Geosophia: The Argo of Magic I

by Jake Stratton-Kent

Geosophia traces the development of magic from the Greeks to the grimoires, laying bare the chthonic roots of goetic ritual. By exposing the necromantic origins of much of modern magic we are able to reconnect with the source of our ritual tradition. There is a continuity of practice in the West which encompasses the pre-Olympian cults of Dionysus and Cybele, is found in the Greek Magical Papyri and Picatrix and flows into the grimoires. Rather than a muddle of superstition, the grimoire tradition is revealed as the living descendant of the ancient practices of the Goes. This is a work which redefines our understanding of the Western tradition, one which does not begin with Cabbala or Solomon, but rather descends into the Underworld and brings forth new life. The author illuminates scarce and overlooked texts with an incisive commentary, from volcanic conjurations to over 70 pages dealing with Picatrix. Following the voyage of the Argonauts, Geosophia offers biographies of the heroes

Genres: Occult, History, Magic, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Mythology, Magick

360 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Jake Stratton-Kent has been a goetic magician since 1972, making more than forty years of continuous goetic practice. His practical work integrates the magical papyri, italo-french grimoires in particular the Grimorium Verum and African traditional religions with a focus on Quimbanda and magia negra. His interest in magic spans the ancient, medieval, renaissance, and modern as well as stretching from the West to the Middle East and crucially, the New World. His scholarly approach is backed with a personal relationship with the spirits.

Reviews

[Michael Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating study which really digs back to the roots of things.

My main area of fascination was unearthing the original conceptions of the Underworld and the rites of the dead, and the book certainly delivers on that score.

It's a rediscovery of the very roots of magic.

[Alex Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revolutionary. Books I, II,III, & IV of Volume II of Encyclopaedia Goetica. Highly recommended if you're interested in the roots of western magic or mythology. Jake traces the ancient Greek goetes who engaged with the spirits of the underworld and predated the aristocratic Olympian state cults but which later had an impact on the forming of the first mystery schools with a resurgence of a need for the chthonic. He further traces these methods and initiation rites into the grimoires and theurgy in modern practice and points out that originally the underworld, or Hades composed of both good and bad spirits. The geography of which was later projected onto the stars with the rise of the up = good, down = bad way of thinking that characterizes western thought. This fudge brought up the demonization of the dead which was not a factor in ancient shamanic Greek culture where the dead are still as much as family as the living. So spirits that people generally favored which much of were dead heroes were then cherry picked and plopped onto the stars, planets, and the sub-lunary realm. Showing that most of the ancient gods were chthonic, like Hermes Kthonios for example. With this, much was lost in the importance of the underworld and the importance then switched to the heavens. The practice of goetia then seems to be a remnant of the ancient roots of magic but were then later dichotomized like a neglected baby partially thrown out with the bathwater. There's of course much more to it but that's all I can do for now.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ostensibly a commentary on "the Voyage of Argo" by Apollonius of Rhodes, this text really is a kind of idiosyncratic master key to Greek mythology and archaic Greek religion. The author is both a scholar and practitioner of ritual magic, and so has an eye to textual and archaeological evidence of ancient religious practice. In general, he posits various pre-Olympian cults and practices as surviving into Hellenistic and Roman times; evident but misunderstood in the works of later authors. He seems to be using this, broadly speaking, to demonstrate a survival of archaic chthonic ritual, practice and gnosis into Latin and eventually Christian times as a foundation for witchcraft, grimoire magic and Hoodoo.

I would suggest reading this alongside
Roberto Calasso - The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
Roberto Calasso - The Celestial Hunter
Robert Graves - the Greek Myths
Robert Graves - The White Goddess

and other idiosyncratic views of the meaning of myths in deep antiquity.

[Damien · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is definitely encyclopaedic above all, with lots of valuable information. I've never paid a lot of attention to the Goetia until read this and part 2 of Geosophia: the whole subject is much more appealing in the light of pre-Classical Greece. Although I don't agree with everything JSK says, his work is probably one of the most important steps in what I consider to be the right direction of the future of ritual magick.

[jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

epic.
my head is full with things unknown.
my eye is flooded with patterns unseen.
my heart has found fire in temples revealed.
a long sinuous path from the archaic to now.
Evoe Bacche! Io! Io! Evoe! Iacche! Io Bacche! Evohe!

[Adam Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting.

It is a very lengthy look at how the western occur traditions are rooted in the Greek humanistic approaches. Enjoy.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Geosphia might well be one of the most important esoteric texts published in the last twenty years, contributing to undermine the dominance of (neo)-platonic, appolinian ideologies in the western mystery traditions. While I admire JSKs work for that, I find it quite lacking in quite superficial details which amass and just make this two volumes just less fun to read. I find the text lacking in (good) structure and the writing boring, especially since JSK takes a lot of detours and doesn't do a lot to guide the reader through his thought process. Here is an enormous wealth of knowledge, but thrown on a wall and the reader has to see what sticks. All this mass of knowledge is weakend in consistency by the omission of proper footnotes and references - there is just a shortened bibliographie in the back. Of course, the thing would have been even longer, but historical texts without footnotes border on the useless and the text could have been shortened anyway. Additionally, at least the paperback version is annoyingly designed and I don't say that lightly for a Scarlet Imprint publication. It just wastes space while using quite a small fond and not much space between the lines. I might have a better opinion by the end of part II, but that's it for now.

[Gaze Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the Greek origins of ritual magick, especially that of Goetic origins. Most often, the Semitic influence of these family of grimoires are taken for granted, and most often mistaken for their primary source. This book proves otherwise, and looks beyond, to the ancient Mediterranean roots of Goetic magick. Taking the epic of the Argonauts as a jumping point, Jake Stratton-Kent takes us through a deconstruction of Classical Greek Mythology, showing us that is is actually a composite of many tribal legends that were subsumed into an imperial agenda. What comes out most clearly is that Goetic magick is, in it's original form, Necromantic in nature. And this need not be as grotesque nor as sinister as our modern sensibilities seem to suggest. In fact, the ancient Greeks et al. had a very healthy relationship with their ancestors and their deceased. It was a way to stay involved even beyond your mortal coil. It was a way to remember and acknowledge the wisdom and experience of those that came before us. And this is a sentiment that still carries over, in a highly diluted form, with our Remembrance/Veteran's Day ceremonies. It also reveals the Chthonic origins of many of the Greek gods we think we know. Revealing them to be late Greek attempts to subsume a particular tribe into their "Urban Olympian" religion. This is just the first of a two book dissertation, and I hope that the connection between how the ancient dead came to be seen as demons in modern Goetic lore will be further explained. The first book alone lays a solid groundwork for the origins of the terms and practical technique. I hope that the second book will reveal the thread between its ancient origins and modern view.

[Mary Shutan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jake was a scholar and a practitioner, and pretty much anything I have read from him has been illuminating. For anyone interested in the roots of magic, shamanism, and Greek mythology (and how those intersect) this seminal work is extraordinary.

A profound exploration of the Underworld, and while some may be turned off by terms like “goetic” or “necromancy” in the modern world, understanding how we can be in good relationship with the dead is important. This book was a turning point for me in how I thought about chthonic spirits and my relationship with them.

I wish the writing was a bit more flowing at times, but the scholarship, experience, and thought process behind this work makes up for it.

[Aaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece of myth and magic

This exquisite book covers much ground, demonstrating the syncretic, layered nature of myths and their use in rituals, particularly tracing the putative origins of goetic magic.

The author displays extreme erudition and depth in correlating many aspects of Greek and other Near Eastern mythic sources to make his thesis

[Xóža Hňabaj · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably the most boring book I've read this year so far. Don't get me wrong; it's GOOD, there are pieces of gold hidden in it. My recommendation is to do a good research on Greek mythology before you dip in, and of course since the topic revolves around Argonauts read that as well.

[Edric Unsane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super good look at the beginnings and history leading to the goetia. This book was highly informative and wonderfully elucidated.