Three Books Available for Preorder

[ecosophia]

Since so many of us are spending long hours at home these days, waiting for the coronavirus to finish up its fifteen minutes of fame, I'm pleased to say that there's some new reading material forthcoming. First of all, I'm delighted to announce that Love In The Ruins, the world's first anthology of deindustrial romance stories, is now available for preorder. Admit it, you've always wanted to read heartwarming stories of true love in the midst of a collapsing industrial civilization, and here's your chance. Readers of the After Oil series will recognize many of the authors of these tales, by the way; like the volumes in that series, it's another fine collection of short pieces about the future we're actually going to get -- this time, with romantic music playing in the background. 

Second, I'm very pleased to say that one of the books I consider my best work is going into print again in a new, updated, and revised edition. Inside a Magical Lodge remains the only significant book in print on the traditional lodge system, the toolkit of social and ritual organization shared by fraternal lodges such as the Masons and the Elks, on the one hand, and magical lodges such as the Golden Dawn and the Martinists on the other. This is a how-to volume, not simply a history or an overview, and it's set up to show readers how to participate in a magical lodge -- or design and start one from scratch. You can preorder a copy here. 

Finally, the third and (for the time being) last volume of my collected short essays and talks, Beyond the Narratives, is also available for preorder. Like the two older volumes, A Magical Education and The City of Hermes, this one covers a very diverse range of themes and subjects -- Druidry, Jungian psychology, magic, politics, history, warfare, and of course the future of industrial society. Just the thing to fill all those hours of free time you weren't expecting to have...

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

Just a note to pass on to your publishers - anything you have written that comes out in hardback, I will buy. Even if I already own the paperback version.

AV

[ecosophia]

I'll forward that. Thank you!

[(Anonymous)]

The JMG literary empire continues to grow!

[(Anonymous)]

👏

Congratulations!

And here I was wondering if my 900-pager is too long... People will NEED 900-pagers! I predict new popularity for Russian novels.

I’d been wondering why there was no news about Coronavirus in Africa, I just saw a news story about same.

—Lady Cutekitten

[ecosophia]

Really big novels are in. You can divide it up into a trilogy and make people look at two extra ugly covers, too! ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

I believe in the “epic fantasy” field trilogies are required by law. I can probably manage it—heck, it’ll take Fastleft a good many chapters just to get the Pup of Tindalos housebroken.

Did you see where, now that George RR Martin is stuck in the house, he’s FINALLY going to work on his book? 🙄

Fat novels as trilogies

[(Anonymous)]

In fact, that's precisely what was done in Jane Austen's day, IIRC. "In three neat volumes...."

[(Anonymous)]

Are book covers ugly these days? (I’ve had a Kindle for 9 years so haven’t seen any covers, just thumbnails in black and white.). I’ve seen some darn pretty, if somewhat formulaic, covers on fantasy novels.

[ecosophia]

I honestly don't know; I mostly read books by dead people.

[(Anonymous)]

Robert Jordan is dead. The covers on his books were just plain weird. They looked like the artist couldn’t decide whether to use classical Asian “stairstep” perspective or standard modern vanishing-point perspective. So you’d be peering at the picture, trying to figure out why it seemed off, then suddenly realize that if the knight dismounted, he’d be a couple of feet taller than the long-suffering horse he was riding. Those were trippy.

[ecosophia]

Duly noted! I've left Jordan's books in reserve for some future period when I've run out of anything else to read and want to devote a couple of months to a vast Tolkienesque generic fantasy. If that never happens, well, I'm not sure my life will be any less full. ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

He had one really interesting idea, hidden in a thicket of Tolkien copycatting so blatant I’m surprised the Tolkien estate never sued him or his publisher. Because of the one interesting idea, I enjoyed the first few books, but in vol 4 or 5, I forget which, one of the heroes fell in love with the most annoying girl ever. She made Scarlett O’Hara look like the Proverbs 31 wife. I gave up on it once it was clear the author planned to keep her around.

[jjensenii]

I fell in love with the first four books as a child, but by book five it becomes a slog, and I've never made it past six. One day. One day...

One thing I've found interesting since I noticed it is that where LotR was set in Earth's distant past, and the Shannara novels (the other great Tolkien rip-offs) are set in Earth's distant future, the WoT makes the distinction irrelevant.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, there goes my discretionary income for the month! ;)

[ecosophia]

Thank you. I promise I'll spend it wisely.

[arethinn]

Is there any of The Dolmen Arch left, or must one bide for the eventual paperback now?

[ecosophia]

There are still some copies in stock at the publisher.

what's different?

[(Anonymous)]

Hello John Michael,
What is different in the new Inside A Magical Lodge?
Much Thanks - Chris

Re: what's different?

