Plans for the Journey

[ecosophia]

As I think most of my readers are aware by now, I'll be in England for the first week or so of June -- in London from Monday the 2nd to Thursday the 5th, and then traveling to Glastonbury from then until Monday the 9th. I have a couple of details to pass on, a few remaining scraps of scheduling to work out, and also a couple of not-quite-unrelated announcements. 

I will be doing two booksignings while in London. The first is at Watkins Bookshop on Tuesday, June 3 at 5 pm, where I'll be releasing my new book The Way of the Secret Temple, the third instructional volume in the Golden Section Fellowship sequence, covering the advanced methods of the Fellowship's system of self-initiation. Details on the booksigning can be found here. 

The second is the next evening at Atlantis Books, where I'll be launching a second new book -- Revisioning the Tree of Life. This is the first-ever booklength exploration of the Cabala I learned from my teacher John Gilbert. It's a complete manual of Cabalistic meditation, pathworking, and magic, with techniques that as far as I know have never been published anywhere. Details on the booksigning can be found here. 

So it's going to be a lively time. In the meantime, I've made sure to have plenty of room in my schedule for readers and students of my books who happen to be in London on the 2nd and 3rd; from the time I arrive at Heathrow at 7 in the morning on the 2nd until the afternoon of the 3rd, I'm pretty much footloose and fancy free. Let me know if you'd like to get together during any of that window of time. I'll also have some free time in Glastonbury, but that's going to be much more of a catch-as-catch-can matter. (On the other hand, if anyone's driving back from Glastonbury to or past London on Monday the 9th, and has a spare seat, please let me know.) 

Finally, let's talk a little about those books. The Way of the Secret Temple is available for preorder now, and will be actually in print by the time I reach England, in paperback and hardback editions -- if you intend to do the work, I recommend the hardback, since you'll be putting a year of hard use into your copy. You can order a copy here. 

Revisioning the Tree of Life is also available for preorder, with a bonus -- use the code RTL20 when you order and it's 20% off. It won't actually be out until September but orders are being taken now. You can place an order for your copy here. 

Finally, I'm delighted to report that my book on the Merlin legend as the foundation for a set of mystery initiations, which was dropped by its original publisher, will be back in print under the title I wanted -- Merlin's Wheel -- and in a greatly revised and expanded edition, which includes full instructions for practicing it using the ritual methods of the Golden Section Fellowship and the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose as well as those of the Druidical Order of the Golden Dawn. I'm very pleased by this new edition and I think you will be too. It'll be out in October, but it's also available for preorder now, and if you use the code MW20 when you order it's also 20% off. You can place an order for your copy here. 

So there you have it. This spring has shaped up to be a very busy and successful time for me and I hope it's the same for you and yours. I'll look forward to seeing some of you in England in a few weeks! 

Comments

[degringolade]

Just curious, and not judging in any way, how are you getting across the pond?

[ecosophia]

I'm sorry to say I have to take a plane. It used to be possible to get passenger space on a freighter, and that was my original plan, but that got shut down during the Covid fiasco and has not yet been reactivated. I looked into the few remaining ocean liners, but between the scheduling and the cost, that wasn't an option. For what it's worth, it's the first time I've been on an airplane since 2014 and I hope it's the last time ever.

Actually

[degringolade]

I am glad you are flying. Like you, I don't approve of the unlimited flying being marketed as a life choice. But mostly I was hoping that you weren't going to pull a Thunberg and do some weird performative art by sailing on a friends yacht.

Hope you have a great time. Take a buttload of Vitamin C before you get on the plane and wear an N95 on the plane is my advice.

My last plane trip was 2006 and I hope that I never have to leave the ground again. I gave my mom 890K of frequent flyer miles and was glad to get rid of them.

Re: Actually

[ecosophia]

If I knew someone who had a deepwater cruising sailboat and was planning on sailing that way, I'd happily do that, not for any kind of performative thing but simply because it sounds like a whale of a lot of fun. Regrettably, I don't. I wish the freighter-passenger system would get back up and running again!

Re: Actually

[(Anonymous)]

It would be cool to take the Queen Mary 2 or something to England sometime... but that's expensive, though I know some hackers who worked out a way to get on their more cheaply, but that was awhile ago now.

