With fully comprehensive examples of the Bible’s many contradictions, absurdities and immoralities, along with documented examples of an overtly antagonistic God’s indulgence in atrocities and the unfulfilled prophecies of his representatives here on Earth, this book is both the perfect weapon and a potent source of ammunition for those times when our fundamentalist brothers and sisters insist on calling uninvited. Such hardcore Christians might be too indoctrinated to be convinced by mere reason, in which case one can always use the book to hit them with, which alone justifies a hardback edition. While the Bible remains a much-misquoted and particularly flawed dogmatic tract, it’s convenient to have a reference source at hand with more than enough information to counter some of the more outlandish claims made on its behalf. Every school and hotel room should come equipped with this tome. BW

Publisher: American Atheist
Paperback: 372 pages

Since the initial publication of this work, many more books on ceremonial magick have been published, including such historical grimoires as The Key of Solomon the King. Despite Waite’s pedantic, pretentious and weighty prose style, this book is noteworthy as part of the 19th-century occult revival. Many people are first introduced to the occult by determinedly plodding through Waite’s books. This was one of the first books Aleister Crowley read, and it inspired him to further his studies in that arena. Although there are some sections outlining black-magick rituals, Waite covers all sorts of other material too, giving a sort of patchwork-quilt look at the influence of heterodox mystic traditions in the West. There are circles, sigils and lots of silly information galore—just the type of stuff an adolescent might want to draw on the cover of his notebook. The only really enduring magick in this book is the power to frighten suburban moms when their teenage sons start reading it while listening to heavy-metal music. MM

Publisher: Weiser
Paperback: 326 pages

Lilith is the long-haired female demon of the night. In various mythologies she is the embodiment of feminine evil; a succubus mounting men in their sleep, a killer of children. According to the Kabbalists, the letters of her name equal the word screech, and so she is also known as the demon of screeching. She is the first wife of Adam, often shown by medieval artists as a woman-faced serpent, cagily watching Eve devour the fruit of knowledge. Some tales go so far as to suggest that it was Lilith, not the snake, who whispered temptation into Eve’s ear and caused the first human beings to be cast out of Eden. In addition to her negative attributes, Lilith also represents the powerful natures of feminine sexuality and self-knowledge. Clinical psychologist and Jungian analyst Barbara Black Koltuv maintains that these are the very aspects of Lilith’s personality with which modern women must reconcile if they are to attain spiritual wholeness. To that end, The Book of Lilith contains myths, legends, poems and stories from various cultures and epochs reflecting the demon’s many facets, as well as Koltuv’s psychoanalytic commentary and examples from her files. LP

Publisher: Nicolas-Hays
Paperback: 127 pages
Illustrated

In ancient Celtic legend, the great giant Gargantua was slain by the gods and his body became the flesh of the Earth, his blood the rivers and seas, and his soul the anima loci, the soul of a place. The interaccommodating latticework of Celtic art expresses the form and flow of the soul as it was perceived by Northern European peoples, not only within themselves but throughout the land they inhabited. The Celts, like so many tribal peoples the world over, worshiped the Earth and felt their beings inseparably linked to its sentient spirit. Those places where the link between man and Earth was felt the strongest were venerated as sacred: inviolable superimpositions of the spirit world upon the mortal Earth. Celtic Sacred Landscapes is an impressive compendium of the lore of these places. The myths, miracles, rituals and traditions surrounding the origin and perpetuation of the anima loci, as it resides in humble roadside shrines, in springs, caves, labyrinths, mountains, ley lines, cathedrals and many other places, are eloquently described in this handsomely illustrated volume. DN

Publisher: Thames and Hudson
Paperback: 224 pages
Illustrated

“DeCoy, noted author of the explosive best-seller The Nigger Bible, takes on the black preaching establishment. Tracing the black church in America from its origins as an instrument of oppression in the hands of the slave owners, deCoy fires a powerfully documented broadside at the ‘Holy Man and his Holy Pole,’ the black preacher who rides the Gravy Train with the sweat-earned money of his sheeplike congregation. DeCoy asserts that the black preacher is still whitey’s flunk, a ‘head nigger’ hired to keep peace between the white exploiters and their black victims. In a devastating section called ‘Saving Graces,’ deCoy exposes the hustles used by the black preach to line his own pockets and keep his ‘flock’ submissive.”