[ecosophia]

I've revised the text, cleaned up the clumsier bits of prose and added in some material about polarity workings and certain other magical techniques I didn't know enough about when I originally wrote it. The core of the book is largely the same, though.

[(Anonymous)]

I already have a copy of 'Inside a Magical Lodge' - how different is the new edition?

Bogatyr

[ecosophia]

As noted above, I've revised the text, cleaned up the clumsier bits of prose and added in some material about polarity workings and certain other magical techniques I didn't know enough about when I originally wrote it. The core of the book is largely the same, though.

[(Anonymous)]

Don’t forget to address the big question: “Inside a magical lodge, do they or do they not have any toilet paper 🧻 they can spare?”

[ecosophia]

Only for initiates! Membership has its privileges... ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

**chortle**. 😄🧻

[jpc2]

I saw these a couple of days ago. Have to wait till the end of the month to get on order.
Any word on "Sacred Geometry"? It was due out this month. Given the state of the world, unless it's already in their hands could be awhile.

I wonder how the PO is holding up? A priority shipment of baby chicks for a local store is already overdue.

[ecosophia]

I'm still waiting for a release date, but I suspect it'll be within a couple of months at the outside. I haven't heard of any postal problems -- I've received packages recently on schedule, for whatever that's worth.

[jpc2]

John,
Is Providence starting to resemble the WoH version after the Great Conjuration? Some of the news makes you wonder....

[ecosophia]

So far, prices aren't climbing at Weimar speeds, but other than that, yeah, it does look uncannily familiar...

[(Anonymous)]

My Ipsy package showed up right on time this month.

[(Anonymous)]

COVID-19 had a huge impact on my income, even working from home.

So... sadly no books for a good while, and this includes The Dolmen Arch. Now I must concentrate on surviving this step of The Long Descent.

Everyone will be burning reserves for a long time, to get past the virus.

[ecosophia]

Sorry to hear this! I hope your income springs back once the outbreak is over.

Book list on Ecosophia

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,
I notice that not all your books are listed on the Ecosphia site. Is there a reason for this? Are you just listing the ones in print, or just the ones you still stand by / like ?
I will definitely be buying more of them as funds permit.
Christine S

Re: Book list on Ecosophia

[ecosophia]

No, it's simply lack of spare time to get in there and post the new publications.

Occultism 101

[(Anonymous)]

John,
My 18-year-old nephew has expressed an interest in occultism. I expect that "A Magical Education" and "Beyond the Narratives" might be good beginners books, but can you suggest other good basic entry-level books that might be good for him?
Thanks
Will1000

Re: Occultism 101

[ecosophia]

Those two books aren't the ones I'd recommend to a beginner -- they're more in the way of technical essays and talks. My two main books for beginners are Learning Ritual Magic, for those who are comfortable with Judeo-Christian symbolism, and The Druid Magic Handbook, for those who prefer Druidry.

Re: Occultism 101

[(Anonymous)]

Excellent. Thank you.
Do you have any suggestions just for basic background knowledge on the occult? A book that might provide information about what the occult is, what it is used for, historical information, key historical figures, etc.
My nephew is rather bright, focused, and detail-oriented, and I expect that he will want to know all the contextual particulars.
Or, would it be better for him to just select one of the books you recommend and take it a step at a time?

Re: Occultism 101

[ecosophia]

I don't know of a good book of that sort. I may have to write one!

Re: Occultism 101

[tunesmyth]

If I may, I believe that JMG’s “New Encyclopedia of the Occult” may be a serviceable start in this regard. It certainly was for me.

Re: Occultism 101

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

I hope you do write that book. I will definitely order more than one copy.

Will1000

[(Anonymous)]

I should just set up a "JMG published another new book!" category in my monthly budget at this point... ;)

[ecosophia]

I expect the pace to slow down a bit as the old titles Llewellyn dropped get republished, if that's any consolation... ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

Can I ask why Llewellyn dropped some of your books? Is this part of the New Age decline in sales? Not that you are New Age bykwim?

[ecosophia]

They didn't bother to explain; I was just informed that several of my books, including one that they'd kept in print for 25 years, were being dumped from their backlist on next to no notice. Fortunately Aeon Books snapped them up, and I had the chance to correct some mistakes and bring out new editions with better cover art. (I managed to avoid getting a standard Llewellyn "Barbie on a Broomstick" cover, but some of my Llewellyn covers were pretty lame...)

[(Anonymous)]

But then I'll be getting fewer of your incredible books! ;)

Haiku

[(Anonymous)]

Since we’re on the subject of literature, may I present the following:

A little bit of
Ribonucleic acid
The end of hubris

Re: Haiku

[ecosophia]

You may indeed! Thank you.

The Love in the Ruins cover -

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for the earworm, you very talented artist. Now I can't get the music from that Zeffirelli movie (1968?) out of my head. A very nice Juliet there, and her tattooed, bulked-up Romeo.