Description
Starfire Publishing Ltd, London, 2010. Paperback, full colour cover, sewn binding, large format, 2 colour plates, 304 pages.
Ecpyrosis is an alluring, informative and voluminous publication consisting of sixteen articles drawn from the first five issues of Starfire, together with the best of the artwork. Also included are two new colour plates: a frontispiece consisting of detail from the cover artwork by Kyle Fite, and an endispiece of the covers of the constituent issues of Starfire. Printed on a substantial coated paper in order to take the heavy blacks in much of the artwork, Ecpyrosis is a heavyweight volume is every sense of the word.
The first issue of Starfire was published in 1986, and the fifth issue appeared in 1994. These years encompass Volume One, the constituent issues of which have long been out of print and appear but rarely on the second-hand market. This selection of articles and artwork from these first five issues is newly typeset, the articles have been lightly edited where necessary, and the artwork has wherever possible been freshly scanned and cleaned to give sharper and clearer reproduction. The result is an enthralling and substantial collection of articles and artwork that embody the best of Starfire. The cover reproduced here to the left incorporates beautiful artwork by Kyle Fite.
The articles included in Ecpyrosis are drawn from the original issues as follows:
From the first issue (1986):
– Great Dismal by Linda Falorio – a short story of the evocation of a creature from the chthonic depths of Great Dismal Swamp;
– Going Beyond by Michael Staley – an essay on non-duality;
– The Stélé of Revealing and the Abomination of Desolation by Stephen Dziklewicz – an essay considering the gematria and other aspects arising from these twin terms of The Book of the Law.
From the second issue (1987):
– Cults of Cthulhu by Peter Smith – an essay on H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Gnosis;
– The Hiss of the Serpent by Stephen Dziklewicz – considerations of the serpent and related imagery in The Book of the Law.
From the third issue (1989):
– A Statement on Lam – setting out some techniques to facilitate contact with Lam;
– The Heart of Thelema by Michael Staley – considerations of Thelema;
– Disciple of Dagon by Peter Smith – a study of Clark Ashton Smith;
– The Babalon Working consists of two parts: Belovèd of Babalon by Michael Staley – a study of Jack Parsons; and The Book of Babalon by Jack Parsons – his detailed account of the Babalon Workng which he performed with Marjorie Cameron and L. Ron Hubbard.
From the fourth issue (1992):
– Meditations on Liber AL by Lindsey Calvert – considerations of The Book of the Law;
– Ciphers in Flesh by Mouse – on poetry as inspired text;
– The Vision and the Voice by Michael Staley – an introductory essay on Crowley’s 1909 Working.
And finally, from the fifth issue (1994):
– Zos: The New Flesh of Desire by Gavin Semple – an examination of the sorcery of Austin Osman Spare;
– Lam: The Gateway by Michael Staley – an essay on Lam;
– Wisdom for the New Flesh by Andrew Chumbley – some considerations of a modern sorcery;
– Supping at the Angel & Feathers by Michael Staley – an essay on the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