Congratulations on all three books. Delighted to see the Merlin's Wheel is able to be used with GSF... I was always curious about that title.

Wishing you & everyone you get to meet a wonderful time.

JPM

Re: Actually

[jasonhep]

Hello John - again, looking forward to coming over to Glastonbury. I'm very likely driving to London on the following Monday in case you need a ride - you mentioned this on your ecosophia blog just now.

Also, you might be interested to learn, it is possible to sail transoceanic on ships these days, but it's a bit hush-hush and they generally don't advertise it. Many cruise ships reposition themselves and offer cabins for cheap. The best thing is there will be few other passengers, a skeleton crew and no entertainment :-)

Well I can one-up that!

[(Anonymous)]

I haven’t flown since 1998. I still drive a car, so I have to magnify the importance of this to compensate.

I do hope to get to Europe one last time before it’s ceased altogether to be itself (if it isn’t already too late). It would sure be nice if the passenger freighter option opened up again soonish.

Have an excellent time in the UK!

congratulations!

[(Anonymous)]

Looking forward to these. But by "last time ever" I hope you're referring to a round trip -- not a one-way excursion!

It's probably not on your itinerary, but if you're offered a side-trip to Brean Down, if you haven't been there already, you might find it worth a visit.

As the sage says, when you come to a fork in the road, take it!

Bon voyage.

LeGrand

[ra_ca]

Congratulations on the new and forthcoming books. Sounds like your going to have a packed week when you come over!

Whilst I haven't had much interaction on here, really just a few questions on MM, I'll be attending Glastonbury and am very much looking forward to the weekends events as well as meeting yourself and everyone who is attending.

[ecosophia]

Yeah, it's going to be a busy week, but that goes with the territory -- it's a working trip, not a vacation. I'll look forward to meeting you!

[(Anonymous)]

Congrats on the new books!

Are the exercises in Revisioning the Tree of Life compatible with the SOP? And how much of this book connects with Gilbert's The Doors of Tarot and Tree of Spirit?

I hope you have a great trip!

[ecosophia]

Everything in Revisioning the Tree of Life is compatible with John Gilbert's SoP-based practices. The two books of John's work are also compatible with this new volume, though the overlap is fairly slight.

Cheers

[transcriberb]

Congratulations and bon voyage!

[jenniferkobernik]

Congratulations on the forthcoming publications! I really admire how prolific you are as an author while keeping your output invariably useful and of high quality. I wish you safe travels and an enjoyable trip!

[ecosophia]

Thank you. I think it's mostly that I don't have a television or a social life. ;-)

[robertmathiesen]

Not just that, I think. You have always seemed to me to have an unusually high natural aptitude for real scholarship. Though not having a TV certainly helps a lot, too

Happy Travels

[rexford]

Safe Travels John!

Its going to be an Awesome trip! Have a fantastic journey.

Ian

[booklover1973]

I will use this occasion to wish you good travels and a good time in England! I have myself on several occasions flown to England with my family and sometimes a friend to vacations; one time was with an airplane from Egyptian Airways, which had Egyptian hieroglyphs printed on the inside walls.

[(Anonymous)]

It's Friday, where's the Frugal Fridays?

[ecosophia]

I had a good night's sleep for a change and am about to put it up.

New Cabbala Book

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

Hope you have a great trip.

I own your Paths of Wisdom and am starting to study it. I am comfortable working with traditional GD ways and also am working through Circles of Power.

Could you please tell me how your new Cabbala book differs from Paths of Wisdom?

Thanks.

Re: New Cabbala Book

[ecosophia]

Paths of Wisdom uses the standard Golden Dawn Cabala, and so if you prefer trad GD you should stick with it. The new book uses the very different system of Cabalistic symbolism I learned from John Gilbert, and is not compatible with trad GD methods.

[threerays]

Congrats JMG, these are 3 awesome releases. Merlin’s wheel is one of my favorite practices - even if I still struggle to draw the octogram. I’ll definitely be picking up a copy.

Enjoy the trip and Godspeed!

