Was Aleister Crowley a serial killer behind the 'Curse of Tutankhamun' deaths?

No, I'd say it's pretty unlikely that he was.  But the London Evening Standard clearly doesn't let nebulous concepts like facts or evidence get in the way of a good story. Or indeed a poor, but sensationalist story. Still, it's quite an achievement to still be a target for the press more than 60 years after your death!  And personally, I never trust a person who can't tell a Satanist from a Thelemite!

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New limited editions of Austin Osman Spare's 'The Book of Pleasure' limited available for pre-order

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Jerusalem Press are publishing two limited editions (Deluxe and Standard) of Austin Osman Spare's The Book of Pleasure. The new editions include 'an evocative introduction' by Alan Moore and an 'illustrated analytical magical essay' by Michael Staley.


Alan Moore's 2010 piece on Spare for BBC2's The Culture Show, 4 November 2010

via LAShTAL

Romanian witches to hex government over plans to tax "self-employed" witches

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Romanian witches are planning to curse their government over changes to their labour laws which added a number of "professions" not previously recognised, including that of witch, so they can now be taxed. You can read the full story at BBC News Europe while you stick sharp needles in your little George Osborne doll...

Was Charles Dickens a Victorian Shaman?

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The January 2011 issue of Fortean Times (FT270) has a wonderful article from Guy Reid-Brown which is well worth a read for anyone interested in the occult, folklore and myth, the works of Charles Dickens or the traditions of Christmas.  In it, Reid-Brown makes a convincing case for interpreting Dickens's classic tale "A Christmas Carol" as an initiatory journey through death and re-birth:

"The paradoxical core of all Initiation is the dying to oneself in order to be reborn, and Scrooge’s story occurs, entirely appropriately, at that ancient and emblematic time of death and rebirth, the Winter Solstice. His psychopomp, that escort and guide to the Underworld, the necessary Prime Initiator, is of course old Jacob Marley himself, Scrooge’s own dear departed."

Read the full article in the print edition of Fortean Times 270 (if you don't already subscribe, you really should), or online at the Fortean Times website.

Wormwood Star: The Magickal Life of Marjorie Cameron | Spencer Kansa

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Wormwood Star is the first ever biography of Marjorie Cameron, star of Kenneth Anger's underground classic Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome and wife of Jack Parsons, the rocket scientist and magickal associate of Aleister Crowley.

"Born in Belle Plaine, Iowa, in 1922, Cameron’s uniqueness and talent as a natural born artist was evident to those around her early on in life. During World War 2 she served in the Women’s Navy, and worked in Washington as an aide to the Joint Chiefs Of Staff. But it was after the War that her life really took off, when she met her husband Jack Parsons. By day Parsons was a brilliant rocket scientist, but by night he was Master of the Agape Lodge, a fraternal magickal order, whose head was the most famous magus of the 20th century… Aleister Crowley."

Wormwood Star is written by Spencer Kansa and published by Mandrake of Oxford.

Marjorie Cameron in Curtis Harrington's Night Tide (1961)

Psychic TV 'Themes' box set to be released 23 December

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Cold Spring Records have announced the release of the Themes CD box set from Psychic TV:

"For the first time, all THEMES albums by PSYCHIC TV released together, in a sumptuous, matt laminate, spot-varnished box set. The music itself was designed not only as soundtrack but also for subsequent use by Initiates of The Temple Ov Psychick Youth in their rituals as Functional music intended only to aid in the process of making things happen. It is a practical tool. Thee essential collection of rare, archive and modern PTV ritual / esoteric musick! Each CD is presented in it's own matt laminate, spot-varnished mini-LP sleeve. The box also includes a 28-page booklet of rare photos and essays."

Unfortunately, Genesis P-Orridge's petty re-writing of PTV history appears to continue with this box set, and any mention of Paula P-Orridge/Alaura O'Dell's involvement early Psychic TV seems to have been removed.

The box set is released on 23 December 2010 and you can order it here.