JAN FRIES‘SHAMAN’ OF THE TAUNUS
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JAN FRIES‘SHAMAN’ OF THE TAUNUS
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1.
Visual Magick
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Visual Magick / Jan Fries £10.99 / $22 |
Suitable for all those inspired by such figures as Austin Spare and Aleister Crowley, and who feel the imperative to develop one's own unique magick way. Visual Magick aims to build vision, imagination, and creative magick. It shows how magicians, witches, artists and therapists can improve visionary abilities, enhance imagination, activate the inner senses, and discover new modes of Trance awareness. The emphasis is on direct experience and the reader is asked to think, act, do, and enjoy as s/he wills.
Visual Magick began as a small treatise on sigil Magick and automatic drawing circulated privately amongst members of the Maat network, and is written for practising mind explorers of the unorthodox variety.
‘No matter what the medium, a talented priest can communicate … without preaching or didacticism. Art shows rather than tells. All great artists function as priests, whether they think of themselves as priests or not.’
If you are an eclectic magickian or shaman, or have any interest in Austin Osman Spare, this is a book for you. Spare said, "All desire, whether for pleasure, knowledge, or power, that cannot find 'natural' expression, can by sigils and their formula find fulfillment from the subconscious". This book is at least in part a modern view of the sigil magick that derives from AOS. But it is much, much more.
Fries has written on several subjects, including the Tao and Rune magick, but this work shows a very good awareness and ability with Spare's techniques, cross-fertilised with some of the more well-known methods of shamanism and his own innovations; hence the subheading.
Fries makes the important point that sigils can not only be designed by the operator (for whatever magickal purpose) but also RECEIVED from entities too… and in those cases there is often a useful secret to be discovered within the sigil: "it should be noted that, while the sentience behind these sigils appears independent, their aesthetics are usually suited to the personality of the receiver. The best kind contains a blend of known and unknown…half revealed and half concealed". This also stands as a beautifully short summary of perhaps what Aleister Crowley and the Book of the Law are about- obviously it is in AC's writing style, but has so much more within…. And Kenneth Grant's work on the Tunnels of Set is supposedly largely based on received sigils.
Regardless of occult debate about whether these received messages derive from a neurological or a non-human source, which is not within the scope of this review, it makes perfect sense for them to appear in this 'mixed' manner. If they were completely incomprehensible they would be ignored, and if they were completely ordinary and fully known already, then they would be un-remarkable and pass from consciousness as quickly as yesterday's newspaper headlines. The half-unknown element makes them all the more tempting and interesting to the magickian, like a partly open door….
Avalanches of really good points are made by JF, which are eminently sensible, humourous and useful. Not for him is gibberish pontificating about very fine points of obscure theory; his stance is very much of the Chaos magician- 'get off your ass, find what works, use it and keep trying new things' and get out of your conditioned tunnel realities, rather than relying on dogmatic magickal techniques that often descend from book to book, unchanged and without ever being challenged. He makes the very important point that you must allow yourself to make mistakes, and perceive them as that, and not as something else that is kinder to one's often bloated magickal self-view:
'Failure' is recognized as a threat to ego… the same ego that so happily pretends to have divine power and authority… and so the whole thing is usually considered a 'challenge' or 'ordeal' in such cases- anything rather than accept that one might be wrong" - Indeed: in magick, strange things happen, to the point where, as Ramsey Dukes has said (somewhere): "cock-up is the word of the Aeon"
As the title suggests, there is a distinctly artistic bent to this work, but you don't ever need to have sketched anything before to be able to join in with this stuff - it's not the quality of what you produce, it's the intent of the experiment: Fries encourages everyone to experiment with drawing sigils, automatic writing etc, but in all of this to take credit or debit for the works created (and the results of using the sigil magick method): "Frequently people need to insist on the 'automatic' origins of their creations (and behaviour) when they dare not assume responsibility for them. It's so much safer to claim 'I can't draw but sometimes the spirit of Leonardo comes over me …' as if that spirit has nothing better to do!... It's always easier to blame some spiritual agency than to assume the responsibility of recognizing and developing one's own talents"
Having
dealt at length with visual methods, Fries then describes ''Chaos language'',
a kind of glossolalia, which can be seen as a way of making auditory sigils
with the voice. The book is worth the cover price just for this part. Awesome!
