various sessions. In the book that accompanies the Joy Division Heart & Soul box set there is an overview of their recording sessions. In a similar fashion, this site lists Joy Division’s studio sessions. It shows which songs were recorded and if they appeared on an (official) release. This is relatively easy for Joy Division as they had a short life-span. But there is nothing that stands in the way of U2 sessionography. Such a sessionography would not only make clear what is still in the vaults, but also how complete the digital Complete U2 was.

On a side note, am I the only one who’s missing the lyrics on the song Speed of Life? On the recordings of the Dublin show on February 26 in 1980, Bono is singing some lyrics. However, there is no singing by anyone on my bonus disc. Is this another misprint just like the War-booklet? Or did they left the song unfinished? They could have pulled a Wave-of-Sorrow, since they were in the studio recording Angels Too Tied to the Ground earlier this year.

End of an era: Robert Butts passed away

Today, I learned that Robert Butts died some time ago. Butts is primarily known for the fact that he recorded the so-called Seth sessions. Seth was an entity channeled by his wife Jane Roberts from 1963 on. Much of the ideas that became part of the New Age as it evolved in the 1980s were introduced in the books channeled by Seth. One of the most important themes in this corpus is that you can actually create your own reality. This idea was used within the New Age community primarily by Shakti Gawain. Nowadays, you can find it also in self-help books as The Secret.

Jane Roberts always maintained that as soon as she slipped out of trance, she had no recollection of what happened. She didn’t know what Seth said through her and as a result Robert Butts wrote the entire conversation in short-hand. Before a session, they wrote down the questions they would like to ask and the main direction of the session. However, some sessions were entirely devoted to writing. That is, Seth dictated and Butts wrote. The first book produced in this fashion was Seth Speaks, others followed.

The relationship of medium and scribe is a common one in the esoteric/occult world. For instance, magician and mathematician John Dee couldn’t come into contact with other beings through his crystal. Instead, he used Edward Kelly to gaze into a crystal. Kelly asked the questions to whichever beings he saw in his crystal. In the nineteenth century, Emma Hardinge Britten related she had been a crystal gazer for a secret occult society group as a young girl.

Album remaster: U2’s War

In an earlier post, I already explained my reasons for purchasing remasters. In this particular case, I like the packaging very much. The inclusion of the full-scale original single artwork is great as well. So much for the pros of this remaster. The downside of this release is its lacking of interesting bonus material and incomplete liner notes.

Let’s start with the bonus material. Yes (almost) all the b-sides are there, but apart from Endless Deep and Treasure the rest are all remixes of Two Hearts Beat As One and New Year’s Day. Weren’t there any radio sessions available to include? The answer to this is: No. Searching the U2 Live book it seems that no radio sessions were done. However, in March 1983 U2 performed a live session for the television show ‘The Tube’ which included three songs from their then just-released album. Broadcasted radio shows on the other hand, were exclusively live performances. The album Under A Blood Red Sky features one song from a concert in Boston that was broadcasted. Other broadcasts, on radio as well as on TV, included various festivals, such as The US Festival in Devore CA., Werchter in Belgium and the Loreley Rockpalast festival. The latter provided some songs that are featured on Under a Blood Red Sky. On some bit torrent networks demos of Two Hearts are available. There are not that much interesting, but it’s inclusion would in my opinion make it a more interesting bonus CD.

On the other remasters, The Edge provided liner notes on the bonus material. On this release, much to my annoyance, nothing is said about Angels Too Tied to the Ground . I know I’m not alone in my craving for more information on this song. I would really like to know what’s the story behind this one. What’s the reason why it was abandoned during the War-sessions? Why adding vocals to it? Why? Too much questions and unfortunately no answers. I even have a misprint, so the first few days I didn’t even know that they had a recording session earlier this year. So concluding, this release doesn’t live up to its expectations in stark contrast to the other two titles.

Album remaster: U2’s October

The second album is usually considered to be a difficult album to make. This was certainly the case with October, as Bono lost most of his song ideas when his suitcase was stolen on the last leg of the Boy tour and the band had trouble to combine their Christianity with a rock-and-roll lifestyle. When U2 released their first best of, The Best of 1980-1990, no song from the October album was featured. Only the title song appeared as a hidden track. So, in hindsight the band wasn’t very proud of it. Looking at the album sales it is clear that the fans themselves share this sentiment.