Publisher: Holloway House
Paperback: 217 pages

The proof we’ve been waiting for that THE CONSPIRACY is REAL! Using the evil Masons’ own writings, Epperson proves beyond any possible doubt that when President Clinton, speaking at a memorial service after the Oklahoma City bombing, said, “I say one thing we those who have sacrificed have the duty to purge ourselves of the DARK FORCES which gave rise to this evil,” what he really meant was: “the duty to purge ourselves of CHRISTIANITY.” He’s just using a secret Masonic coded language! See? No? Well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out why, even though, as Epperson himself admits, “there is no direct evidence, as of yet, that Bill Clinton is a member of the Masons,” nor that he ever “joined Masonry, nor that he was made aware of their coded language.” “However,” Epperson shrewdly points out, “that does not mean that he has not joined the Lodge.” It’s almost worth reading just to see this guy do to logic what M.C. Escher did to architecture. DB

Publisher: Publius
Paperback: 40 pages

Extraordinary document (1608) on witchcraft and demonology offers striking insight into the early 17th-century mind. Serious discussions of witches’ powers, poisons and their crimes. Examined in detail are witches’ alleged powers to transport themselves from place to place, create living dead things, make beasts talk and raise the dead.

Publisher: Dover
Paperback: 206 pages
Illustrated

This reference work about Enochian magic is not a place for novices to start but rather a reference best used by those already interested in the works of John Dee, the court astrologer and adviser to Elizabeth I, and Edward Kelly, seer and mountebank. The book is a thorough dictionary on the Enochian language which was allegedly received by Dee. The preface by Stephen Skinner and introductory essays by the author provide a brief background for those previously unacquainted with the unique and quite elaborate system of magic in which the Enochian alphabet plays a major part, and the bibliography provides better sources that cover the history and techniques in depth. This reprinted lexicon is a must for anyone who wishes to devote serious study to the abstruse occult anomaly that is Enochian magic. MM

Publisher: Weiser
Paperback: 272 pages

In the mid-1980s, Regardie sought to revise and expand his classic encyclopedic tome on the Golden Dawn. His result was an even more massive tome (worthy of being a good doorstop) packed with even more detailed information and a larger section on Enochian magic. No other magical order has had such a pervasive influence in contemporary occultism as the Golden Dawn. Many people pattern their magical practices after the rites of this Order, founded by Wynn Westcott and MacGregor Mathers when they reputedly found a set of papers containing rituals and instructions. These mysterious documents were supposedly from a Miss Sprengler in Germany, although it is thought by many that Westcott wrote them himself. Many interesting people were associated with the Golden Dawn, such as William Butler Yeats, Maud Gonne, Bram Stoker, Florence Farr and Arthur Machen. The Golden Dawn borrows liberally from the traditions of Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Alchemy, Astrology, the Tarot, Kabbalah, the Egyptian pantheon and the Enochian magical system of Dr. John Dee. This is one of the ultimate how-to books available, with instructions on the making of appropriate banners, the ideal space plan of a temple, initiation rites, pentagram rites, Enochian chess and various magical minutiae. MM

Publisher: New Falcon
Hardback: 1 pages

“You might be too shy to walk up to people and begin sharing Christ with them. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have an effective soul-winning ministry. Just leave the Chick tracts behind wherever you go. People will pick them up and read them. Nobody can resist them.” Especially such classics tracts as “The Sissy?,” “The Death Cookie,” “Bad Bob!,” and “Somebody Goofed.”

Publisher: Chick
Pamphlet
Illustrated