Path: typhoon.sonic.net!not-for-mail Message-ID: <38D3F45E.450A@luckymojo.com> From: catherine yronwode Organization: Lucky Mojo Curio Company X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01 (Macintosh; I; 68K) MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.lucky.w,alt.magick.marketplace,alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick Subject: Review: Legends of Incense, Herb, and Oil Magic Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 138 Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 22:19:42 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 208.201.229.56 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sonic.net X-Trace: typhoon.sonic.net 953417982 208.201.229.56 (Sat, 18 Mar 2000 14:19:42 PST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 14:19:42 PST Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.lucky.w:7048 alt.magick.marketplace:4239 alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic:20573 alt.magick.tyagi:22130 alt.magick:183803 New and online now is an illustrated review of Lewis de Claremont's famous book "Legends of Incense, Herb, and Oil Magic." The text is reproduced here, without the html links or picture, for those who read news without a browser. To get the full impact, read the piece on the web at the Lucky W Amulet Archive http://luckymojo.com/legendsofihomagic.html LEGENDS of INCENSE, HERB,and OIL MAGIC by Lewis de Claremont [IMAGE] A strong influence on 20th century hoodoo practices, this collection of occult tidbits by Lewis de Claremont integrates European and African-American traditions. Included is basic information gleaned from a variety of ancient and modern sources on dressing oils in antiquity and in the contemporary traditions, Medieval philtres and potions, incense in Hebrew and Egyptian history and in modern times, ancient and modern magical uses of dozens of illustrated herbs and roots, how to use sachet powders for magical ends, how to use baths and washes, and a series of philosophical and mystical illustrations revealing the author's Hermetic-style conceptions of the relationship between the material and spiritual worlds. Most remarkable in this latter context are de Claremont's four-fold illustrated distinction between Man (Earth), Chiram [Hiram] (Water), Lucifer (Fire), and Satan (Air); and a cryptic diagram labelled "Spirit / Matter : Dog / God." These diagrams are not explained in the text and they bear no relation to any other grimoire or book of alchemical or hermetic magic known to me. Most likely, they constitute the author's own unqiue perspective on reality. From the beginning, "Legends of Incense, Herb, and Oil Magic" was intended as a companion to the same author's "Ancient Book of Formulas" and was orignally marketed by the Oracle Company, which manufactured compounds of essential oils and published the latter book as well. Thus, although some formulas and recipes are given, the bulk of "Legends" deals with the proper way to use purchased spiritual supplies rather than how to make them from scratch or grow them in one's garden. Like de Claremont's other works, "Legends of Incense, Herb, and Oil Magic" is basically European and Medieval in orientation, but it has from the first been packaged for sale to hoodoo practitioners in the African-American community. It has proven consistently popular and has never gone out of print, dspite the fact that in 1966 an important chapter on seals and talismans was eliminated by the publisher, probably in the interest of saving paper and thus reducing printing costs. The advertisement shown on this page is apparently for the 2nd edition, and dates from the 1940s, as the cover price can be seen at the lower left and later editions carried no cover price. Bibliographic Addendum: Because this book has been extensively revised, i herewith append my key to understanding the different editions, as found in my collection. First edition: "(c) 1936 by Oracle Publishing Co." cover: green index stock with black illustration interior paper: white with black ink typewriter-style type-setting square-bound cover price: $2.00 10 chapters, last word is "Albert." 112 pages (102 numbered pages, plus 10 pages of ads) Second (revised) edition: "revised edition, Dorene Publishing Co., Inc. (c) 1938" cover: dark pink index stock with black illustration interior paper: pink with black ink square-bound cover price: $2.00 typeset in Times Roman style font 10 chapters, last word is "Albert." 104 pages. Third (reduced) edition): "(c) 1938 by Dorene Publishing... revised edition 1966" cover: red index stock with black illustration interior paper: white with dark blue ink saddle-stitched (stapled) no cover price typeset in Times Roman style font 9 chapters, last word is "fragrance." (Chapter 10 deleted.) 96 pages (98 numbered pages; title page and fly leaf were deleted) Fourth (reduced) edition): "(c) 1938 by Dorene Publishing... revised edition 1966" cover: white chrome-coat (shiny) stock with red illustration interior paper: white with black ink saddle-stitched (stapled) no cover price typeset in Times Roman style font 9 chapters, last word is "fragrance." (Chapter 10 deleted.) 96 pages (98 numbered pages; title page and fly leaf were deleted) CURRENTLY IN PRINT ($5.00 retail) There may be other editions, and if so, i would like to hear about them. The biggest difference between the various editions is the loss of Chapter 10 (which deals with Talismans and Seals) at the Third edition and afterwards. Also, the cover illustration, once very clear and easy to see in the first edition, has been picked up and copied so many times that it is now plugged in and lumpy-looking, while the interior illustrations have become more faded and indistinct with each passing edition. ----- To order Legends of Incense, Herb, and Oil Magic from the Lucky Mojo Curio Co. go to: http://www.luckymojo.com/mojocatbooks.html ----- cat yronwode Free Spells Archive ------------ http://www.luckymojo.com/spells.html Lucky W Amulet Archive --------- http://www.luckymojo.com/luckyw.html Lucky Mojo Curio Co. http://www.luckymojo.com/luckymojocatalogue.html Send e-mail with your street address to catalogue@luckymojo.com and receive our free 32 page catalogue of hoodoo supplies and amulets