Dear All,

I have been enjoying a huge collection of little sample oils from
conjureoils.com for the last few days. It took ages to arrive from
the USA, and I very much expected it to not be all that great, but
they are absolutely amazing. Incenses and oils are of course very
much a part of this d'Este/Rankine household! Incenses and oils were
in fact the first thing we talked about when we met each other for the
first time in Atlantis Bookshop many years back – and it continues to
be a topic of discussion today! From the practice of aromatic smokes
rising to the heavens as an offering to the Gods and Spirits, or as
propitiation, protection or purification – incenses and oils do play
an important part in magical and spiritual practices today as they did
throughout history in every culture, on all the inhabited continents
of the Earth. Amongst the most famous is probably frankincense and
myrrh, two of the three gifts which were given to the Christ child by
the three Magi, both also ingredients which were extensively used by
the Ancient Egyptians. In fact it could be said that the Egyptians
perfected the art of aromatics. Some of the perfumes s they made have
retained their fragrance for more than 3000 years! One such famous
example being an aromatic ointment which was discovered in the tomb of
Tutankhamen in 1922 and which is believed to have been made around
1350BCE ! It contained both frankincense and balsam amongst its
ingredients. Cleopatra was famous for her love of aromatics and it is
said that when Mark Antony first encountered the barge on which
Cleopatra was travelling "The winds were love-sick when from the
barge, a strange invisible perfume hits the sense of the adjacent
wharfs..." (Plutarch).

Here in Wales, David and I are working at getting Practical Elemental
Magick completed for release in the next couple of weeks. Its all on
schedule for a change, so that is good! There is so much material we
are including from work we have done together over the last few years
that we hope that it will be something which will open up the field of
elemental work to further study and experimentations in the coming
years – like planetary magick, it is a subject which is much neglected
and often misunderstood.

I am also very pleased to say that Horns of Power (Manifestations of
the Horned God - see http://avaloniabooks.co.uk/catalog/?page_id=59
for details ) the anthology containing essays by scholars and mystics
writing about different Horned Gods and their experiences of working
with or encounters with the Horned God, being received with great
excitement by those who have read it to date. This is great news as I
am planning another anthology at the moment with essays by Priestesses
from all over the world, working in different traditions, and their
experiences of trance work, mediumship, possession and "drawing down
the Moon" and I am very excited about the submissions I have received
to date as each contains something so thoroughly unique and beautiful
that it will greatly enhance the experiences, techniques and
understanding of these workings which are so rarely spoken about.
I hope that this finds you well, whoever you may be and wherever you
find yourself,

Blessings
Sorita d'Este

Ps. According to my copy of Llewellyn's Magical Almanac 2008 the
fragrance for 3 Sept. Is Honeysuckle, and 4 Sept. Nutmeg, followed by
Thyme on the 5th. Why this would be I haven't a clue, but I thought
it was interesting enough to include!


http://www.avalonia.co.uk
http://www.avaloniabooks.co.uk

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Avalonia Newsletter: 3 September 2008

Table of Contents

1 * Special Offers on Books
2 * Incense & Oil Supplies
3 * Wicca Magickal Beginnings
4 * The Esoteric Book Review~
5 * Root Magic
6 * Forthcoming Events

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1/ Special Offers on Books

Our current Avalonia Books special offer is on the new edition of
Circle of Fire and Wicca Magickal Beginnings.
Buy two of our most popular books together and save £5.50! Both books
will provide individuals wishing to deepen their understanding of the
Wiccan Tradition with plenty of material to do so. Circle of Fire is
provides practitioners with a solid foundation of symbolism and
practice from where to build their knowledge and understanding of the
practices of the tradition; Wicca Magickal Beginnings provides
insights into the historical origins of the tradition which sets aside
the endless debates about lineage in favour of looking at where the
practices may originate from prior to being popularised by Gerald
Gardner in 1950's England. This illustrates how the majority of
practices and beliefs dates back decades and in some instances many
thousands of years prior to his influence and hints that Gardner may
have been telling the truth when he claimed he was initiated into the
New Forest Coven in the late 1930's.

If bought together you will save yourself £5.50 (with free P&P) – but
only if bought from our "offers" page -
http://avaloniabooks.co.uk/catalog/?page_id=47 between now and the
21st of September 2008.

