Journals and Magazines

Treadwell’s sell more than books. We stock magazines, journals and newspapers dealing with esotericism. High and low culture live side by side, in the real world as well as on our shelves. Scholarly periodicals appeal to some moods, whilst others call for a dip into popular culture.

Journal of the Academic Study of Magic (JASM)
A peer-reviewed British journal, appearing annually, with interdisciplinary articles on a full range of topics of interest to scholars of modern magic. Most contributors are younger academics, and some are themselves also practitioners of magic or pagan religion. Each volume is roughly 200 pages. Volumes vary in price from £13.99 to £19.99.

Strange Attractor
An award-winning creation, a book-journal of some of the best contemporary writing on every imaginable aspect of unpopular culture, oddities of history, eccentric magic, and fortean belief. Edited by Mark Pilkingon, it has rightfully won a cult following within the publication its first two issues. Volumes range in price from £10.00 to £15.00.

Wormwood
This quarterly journal is dedicated to literature of the fantastic, supernatural and the decadent. Articles have looked at decadent culture, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, Victor Neuburg and their ilk. Writing is of notably high quality, and the research is of an equal standard. Wormwood comes out quarterly from Tartarus Press under the editorship of Mark Valentine. Issues run to about 90 pages. £7.99

Tradition
Living folk customs, folk lore, and the current celebrations of calendar festivals are all covered in this delightful quarterly magazine edited by Paul Salmon. Recent articles have reported what happened this year at: the bonfires of Sussex , tree dressing at Clun, a Bedfordshire medieval festival. £2.50.

Chaos International
The grandfather of chaos occult journals is now back after a hiatus, with issue 26. Currently edited by Ian Read, its area of speciality centres on the work of the chaos movement in occultism: names affiliated since its founding have include Phil Hine, Pete Carroll, Andrew Chumbley and others. £4.99.

Starfire
Large-format journal of typhonian thelema, an officionado's collectible. Serious and technical articles relating to Spare, Grant, Crowley and related luminaries of magic. Edited by Michael Staley and Robert Taylor. Appears periodically.

The Oracle
A serious occultist's journal, appearing quarterly from a small but intense group of practitioners and occult theoreticians. Now on issue 4, its format bears a resemblance to that of Chaos International , and the intellectual standard is also high. It focuses on chaos current work, Spare-inspired witchcraft, and post-Grant magical themes. Edited by David Blank , and sometimes featuring contributions from, inter alia, ‘Pharaon' (author of the much-touted Liber Niger Legionis , published 2005). £3.50

Dark Nights
A magazine from within the community of the vampire oficionados of London , namely a group called The Vampyre Connexion. It offers an insider's view of the UK capitcal's goth culture: events, gigs, literature, community and popular culture. The best of what happens when a fanzine grows up.

Culture and Cosmos
A bi-annual peer-reviewed journal devoted to the study of the history of astrology and cultural astronomy, it is edited by Nicholas Campion and Patrick Curry, PhD. ‘If astrology is the use of celestial phenomena to provide meaning for human life, then cultural astronomy is the broader use of astronomical beliefs and theories to regulate and inform society, politics, the arts and every aspect of human life.' Culture and Cosmos covers the history of astrology to the present. Contents are relevant to historians of ideas, religion, astrology, science and astronomy, as well as to archaeologists, sociologists and anthropologists.

Astrological Journal
Published bi-monthly by the Astrological Association, this journal is written by and for serious astrologers. Many technical articles along with those of historical interest. £4.95.

Kindred Spirit
One of the largest-circulation new-age magazines published in the UK , with the distinctive feature of having a positive leaning towards Western shamanism. Their staff are also known to be pagan-sympathetic, and articles sometimes cover pagan themes. Bi-monthly. £3.50

Online Journals

The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory
This peer-reviewed online journal is devoted to cutting-edge scholarship dealing with the phenomenon of religion and cultural theory. The journal is distributed FREE by listserv and as an interactive web site. It is published three times a year each April, August, and December. Current institutional sponsors are Villanova University , University of Denver , University of Central Arkansas , York College of Pennsylvania, and Lebanon Valley College . The journal also maintains a discussion board for users to exchange announcements and conference notices. http://www.jcrt.org/

Esoterica: The Journal of Esoteric Studies
A full-text online journal is sponsored Michigan State University in the USA . It is a peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to the trans-disciplinary study of Western esotericism: Western esoteric traditions including alchemy, astrology, Gnosticism, gnosis, magic, mysticism, Rosicrucianism, and secret societies. It also covers the ramifications of these movements in art history, history, literature, and politics. http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/

Other Academic Journals

Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism
Aries appears twice yearly from Brill, and is edited by the Chair of Hermetic Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam . Articles cover esoteric currents in modern and contemporary western culture, those on earlier periods (antiquity, middle ages) link the past to modern practice. Aries covers the revival of Hermetism and early modern "occult philosophy", as well as later developments such as alchemy, Paracelsianism, Rosicrucianism, Christian Kabbalah, and theosophy. It concentrates on historical rather than sociological research, but often publishes articles taking an interdisciplinary approach. Each volume is about 300 pages.

Nova Religio, A Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions
Edited by Catherine Wessinger and Rebecca Moore, Nova Religio is dedicated to alternative and emergent religious movements. It provides a comprehensive interpretation and examination of alternative religious movements, which are often misrepresented and misinterpreted in both public and scholarly forums.
http://www.ucpress.edu/journals/nr/