Description
James A. Eshelman
The College of Thelma, Los Angeles, 2011. First Edition. Hardcover. Dust-jacket has some minor shelf-wear and a small edge tear, otherwise Fine. Signed and inscribed with the inspiring message “Find your version and your voice”.
In 1909, Aleister Crowley and his protégé Victor Neuburg obtained a series of 33 mystical visions. At once beautiful, horrible, and inspiring, these inner world explorations (and two earlier ones) were published in 1911 as The Vision & the Voice. A classic, both of the Enochian magick of Elizabethan wizard John Dee and of Crowley’s then-emerging Thelemic magick, The Vision & the Voice remains a living work, its value increasing with each generation. Astrologers also will find a previously unexploited treasure in this collection: Most of the visions include exact dates, times, and places they were received, providing a unique opportunity to study astrology s relationship to magical vision. This research bonanza lay untapped for nearly a century. In Visions & Voices, James Eshelman joins the text of Aleister Crowley s Enochian visions with horoscopes for each. To this he adds a masterful astrological and Qabalistic analysis, expanding and deepening his original landmark study (1997- 2001). It is his most mature work to date, blending rare expertise in many subjects. Preliminary chapters provide a valuable introduction to Qabalistic and astrological topics including: the Four Worlds, the Tree of Life, Qabalistic psychology, Enochian magick, the Three Æons, the Holy Guardian Angel and the Abyss, the impact of astrological factors on deep psychological states, and induced mystical vision as a means of exploring the personal and collective unconscious. The lengthy Glossary will be a standard reference on many an occultist’s bookshelf for decades to come. Visions & Voices will be of considerable interest to astrologers, ceremonial magicians, devotees of mythology and comparative religion, and all who are interested in the operation of symbols (and the archetypes that engender them) in the workings of the human psyche and in crises of transformation. This book also describes historically rare, extraordinary spiritual states that are becoming increasingly accessible to living women and men. By its words and images, it engenders a contagion of a higher mode of consciousness spread by sympathy. Reading this book mindfully will provide one form of spiritual initiation. Additionally, it portrays an eclectic spirituality that enthuses our universal need to intimately connect with our own spiritual ideals, rather than dictating what that ideal should be.
James A. Eshelman has been a writer and teacher of occult and metaphysical subjects for over 35 years, including astrology, magick, yoga, Qabalah, tarot, occult psychology, and related Hermetic subjects. His many writings include The Mystical & Magical System of the A.’.A.’. and 776½: Tables of Correspondences for Practical Ceremonial, plus numerous astrological books and articles. This is his first new astrology book since Interpreting Solar Returns in 1985. Mr. Eshelman is Chancellor of College of Thelema and Prolocutor General of Temple of Thelema. He edited, and was a major contributor to, C.O.T. s biannual journal, Black Pearl for its six year run 1997-2002. He has served as president of the International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR), Deputy Grand Master General of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), and Grand Imperator of Fraternitas L.V.X. Occulta (F.L.O.). He accepted ordination in the Gnostic Catholic Church in 1979 and celebrated its Mass for 11 years. He was consecrated a bishop in the Vilatte succession in 1985. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