Jan Fries:- add him to the growing list of ''people we like''. Superb, inspiring
book.' - KH
2.Helrunar:
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Helrunar / Jan Fries £19.99 / $40 |
If you have been following the ‘debate’ rumbling in various publications concerning Jan's theories concerning the Seething/Seidr technique - then this greatly expanded new edition has a revised chapter on Seidr that addressses some of these issues. |
‘When I went to school, my history teacher told us about the old Germani. In her opinion, the T'aunus mountains were populated by a bunch of brawny brawlers who wore horned helmets and small pieces of pelt. They lived in hilltop settlements which were fortified by ringwalls. Barely able to manage agriculture, they had to rely on hunting to fill their stomachs. They lived in shabby huts with mud-plastered walls and when the Romans came, they fought the invaders with crude swords, pointy sticks and by hurling rocks at them...’
‘Nowadays, the ringwalls of the Taunus are known as the work of La Tène Celts, who lived on the heights in well organised cities. For this new edition much of the text has been rewritten and updated. A large section on the bronze ages, the Celts, Germani and the later Vikings added. The theme of Wodan and Helja has been elaborated with more detail on pagan Scandinavia. The chapter on magical rune inscriptions has been extended, on Seiðr/seething trances rewritten, the bibliography updated and twelve pages of new illustrations added.’
The runes are a pan-European magical language. Its roots lie in the ancient pagan beliefs of our ancestors, who built many thousands of stones circles, long barrows and dolmens throughout ancient Europe. These same symbols and techniques were used by the pagan Celts and Germans. This book is a complete manual of magick based upon arcane symbolism and secret techniques.
Contents:
Meaning /Urda /Origins /Futhorc /Magical inscriptions / Memorial stones /Fascism
/ Titles / Cosmology / Nature / Qabala / Vision / Werdandi / Rune stance / Breathing/
Vowel song / Problems / Tune in / Health? / Divination / Alignments / Sigil
sorcery / Seiðr and Seething / Energy /lda / Rune companion / Sources
3. Seidways:
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Seidways / Jan Fries £12.99 / $26 |
Seething is probably the most useful magical technique I have ever learned. I first was taken by the pleasure of it. My body felt warm and sensual, and seething in the hips felt quite sexual. I liked the feeling of my body taking over where the shaking was first voluntary - but I could still have some control, making the shaking stronger or more subtle. After a while I started to see visions - something that very rarely happens to me. I could see (with my physical eyes, not astrally!) the surface of the land in the centre of the circle rippling, like waves of energy. It was a really moving experience in a site that - until then - had not been particularly 'special' to me... it ..has had a major impact upon my magical work which used to be largely indoors, as at last I have found a way that I can work outdoors. This gives my magical work a potency that it simply didn't have before. - Shantidevi quoted in chapter twelve 'Rhythms and the Mind'
‘Jan Fries shows himself to be one of the most innovative and creative of contemporary magical authors. This is the best book on practical magick that I have seen for some time... an extremely useful body of techniques which any practically-minded magician will be able to use. Beautifully illustrated...Mandrake should be applauded for producing yet another fine book of modern magical practice and thought. Buy it, you won’t be disappointed!’ - Phil Hine in Chaos International 22
‘The text is always interesting to read no matter where you start from. With such a broad spectrum of content, Seidways is suited to anyone studying shamanism for the first time, and wants to avoid a pile of new-age crap. It’s also a great all-rounder for anyone with a general interest in European mythology. Seidways will become one of the more thumbed books in my collection, and I am sure the collection of anyone else who buys it.’
- Sant reviewing in White Dragon
4. Living Midnight:
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Living Midnight / Jan Fries £10.99 / $22 |
Anyone who has read Jan Fries's inspiring books - Helrunar, Visual Magick and especially Seidways: Shaking, Swaying and Serpent Mysteries, cannot have failed to notice that some of the magical techniques of the east and of the Taoist tradition are very close to his heart. Here you will find many practical exercises, I Ching divination in the mind, breathing experiences and visualisation of coloured vapours.
‘You can find the Immortals exploring the hidden delights of enchanted fairy grottoes, flower gardens, pine forests and pleasant autumn lakes. They walk on clouds, they sit in shady valleys enjoying the swirling mists and rest in the heart of the living midnight. You can meet them in the centre of yourself once you become empty enough. And you can meet them out here, walking in the world, disguised as mortals.’