[(Anonymous)]

Myrdhin, uh ? Man you go deep undaground.
Following an intuition I checked him out and sure enough, he's from my area (French "celtic fringe").
I know it's never been easier thanks to the web, but if one day you need help tracking down a record, I'd be glad to help. There may be a tariff though ;-)

~Thibault

[ecosophia]

He performed at a Druid conference my late wife and I attended in Glastonbury in 2003; we both liked his music and bought some CDs from him. His "Keridwen" and "La Samain Nouvelle," along with Jethro Tull's "Cup of Wonder" and "Dun Ringill" and Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring" -- the original ballet version for 13 instruments, please! -- are to me part of the enduring mental sound track of Druidry.

Thank you for the offer! I'll be in touch as needed.

London and looking forward to seeing you and everyone at Glastonbury

[(Anonymous)]

Congratulations on all the new books!

I am based in central London and would love to take the opportunity to meet you on the 2nd (most times work) or 3rd (morning, lunchtime) if you can fit me in. How best to arrange? For some background I've been (slowly but persistently) working my way through LRM, but I first came across your ADR work via an earlier interest in resource depletion.

Wishing you a smooth trip over and I look forward to seeing you and others in Glastonbury.

Vivek

Re: London and looking forward to seeing you and everyone at Glastonbury

[ecosophia]

Put in a comment marked "Not For Posting" with your email address -- I'll email you back promptly. I'd be happy to meet and talk.

This goes for anybody else who's interested and available, btw.

An inquiry - a request - pretty please?!

[emily07]

Dear John,
due to priorities I will not be attending at your time in Glastonbury. I try not to gnash my teeth too much about this, still I wonder if somehow I could participate in the wonders experienced there.
Would you be willing to share some insights/results/information from that time? I would be willing to pay a fee.
My personal interest lie mostly with what you would say (have then said) at the guided tours because I find the Old Straight tracks and the Secret of the Tempel/Earth Mysteries very fascinating.
Thank you very much for your work,
best wishes,
Emily07

Re: An inquiry - a request - pretty please?!

[milkyway1]

Emily07,

I‘d consider publishing some form of „report“ about Glastonbury if there is some interest. Is this something you (or anybody else) would be interested in?

Milkyway

Re: An inquiry - a request - pretty please?!

[fringewood]

I'd be interested. Would love to be there, but "beaming" me over is not an option:^)

Re: An inquiry - a request - pretty please?!

[slclaire]

I would be very interested in a report on the proceedings.

Re: An inquiry - a request - pretty please?!

[milkyway1]

Thanks to both of you for the reply. I'll see what I can come up with. :-)

Re: An inquiry - a request - pretty please?!

[(Anonymous)]

Oh yes! Please report on the proceedings for those of us who are staying home.

Annette Simard

[(Anonymous)]

Safe jouney, and may you have loads of fun!
I have to hop on a plane about the same time you do, and plan to preload on Nattokinase capsules as well as bring more for recovery once I get there. My last two plane flights kicked my kiester as far as brain fog etc. I, too, wish I never had to take another plane flight again.

Is there a preorder link just for "Merlin's Wheel", or do we navigate to it from one of the other book links?

- Cicada Grove

[slinky_weasel]

That all sounds super fun. I hope you will have a great time!

[(Anonymous)]

Watkins is possibly my favorite bookstore in the world. Great place. I was pleased to see that there was a whole shelf section dedicated to your books there—quite an achievement for any esoteric writer!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG

Congrats on the publications. I've just pre-ordered Merlin's Wheel which I'm very chuffed to see can be used as a Merlin-themed expansion pack for the DMH.

I'll be in Glastonbury from the Thursday and am really looking forward to meeting you and fellow readers at last. Safe travels.

Jack H

Merlin's Wheel, at last

[jpc_w]

I'm pleased that you were finally able to republish the book under its proper name.

I look forward to how these new "streams" of practitioners will advance the system.

Bon Voyage!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,
I was planning and eager to come to Gladstonbury, but life circumstances decided otherwise.

Allow me to wish you a Bon Voyage, a succesfull trip and congratulations on your new publications!

Please keep us updated about your tour in the UK.

Regards