Datura

by Ruby Sara (Editor), Chris Page, John Harness

The lady of moth and moon unfurls her shy and deadly petals. these navigators of the midnight sea – occultists and poets and devotees seeking after that which seduces them – are familiar with the dream of intoxication that follows her scent. She is the woman in the song, the night-blooming narcotic, gorgeous and strange. she is the horned blossom, the guardian of the threshold, the keeper of madness.

Datura/i> comprises the work of 26 leading poets from the occult and pagan communities, and six essays on the agony and ecstasy of the creative process, and giving the history of occult poetry from ancient greece through to the modern day.
From triadic rubaiyat to sestina, acrostic, lyric, free verse and praise hymn this is poetry in full flower.
This collection includes recognised major poets, we are indebted in particular to Penelope Shuttle for her contribution and that of Peter Redgrove.
Datura/i> contains modern published poets alongside new undiscovered writers whose work shows them strong enough to keep such company.
This is a literate and narcotic text which will inspire both ritual practice and further incursions into living poetry.

Genres: Poetry, Occult, Paganism

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really hoping that this collection of poems and articles would just hit me and keep me reeling throughout the entire volume, but I was rather let down. The poetry, as in the second volume Mandragora, was for the most part lackluster and just really impotent. There were a few that started to reach a moment of glory and then fell short, very quickly. I will give a shout out to a couple though, and they are: "In the Quarter", by Mark Saucier, and "Persephone's Rising", by Anna Elizabeth Applegate. Also, I like to give a runner up award to "The woman of seven stars goes hunting", by Sara Amis. The articles on the other hand were as I expected them to be, and they ranged from the alright to very good. I very much enjoyed "Becoming Poetry", by Erynn Rowan Laurie, "Mead & Ravens", by Mr VI, and "The Poetry of Magic" by Paul Newman.

[Emma Filtness · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I would love this, and I really wanted to, but too many poems fell short. Too much of the obvious and the pretentious. The same with the essays - lots of talk about muses and creative impulses and not so much on the theory or practice - not so much 'poesis' as I'd hoped. From the biographies it becomes clear that while many contributors have the esoteric "credentials", many lack the necessary technical ability and skill of a schooled and/or practiced writer. I enjoyed Penelope Shuttle's poems as always, and quite liked some of Christopher Greenchild's. Anna Applegate's Persephone's Rising was a strong poem, and Carver's a refreshing voice.

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

The formatting in this Kobo ebook was terrible. The poems would often look like:

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But I kept reading because the topic of esoteric/occult poetry as medium for ecstasy was fascinating for me. Some of my favourites were: “Ogma’s Knife” by Michael Routery, all of Erynn Rowan Laurie’s contributions, “Hymn to Inanna” by John Harness, and Mr. VI’s writings. (I am sure there is more that I liked, it’s just hard to flip through an ebook to check). Some poems left me confused or alienated, but I think that’s normal with any anthology: some works are just hit or miss. While I hesitate to whole-heartedly recommend this, if you find the topic of ecstastic poetry interesting, it’s worth a read.