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2/ Incense & Oil Supplies

But back to fragrant smokes and oils, if you are interested in
exploring these more in the coming months, the following suppliers
might provide a good starting point for you providing between them
ready blended incenses and oils, as well as the ingredients you will
need to make your own:

Amphora Aromatics - http://www.amphora-retail.com
Baldwins – http://www.baldwins.co.uk
Conjure Oils – http://www.conjureoils.com
PeacockAngel – http://www.peacockangel.com
StarChild – http://www.starchild.co.uk

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3/ Wicca Magickal Beginnings

It seems that our work is currently really getting around and creating
a buzz in different circles. A good example of this is Wicca Magickal
Beginnings, which explores the history of the practices and beliefs of
the Wiccan Tradition in the context of magickal practices spanning
thousands of years. This week it has created quite an interesting
discussion on the LiveJournal of author and rock star Rodney Orpheus
(him of the "Cassandra Complex"), if you are interested in Thelema and
Wicca, you may find the discussion there of interest, see:
http://rodneyorpheus.livejournal.com/546888.html for details. Also to
see what Pagan Dawn; Mike Howard at the Cauldron and others think of
Wicca Magickal Beginnings see:
http://avaloniabooks.co.uk/catalog/?page_id=61 (scroll down to the
bottom of the page)

Wicca Magickal Beginnings forms part of our current special offer, if
purchased with a copy of Circle of Fire – see
http://avaloniabooks.co.uk/catalog/?page_id=47 for details.

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4/ The Esoteric Review

Remember that new book reviews are also frequently being added by our
team of reviewers to the Esoteric Book Review -
http://reviews.ritualmagick.co.uk/ recent reviews include a number of
titles related to Fallen Angels, The Book of Enoch and a couple of
books by fantasy writer Storm Constantine. There is a pile of books
which are all making their way to reviewers at the moment, so we hope
to be adding more reviews very soon.

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5/ Root Magic

John Canard whose first book "Defences of the Witches' Craft" was also
released last month is so pleased with the response he has received so
far to this book that he has decided to give in to my pleas to write
the first substantial book on the history and practices of English
Root Magic. He is collating his notes now and will be adding advice
and guidance for those wishing to explore English Root Magic and the
seven year cycle of training which he followed with his own mentor
some decades ago. Defences of the Witches' Craft's first review has
also just been published on Amazon.com and is available along with
information on the book at
http://avaloniabooks.co.uk/catalog/?page_id=89 - a great little book
for anyone who is interested in curses and counter magics as used in
England today and in the last few hundred years. (Whether out of
curiosity or out of need for such charms)

John also asked me to mention that he has set up a group on Facebook
for people interested in discussing Root Magic – it is called "Root
Magicians – Worldwide" and can be found by searching for "Root magic"
on Facebook or going straight to
http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=74865125064

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6/ Forthcoming Events

6 September 2008 ** This Saturday – The Colours of Chaos ***
-see http://chaotopia.co.uk/coloursofchaos.html for more
information. Tickets WILL be available on the door. Speakers
include: Julian Vayne, Dave Lee, Soror Res, Susan Leybourne etc.
Conway Hall, London.

4 October 2008 *** The Thelemic Symposium ***
See http://www.dowhatthouwilt.com/symposium/ for details. A whole
bunch of speakers on Aleister Crowley's Thelema, The OTO etc. Oxford,
England. TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT, but worth checking out as there might
be a waitinglist.

4 October 2008 *** Qabalah Through the Worlds – Workshop by David
Rankine ***
Some details at http://www.ritualmagick.co.uk or
http://www.avalonia.co.uk/events This is an advanced workshop on
Qabalah and Magic(k) exploring practical techniques. Venue: The
Atlantis Bookshop, Museum Street, London.

18 October 2008 *** The Halloween Festival – London ***
This yearly festival is usually quite a bit of fun, lots of dressing
up, music, stalls and talks – see www.paganfestivals.com for details.

8 November 2008 *** Witchfest International, Croydon , Surrey / London ***
Speakers this year include Prof. Ronald Hutton, Sorita d'Este, David
Rankine, Rufus Harrington, Cassandra Eason, Kate West, James Bennett,
Ralph Harvey, Teresa Moorey, Rhys Chisnall , Tam Campbell & many more.
See www.witchfest.net for more details and booking information.

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"Working Towards Expanding the Esoteric Horizons"
http://www.avalonia.co.uk
http://www.avaloniabooks.co.uk

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