Forget it, weekend warriors, a serious commitment is required before performing the rituals in Enochian Sex Magick. Once dedicated students have a general understanding of Enochian technique, they can apply the sexual rituals in this work to make just about anything happen. There are a number of charts, plus reminders on how to perform the all-important Pentagram Ritual needed to start and complete the ceremonies. This work, originally published in 1912, is designed to be used in conjunction with Chanokh, another Aleister Crowley staple also chock-full of charts and diagrams. Sex Magick includes an 18-page Enochian dictionary and a very short discourse on Crowley's history. The exact specification of sexual positions, specific chants and even the required number of thrusts leave little room for improvisation. GE

Publisher: New Falcon
Paperback: 162 pages

The spirit seeker and conjurer alike will marvel at the beauty of The Essential Kabbalah. Matt is a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Center for Jewish Studies and is a graduate of the Theological Union. He is considered by many to be the foremost translator of ancient Jewish mystical writings into modern English. Matt presents what he believes are the Kabbalah’s most important teachings. The resulting translations of the original Hebrew and Aramaic texts are inspiring and truly poetic. GE

Publisher: Harper San Francisco
Paperback: 221 pages

Dion Fortune’s most famous work is required reading for all students of the mystic and energetic arts. The book’s basic mission is to explain the Tree of Life, the most important symbol in Kabbalistic magic and meditation. Fortune is from the Golden Dawn school of Kabbalism, in the tradition of MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley, whom she references. This is very high magic, rooted in pre-Christian rabbinical ritual. An often-recommended path for magic students is to begin with Kabbalah forms before progressing to more pagan and arcane systems. GE

Publisher: Weiser
Paperback: 320 pages

Welcome to Marty’s World, a super-duper-easy-to-read look at some terrible things that happened to a very nice girl. After years of abuse from her father, Marty lost the use of her voice and suffered from adrenaline addiction, learning disabilities, depression, chronic back pain, eating disorders and a spiritual addiction. Her father was a spiritual vampire. “Vampirism is a progressive disease that begins with parasitic activity, devolves to predatorial activity and finally erupts into some type of serious perpetration,” she writes. And perpetrate, he did.
After spending over $100,000 on pop religions to get over the effects of her father’s abuse, she is now faced with overcoming the abuse of pop religions. Several exposés are served up. Some are pretty quirky, such as the one about one group where the female leader initiated a 13-year-old boy into manhood during an Ecstasy-fueled sex ritual. Another cool story she tells is about a cult called The Work, where you have to run 60 miles, three times a month; thus the adrenaline addiction.
It’s hard to disagree with the simple, sound advice Raphael gives about scoping out your guru. She should know. She gives point by point details on how to select good workshops, evaluate teachers and how to recognize spiritual vampires. GE

Publisher: Message
Paperback: 256 pages

Everything you always wanted to know about homosex in Guadalajara. Anthropological techniques are used to study Mexican male-to-male courtship, complete with descriptions of the various acts favored by Mexican gays based on direct observation. The resulting data almost read like a novel, albeit with plenty of social-science terms and references among the field notes. Also gay, the author was able to participate in much of the sex he outlines with explicit detail. Grants and other funding for his life’s work allowed him to continue his research (and the participatory sex) in Guadalajara for 29 years—and it’s still ongoing.
Carrier also profiles four extraordinary men with the love and care of a doting mom. He eloquently manhandles 18-year-olds, both figuratively and literally. He describes hot bathhouse and movie-theater scenes, and shares the most intimate details of tender adolescent love stories. The hottest observations, and clearly Dr. Carrier’s favorites, are when he meets young, queeny respondents, who then throw him their leftovers. We learn of Eric, who thought that anal sex was safest because “after having sex all the semen comes out when you take a shit.” Poor José leaves his rich German lover in New York for hunky 18-year-old Juan back in Guadalajara. And, the warm and wonderful Arturo dies from AIDS. Break out a box of tissues and a fire extinguisher for this one. GE

Publisher: Columbia University
Paperback: 231 pages

If you are a vegetarian, is it OK to wear leather shoes? No. Can you drink milk? No. What about sugar, that’s a plant, right? Wrong. According to Braunstein, bones are used to refine sugar. He says that what can be eaten is more important than what cannot. These ponderings run the gamut of modern diet fetish, taking on timely topics such as raw foods, vitamins and macrobiotics. Even an 11-year program to become a spiritually correct vegetarian is outlined.
“Chicken soup might be pronounced kosher, yet no hen has announced publicly her Judaism,” he quips. Other attempts at humor, some successful, are mixed into the rants on such topics as evil meat karma, why milk sucks and the virtues of food combining. Did you know that when people die from choking, it is usually a piece of meat that kills them? It’s all in this cool book. “After all,” Braunstein writes, “life is a joke, and death its laughter.” GE

Publisher: Panacea
Paperback: 138 pages
Illustrated

English-speaking practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine have longed for a good book that their patients could read and understand. The best books on Chinese medicine are written in Chinese. Many important ones have been translated to English, but are basically textbooks for use in Chinese medicine schools outside of China. Reid’s new book will quickly become the standard for introducing new folks to the wonders of Chinese Medicine. This book is awesome in its simplicity, yet covers in great depth the fundamentals of the world’s most ancient healing form. Reid fears not, treading the thin ice of proselytizing such modalities as qi gong, the mother of Chinese medicine. Lesser Western writers cloak explanations of Chinese medicine with scientific terminology and reason. Instead, Reid eschews nerve-gate theories and promotes such therapies as the gathering of cosmic energy from the universe, long a staple in the Chinese medical repetoire, but for some reason scoffed at in the West. GE

Publisher: Shambhala
Paperback: 161 pages

Brilliant color photographs featuring festive, nude people grace practically every page of this fun and friendly naturist guide. Many photos correspond with individual listings, giving holiday makers a glance at thousands of clothing-optional beaches, resorts, parks and more. Particularly cool shots show a nude shooting range, the nude supermarket, and other choice scenes that verify the fact that one doesn’t really need clothes to do most things. All in all, a great guide for families who like to pack lightly. However, there are glaring errors that make it worthwhile to check ahead and locally before taking the plunge. A couple of the places listed just aren’t happening anymore, and some of the places have changed dramatically since the time of the book’s publication. Delonegha Hot Springs, for instance, in California’s Sequoia National Forest, is now privately owned and mostly visited by clothed Koreans. GE

Publisher: N Editions
Paperback: 272 pages
Illustrated

Bosnians are a remarkable mix of Catholics, Christians, Croats, Gypsies, Jews, Muslims, Serbs, Slavs and numerous other influences. In the opening to this intriguing history book, the author maintains that because Bosnians can hardly understand themselves, they cannot possibly be understood by outsiders. We are then witness to a Bosnia raided, ransacked and pillaged by outsiders from her very beginnings, through the tragic war. The author doesn’t stop at blaming outsiders but points to the ignorance and ethnocentricity of the Bosnian people themselves, especially those who define themselves in terms of race and religion over birthplace. He drives home not only how misunderstood the modern Bosnian war was, but also how ignorant most world leaders were about the conflict. Readers will appreciate the depth and understanding brought to this subject. It is the first time a full history of Bosnia has been undertaken. GE

Publisher: Ask Why!
Paperback: 340 pages