"Skeet" McD
Practically Family
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Creeping Past said:The most interesting book I've read recently on this subject is Beyond the Occult, by Colin Wilson.
Taking a step back from the practice and the ritual -- the ideology of The Occult -- Wilson describes the enlightenment process as one of gaining insight through examining experience.
Hmmm...here's a tack. Two books that I would highly recommend are:
The World of the Witches by Julio Caro Baroja, first published in 1964
This work, concentrating primarily on Spanish sources, attempts to connect folk elements which the writer saw himself with classical-era sources and, ultimately, to a widespread nature religion of prehistory. I find his observations canny; his reasoning just that(!); and his argument ultimately very convincing.
http://www.amazon.com/World-Witches-Phoenix-Press/dp/1842122428
The Dream Hunters of Corsica by Dorothy Carrington, first published in 1995
The material for this book was mostly gathered in the 1950s, at a time when the village world of that fascinating island was, as yet, fairly untouched by the modern world. She investigates the strange culture of the signadori and mazzeri, village shamans who possess powers of divination--and much more!, and attempts to connect their activities to a neolithic religious source. Utterly fascinating, and--if you are open to the concept of "things you can't explain, but seem to be amply attested by trustworthy people"--quite perplexing.
http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Hunters-Corsica-Dorothy-Carrington/dp/1857994248
"Skeet"