Showing results by narrator "Matthew Schmitz" in All Categories

Twenty Drawings is a brief but evocative art volume first published in 1919 that gathers twenty of Kahlil Gibran’s drawings, presented with an introductory essay by Alice Raphael. Rather than telling a conventional story, the book offers a visual meditation on beauty, the human form, spirituality, longing, and the dreamlike union of Eastern and Western artistic sensibilities that shaped Gibran’s work.

In “The Green Meadow,” an isolated narrator awakens in a strange, alien landscape between a sinister green forest and a distant, luminous meadow across blue water, with only fragments of memory and an overwhelming sense of cosmic dread. As the piece of land beneath him breaks away and drifts across the sea, he senses that the forest harbors hostile, sentient forces, while the radiant meadow exerts a terrible fascination and eerie promise of safety.

In “The Hoard of the Wizard-Beast,” the official Yalden discovers that the treasury of the strange city of Zeth has been emptied by corruption, and on the advice of the dubious oracle Oorn he is sent to recover the legendary treasure of the monstrous sorcerer Anathas, who dwells in the dreaded Cave of Three Winds. Armed with magical protections and driven by duty, greed, and youthful ambition, Yalden survives a hazardous journey across an alien wasteland and reaches the wizard-beast’s lair, where he finds an immense hoard of jewels and relics beyond a floor of blazing coals.

F. Lamplugh’s The Gnosis of the Light presents an esoteric “apocalypse” as a roadmap of initiation, in which salvation is not secured by belief alone but by awakening to an interior radiance that reorders the whole person. Moving through dense, emblematic visions and hierarchies, the work depicts the soul’s ascent from the world’s entanglements into a realm of intelligible Light, where names, powers, and ritual images function as stages of purification and recognition rather than mere mythology.

Symbology Of The Christ Blood - Frederick K. Davis - Full Esoteric Occult essay. Originally published in Azoth Magazine in 1920, Davis writes about the modern profaned nature of blood symbolism and how we might redeem that symbolism through the recognition of the divine Father/Mother, resulting in becoming 'whole' through the divine Son (or Principal). This audiobook contains elements of Gnosticism, Alchemy, and Christian Occultism.

The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories is the third book by Anglo-Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, considered a major influence on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin, and others. It was first published in hardcover by George Allen & Sons in October 1908, and has been reprinted a number of times since. Issued by the Modern Library in a combined edition with A Dreamer's Tales as A Dreamer's Tales and Other Stories in 1917.

These marvelous narratives may seem vastly fantastic to the modern mind, but to every shade of Christianity in those days, they were entirely credible. - from The Hymn of Jesus. Are These The Lost words of Jesus? One of the greatest thinkers on the origins of Christianity and a renowned expert on Gnostic and Hermetic literature presents, in this snug volume first published in 1907, the lost teachings of Jesus.

This is an ancient alchemy manuscript. Artephius (Artefius) (c. 1150) is a writer and alchemist to whom a number of alchemical texts are ascribed. Alchemical pseudepigraphy makes it difficult to identify who the historical Artephius may have been. His identity remains an open question. As The Secret Book of Artephius was respected and mentioned by Roger Bacon many times, Artephius' writing and alchemy is dated to around 1150.

Northcote Thomas provides an lengthy study of the history and practice of crystal gazing. He covers techniques for scrying utilizing a crystal sphere as an aid in clairvoyance and obtaining visions. A chapter on the incantation or "call" is included. In additional to practical techniques, the work covers the crystal ball's history. Thomas spends two chapters in an in depth discussion of Egyptian scrying. An early work on the subject, originally published in 1905.

For long I have been spending much of my time in a world of great beauty of thought and purity of feeling, created by the devotion and intelligence of one of the many theosophical fraternities of the ancient world. They called themselves disciples of Thrice-greatest Hermes, and sometimes spoke of their faith as the Religion of the Mind. They were prior to and contemporary with the origins and earliest centuries of Christianity, and they lived in Egypt.

