Modern Occultist News

ON THIS DAY IN OCCULT HISTORY January 17 "The Jersey Devil: Folklore, Fear, and the Forest" (Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this blog may earn us a small commission at no cost to you. Every bit helps keep the lantern lit.) In the dense, whispering pine woods of southern New Jersey lies a legend that has flickered through centuries of American folklore—a creature of shadow, wing, and screech known to many as the Jersey Devil. Its story lives at the crossroads of myth, memory, fear, and regional identity, and today serves as a testament to how stories of the unseen are born, shaped, and reborn across generations.  The Jersey Devil —originally called the Leeds Devil —is described in the most common tales as a winged bipedal creature with hooves, bat‑like wings, sometimes a horse‑like or goat‑like head, and a chilling, otherworldly scream that echoes across the Pine Barrens at night.  From Oral Tradition to Printed Page The origins of the legend are most often ...

ON THIS DAY IN OCCULT HISTORY January 16 "Aleister Crowley’s Initiation into the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn" (Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this blog may earn us a small commission at no cost to you. Every bit helps keep the lantern lit.) In the autumn of 1898, a young Englishman with razor‑sharp intelligence, boundless ambition, and a restless appetite for spiritual depth stepped across the threshold into one of the most influential occult orders of his age. That man was Aleister Crowley , and on this date in 1898, he entered the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn , adopting the magical motto Frater Perdurabo —“Brother I shall endure to the end.” This initiation marked not merely a membership in a secret society but a turning point in the history of Western esotericism.  The Golden Dawn—formally the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn—was a product of late‑Victorian spiritual ferment. Founded in 1888 by William Wynn Westcott, William Robert Woodman, and Sa...

  ON THIS DAY IN OCCULT HISTORY January 15 "Celebrating Vera Petrovna de Zhelihovsky’s Voice for Blavatsky" (Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this blog may earn us a small commission at no cost to you. Every bit helps keep the lantern lit.) In the annals of occult history, the spotlight often shines brightest on its most daring innovators—but sometimes it is the witnesses who shape how the world remembers them. On January 15th we commemorate a moment of profound esoteric reflection: the publication anniversary of Vera Petrovna de Zhelihovsky ’s influential essay on her sister, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky , in periodicals tied to Theosophical discourse.  Vera was more than a sibling—she was a chronicler, a defender, and a contextualizer of one of the most transformative figures in modern esoteric thought. Born in Odessa in 1835 into a world of empire and instability, Vera herself became an accomplished writer; her voice found its deepest resonance when she turned to ...

  ON THIS DAY IN OCCULT HISTORY January 14 "Witchcraft Remembrance Day" (Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this blog may earn us a small commission at no cost to you. Every bit helps keep the lantern lit.) In the cold, uncertain winter of 1699, a remarkable act of collective introspection took place in colonial Massachusetts. On January 14th of that year, the Massachusetts Colony—once riven by fear and religious hysteria—observed a day of fasting and prayer for the wrongful persecution of those accused of witchcraft in the years before.  This date does not commemorate trials or condemnations, but contrition—a recognition that the shadows of fear can warp judgment and warp a community’s moral compass when the unseen is mistaken for the ominous.  From Fear to Reflection In the early 1690s, a tremor of panic rippled through the Puritan settlements of New England. Beginning in Salem Village (today’s Danvers, Massachusetts), a strange blend of superstition, relig...

  The Modern Occultist Interview  #3 Michael C. Weisenburg (Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this blog may earn us a small commission at no cost to you. Every bit helps keep the lantern lit.) As part of our inaugural issue, Modern Occultist is honored to welcome three guest contributors into our Circle. Over next few weeks, readers will find exclusive and unexpurgated editions of our candid and illuminating interviews with these esteemed figures. Second in our unedited interview series is guest contributor Michael C. Weisenburg —Director of the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections , University of South Carolina Libraries. Dr. Weisenburg’s Primary research field is in 18th and 19th American literature and book history, and he has had articles appear in ESQ: A Journal of Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture , The New England Quarterly, Rhetoric Society Quarterly , American Periodical s , and, more recently, a chapter on comic ...