When you listen to the record you notice that a lot of songs are good ideas, but get never pass this stage. I mean what the heck is Is That All? about? The same is more or less true for the songs Fire, Scarlet, With a Shout and Stranger in a Strange Land. And yes, later U2 songs suffer from the same the-song-never-got-past-the-embryo-stage problem, but on this album it is most obvious. This lack of ideas and lack of songs, and most of all lack of good songs, is also reflected by the b-sides of the two singles: Fire and Gloria. They both feature live performances of their debut album.

Although I’ve said a lot of negative things about this album, I still think some songs are great or sound very uplifting. In the last category is definitely Rejoice. It has this uplifting quality that is shared with the first seconds of The Three Sunrises. Furthermore, being an aspiring guitarist myself, I like the guitar parts of the song very much. Hearing live versions of Tomorrow allowed me to appreciate the song more. In a live setting, the songs and the performance give something extra to the songs that isn’t captured very well on a U2 album. This is the reason why Under a Blood Red Sky is one of my favorite U2 albums.

Luckily, the extras on the bonus CD are not only the live tracks of the b-sides. It is the never re-released A Celebration that I like to hear again. I have the song on a tape somewhere, but I haven’t heard it in ages. I am not aware of the amount of radio sessions U2 performed, but the fact that the Richard Skinner BBC session was the only time Scarlet was performed live makes the bonus CD very interesting. Although, I think that this song is not much more than a very interesting demo, instead of a song to be featured on an album.

Album remaster: U2’s Boy, Part II

Looking back, it feels like some U2 songs belong together as they were played one after another. For instance, on their debut An Cat Dubh precedes Into the Heart. Other examples include The Electric Co. and I Threw a Brick Through a Window which precedes I Fall Down and A Day Without Me respectively. However, some of those songs weren’t around when they toured the Boy album. So, which song followed The Electric Co. and which one preceded A Day Without Me?

Well, the excitement of the The Electric Co. was usually followed by an instrumental song, a b-side actually, called: Things to Make and Do. Although I didn’t witness them playing this song live, I can’t imagine the crowd going wil with enthusiasm for this one. In hindsight the band probably weren’t that proud about it either as it didn’t appear on the second disc of The Best of 1980-1990. Only their next album provided their final sequence Electric Co. followed by I Fall Down. The latter title was sometimes not very far removed from the truth. As Bono climbed into something high during Edge’s guitar solo and could return to the stage just in time.

The October-album provided I Threw a Brick Through a Window whose end was a drum segue that launched A Day Without Me. During the Boy tour this song isn’t played in pairs with another song. During the last, American, leg of the tour it is played as an encore.

Album remaster: U2’s Boy

In the coming weeks, U2′s debut album will be re-released in three versions, including one with b-sides and rarities. The album was recorded during June through September 1980. For this album some old live favorites were abandoned and new songs were recorded. This is can be seen by comparing the track listing of their sellout concert in the National Stadium in Dublin on the 26th of February 1980 with the actual track listing of Boy.

U2′s last date on their Irish tour, brought them a deal with Island Records that led to the release of their debut album some eight months later. That’s why it is interesting to compare the two. Of the sixteen tracks performed live on that evening only six songs would eventually become part of their debut: Stories for Boys, Another Time, Another Place, Shadows and Tall Trees, A Day Without Me, Twilight and Out of Control. Some of these six tracks were prior released as singles, as was the case with Stories for Boys and Out of Control that appeared on U2 Three and Twilight which was the b-side to the Another Day single.

With six songs becoming part of their first album, U2 were leaving behind ten songs. In some cases those songs eventually turned up. The song Trevor became the b-side to the 11 O’Clock Tick Tock single and was renamed Touch. The New Year’s Day single featured a reworked Pete the Chop under the guise of Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop?). Unfortunately, the remaster doesn’t provide us with all these lost songs. Only Cartoon World, from the Dublin gig, and Speed of Life are on the remaster. Although the song Saturday Night could be another song from their live set under a different name, but we have to wait to be sure.  Furthermore, the digital box set The Complete U2 is lacking those songs, so much for being complete. So, this remaster leaves us wanting of songs never recorded, but part of early U2: Silver Lining, The Magic Carpet, Pete the Chop, The Dream is Over, Cartoon World and Jack in the Box.

Finally, I’m curious whether this remaster includes the 30 second snippet of Fire, as my old vinyl album features.