‘May the high-born reader cast a benign and forgiving eye on this work, experiment with its humble methods and come to a higher understanding of the mysterious workings of the Tao.’ - Jan Fries
5. Cauldron of the
Gods:
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Cauldron of the Gods / Jan Fries £24.99 / $50 |
Contents
0. Welcome to the Nemeton.
1. People of the Mounds
2. Mysteries of La Tene
3. Druidic Dreams
4. Evolution of the Bards
5. A Confusion of Faiths
6. The Filid of Ireland
7. Three Rays of the Awen
8. Taliesin Penbeirdd
9. Enchantment
10. Tales of Transformation
11. The Secret Arts
12. The Ever Hungry Cauldron
13. Trees of Eternity
14. Coda: The bed of Taliesin
From
Pagan
Dawn:
Anything by Jan Fries is these days immediately snapped up by most chaos magicians
out there, and this one should be no exception. Fries is an expert in his field
and his work is always widely explored and well presented. Occasionally, I find
his writing style a little patronising towards those fluffy-bunny Pagans amongst
us, but come on, we all have to start somewhere. As such, 1 would not recommend
this book except for the serious occultist who perhaps has not looked too closely
into Celtic magic and who wants to try something a little different. Fries knows
that in order to be accomplished you need to know where your magick comes from
as much as where you want it to take you, and his historical tracing of Celtic
magick is knowledgeable and well-researched. The connections he makes to modern-day
techniques and practises are seamless and appear almost effortless, except we
know Fries did not get to be the specialist he is without a lot of hard work
and extensive study. A must for all serious magical practitioners.
Welcome to the Nemeton
People
of the Mounds
The Mound Journey; Raising the Dead; Worship of the Height
Mysteries
of La Tene
Talismans; Dangerous Dead and Unusual Burials; Offerings to the Deep; The Sanctity
of Water; Exercise: Into the Deep; Places of Worship; Sacred Groves; Temples
of Gaul Exploring Gournay; A Hoard of Trophies; Roquepertuse; Tracing Shadows
Through a Maze; Teutates, Esus and Taranis ; A Deity of Horses; Rhiannon and
the Morrigan; Lugus; Gods of the Land; Cernunnos; Matrones; Divine Beasts; Head
Cults.
Druidic Dreams Druids in the Classical Period; Riddles from Antiquity; The Decline of the Druids; Druids in Legend; Druidic Revival;
Evolution
of the Bards
Bards and Druids.
A
Confusion of Faiths
A Christian Buried Alive; Bardic Christianity;Book of Taliesin
The
Filid of Ireland
The Scholar’s Primer; Exercise: The Unique; Poets and Philosophers; Heritage
of Babel; The Poet’s Path; Under a Golden Branch; Celtic Harps; From a Dark
Cell Land of the Living.
Three
Rays of the Awen
Bardic Frenzy; The Spirit of Prophecy; The Wild Man from the Mountains; Breath
of the Awen; The Quest for the Muse; Hanes Taliesin; Three Inspirations of Ogyrven;
The Trefoil Sign; Deity of the Poets; Ritual: Bride’s Bed; The Personal Muse.
Taliesin
Penbeirdd
Who is the Historical Taliesin? The Mythical Taliesin; Trouble with Maelgwn;
Chair of the Bards; Ritual: Chick of the Chair; A Torrent of Questions; Exercise:
Riddle Magick; A Question of Identity;
Enchantment
The Fire of Motivation; The Gift of the Nettle; The Rite of Cursing; Bright
Blessings; Lorica; Greetings for Sun and Moon; Spells of Healing; Gesture; Nightfears,
Evil Eye and Spells of Destruction; Magical Battles;
Tales of Transformation
A Net of Romance; The Stupid One; Oral Tradition; Evolution of Song; The Once
and Future King; Exercise: The Time Frame; Exercise: The Cultural Frame; Shaping
Reality; Exercise: Your Story; Ritual Story-telling; The Enchantment; Therapeutic
Storytelling Therapeutic Functions; Artful Vagueness; Tools for Hallucination;
Stories and Self-Hypnosis; Stories as Spirits; Enchanting Others; A Forest Walk.
The
Secret Arts
The Frith; Imbas Forosna; Dichetal Di Chennaib; Teinm Laeda; Cetnad; Toghairm
The Ever Hungry Cauldron; Cauldrons of the Fili; Cauldron of the Underworld;
Arthur’s Quest; Nine British Otherworlds; Books of Fferyllt; The Aeneid; Virgil
the Magician; A Rite of Rebirth; Burials in Several Phases; Rites of Dismemberment;
Siberian Initiations; The Chodpa Trance; The Cauldron Rite; Cauldrons of Creativity;
The Hedge of Mist .
Trees
of Eternity
The Battle of the Trees; Ogham Trees; Origins of Ogham; Tree Magic; A Tree Companion;
A Hand Full of Forests; The Matrix of Nemetona;
Coda: The bed of Taliesin
Appendix
A rough time table regarding events mentioned in this book; Bibliography; Index
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