Toward Ecosophy

It's taken a while, but I'm delighted to report that the second volume of The Dolmen Arch, my reconstruction of a century-old American Druid Revival correspondence course, is now available in paperback. This and the previous volume (also available in paperback) were originally issued in a fine edition by Arcane Wisdom Press, appropriately enough, but a more accessible edition for everyone was always on my agenda.

Volume 2 covers the three grades of the Greater Mysteries. Here's the publisher's blurb: 

"Based on a correspondence course circulated among American students of Druidry in the early 20th century, and reconstructed from the surviving fragments by widely respected Druid and occultist John Michael Greer, the Dolmen Arch is a comprehensive course of Druid occultism and nature spirituality. This second volume contains extensive instruction in the three grades of the Greater Mysteries -- the Gradd y Gwyddon y Ffordd (Grade of the Loremaster of the Path), Gradd y Gwyddon y Cylch (Grade of the Loremaster of the Circle), and Gradd y Gwyddon Rhydd (Grade of the Free Loremaster), comprising more than 100,000 words of instruction in the inner teachings of traditional Druid Revival occultism. Along with plenty of philosophy, symbolism, and the hidden meanings of Welsh legend, these lessons cover methods of practical magic, spiritual healing, and the skills needed to teach and initiate students into the mysteries of the Dolmen Arch."

Interested? If you're in the US, you can order a copy of Volume 2 here (and, if you don't have it yet, Volume 1 is here). Elsewhere, well, the publisher doesn't have a website that sells direct to the public, but you should be able to go to any full service bookstore or online retailer and have a copy on its way to you promptly.

Two data points reached me today, both from the somewhat rarefied world of the occult book trade.  Both of them, however, are storm petrels flying ahead of a hurricane I've been expecting for some time. 

Data point #1 came via Reddit -- there are several occult-themed subreddits where I lurk fairly regularly, as a way of keeping tabs on what's happening out there in the occult scene. A poster there announced, with a certain amount of shock, that Fields Books has just moved from the San Francisco Bay area to Wisconsin. 

You have to have known your way around the Bay area occult scene before 2013 to understand just how seismic this is. Fields Books was literally the best occult bookstore on the west coast, and one of the best in the US. For most of a century its storefront at 1419 Polk Street in San Francisco was the go-to place for serious occult literature. In 2013 skyrocketing rents forced them to close the store, and Fields became an online presence only, but remained in the Bay area.  Now it's bailed out of California altogether and is settling into comfortable new quarters on the shores of Lake Michigan. 

Data point #2 came via an email from Miskatonic Books, the publisher and fine bookseller that's brought out the first volume of my book The Dolmen Arch and is on schedule to bring out the second volume next month.  Since its founding it's been located in Oregon, not far from Portland. That's not where the new volume will be released, though. Miskatonic Books is moving to Montana; it'll be based out of Bozeman for the near future while the proprietor and his family find permanent digs. 

I've been expecting for some time to hear that people on the cutting edge of creativity -- not the self-proclaimed "cultural creatives" of the privileged classes, mind you, but the people who are actually doing new and interesting things -- were abandoning the overpriced, dilapidated urban sores that used to be pleasant and inexpensive cities along the west coast. Now it's happening. I don't happen to know the reasons why the proprietors of Fields and Miskatonic uprooted themselves and their businesses and fled to greener pastures, but I think I can guess at least part of the logic behind the move -- and there will be plenty of other businesses making the same decision now, and in the near future. 

Half a century or so from now the cities of the west coast will offer the same kind of opportunities for urban homesteaders that a lot of Rust Belt cities offer now. Until then, though, they'll feature skyrocketing taxes, skyrocketing crime, collapsing infrastructure, total dysfunction on the part of local and state governments -- all the things those of us who lived through the 1970s recall hearing from Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, and other rust belt cities on their way down. Those who don't fancy these things might want to consider getting out while they can still extract some of the paper value of any real estate they happen to be stuck with. 

I'm delighted to announce that Miskatonic Books is now accepting preorders for the second volume of The Dolmen Arch, my reconstruction of an early 20th century correspondence course in Druid occultism. This volume contains the three grades of the Greater Mysteries, the Gradd y Gwyddon y Ffordd (Grade of the Loremaster of the Path), the Gradd y Gwyddon y Cylch (Grade of the Loremaster of the Circle), and Gradd y Gwyddon Rhydd (Grade of the Free Loremaster). Here's the table of contents: 

Gradd y Gwyddon y Ffordd:
Healing, Magic, and Initiation
The Tree of Light
Introduction to the Art of Druid Healing
Introduction to the Art of Druid Enchantment
Introduction to the Art of Druid Initiation
The Mabinogion: Lludd and Llefelys
Druid Philosophy: Non-Human Beings
The Magical Memory: The Laws of Memory
Completion Exercises: The Doctrine of One

Gradd y Gwyddon y Cylch:
The Cycle of the Cantrefs
The Magic of the Grail
The Art of Druid Healing
Practical Enchantment
The Game of the Cantrefs
The Mabinogion: The Dream of Macsen Wledig
Druid Philosophy: The Seven Cosmic Laws
The Magical Memory: A System of Memory
Competion Exercises: Mastering the Opposites

Gradd y Gwyddon Rhydd:
The Cycle of the Cantrefs in History and Initation
A Guide to Initiation in the Dolmen Arch Tradition
The Secret Work of the Grail
The Initiatory Game of the Cantrefs
The Mabinogion: The Tale of Taliesin
Druid Philosophy: The Powers of Mind
Addendum to Druid Philosophy: Practical Mentalism
The Magical Memory: Practical Memory
Completion Exercises: The Way of the Dolmen Arch

It's better than 100,000 words of instruction, covering a vast amount of material -- and if you preorder, there's a discount.  The ordinarily gorgeous illustrated limited hardback edition will be US$65 when it's published, but you can preorder it here for US$60.  The insanely gorgeous leatherbound tray-cased deluxe limited edition with the dolmen on the cover in actual stone -- no, I'm not kidding -- will be US$395 when it's published, but you can preorder it here for US$359. Delivery will be November of this year. (And if you haven't picked up Volume 1 yet, there are still a few copies of the limited hardback edition here, and a very few copies of the deluxe edition here.)