Brought to you by Altrusian Grace Media (altrusiangrace.com) and human-narrated by Matthew Schmitz. The Story of Aridæus is the most detailed and graphic Vision of Hades preserved to us from classical antiquity, and exceeds in interest even Plato’s Story of Er and Cicero’s Dream of Scipio, not to speak of the less known Visions of Krates and of Zosimus. It brings to a striking conclusion the instructive treatise of Plutarch, the Greek title of which may be rendered, On the Delay of the Deity in Punishing the Wicked or On the Delay of Divine Justice."

This book having worth enough in itself needs not my commendation, this author in his lifetime being an eminent physician and most able philosopher as the discourse itself can best testify. The author builds on good principles, so that his theory is as true as it is plausible; and I presume he aimed at nothing more, leaving all particulars and their application to the industry of his listeners. He is sometimes pleased to descend to examples, but to such only as are natural, and they indeed are good to teach but hard to imitate. We see not all that nature does.

The Book of Wonder is a collection of short stories by Lord Dunsany, published in 1912. It is a remarkable work that showcases Dunsany's imaginative storytelling and his mastery of creating vivid and fantastical worlds. The book consists of numerous individual tales, each offering a glimpse into a unique realm filled with magic, mythology, and mystery.

From the author of the landmark Secret Teachings of All Ages comes two classic works on the mysterious origins and unique mission of America: The Secret Destiny of America and America’s Assignment with Destiny. Focusing on often-forgotten moments in history, Manley P. Hall proposes that there was a Great Plan put forth one thousand years before our nation’s founding: humanistic and mystical organizations wished for the continent to be the location for an experiment in self-government and religious freedom.

The Star-Treader and Other Poems - Clark Ashton Smith. Clark Ashton Smith was a poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. It is for these stories, and his literary friendship with H. P. Lovecraft from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937, that he is mainly remembered today. With Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, also a friend and correspondent, Smith remains one of the most famous contributors to the pulp magazine Weird Tales. This early volume of Clark Ashton Smith's poetry was published when he was only nineteen years old."

This lecture The Larger Consciousness was delivered at the 12th annual convention of the Indian section of the Theosophical society, held at Benares in December 1902. This year we are going to study together a subject of vital importance to the thoughtful, to the earnest, to those who desire to serve humanity, to those who wish to help the race forward in its evolution.

Five fantastical tales from the mind of H. P. Lovecraft that center around a theme of illicit substances: some used to transcend the veil of reality, some used to keep one's sanity in check. All of the stories are quite psychedelic and unreal, quite mystical, and quite frightening. So, turn off the lights, get lit, and come with us on this long strange trip. Stories include Azathoth, Dagon, Ex Oblivione, Celephais, and Hypnos.

Brought to you by Altrusian Grace Media (altrusiangrace.com) and human-narrated by Matthew Schmitz. The Donum Dei, "the most precious gift of God" is an important early alchemical work. with a famous series of 12 illustrations. Ascribe the work to Georgius Aurach de Argentina [sometimes Anrach] and date it to 1475. There are versions in Latin, German, French, and Italian, and one in English in the British Library.

Brought to you by Altrusian Grace Media (altrusiangrace.com) and human-narrated by Matthew Schmitz. This is a compendium of theories of the shape of the Earth, along with a great deal of Earth mystery lore. The Book of Earths includes many unusual theories, including Columbus' idea that the Earth is literally pear-shaped, modern theories that the Earth was originally tetrahedral, and so on.

Brought to you by Altrusian Grace Media (altrusiangrace.com) and human-narrated by Matthew Schmitz. This was a key work of 17th-century alchemy. It was written in Latin by Jean d'Espagnet as Enchiridion Physicae Restitutae, and the first edition was issued at Paris in 1623. A number of editions were issued over the next decades, and it was included in a number of alchemical compendia. An English translation, translated by Elias Ashmole, was printed in 1650 in Arthur Dee's Fasciculus Chemicus: Or Chymical Collections.