TARTAROS: On the Orphic and Pythagorean Underworld, and the Pythagorean Pentagram de Alm, John August

Three Hands Press, 2013. Limited to 625 copies. FINE CLOTH VOLUME in custom dust jacket. The magical doctrines of the ancient Orphics and Pythagoreans are poorly understood by modern scholars, in part because they were secretive in their own time. Well-known for speaking in riddles and complex ciphers, its adepts were bound by strict taboo and silence, the breaking of which was punishable by death. The enigma of the cult's teachings was further shrouded by centuries of suppression, and, in some cases, appropriation or misrepresentation, by the growing forces of Christianity. What remains today are the fragments of its lost books, together with the words of those who, for good or ill, wrote about them. In an original interpretation and synthesis apt for today's student of ancient mysticism and the occult, August Alm advances a new conception of these ancient mystery-cults and their sublime doctrines of Chaos, Darkness and Light. A foundational part of these ancient Greek mystery-cults was the concept of Tartaros. 264 pages, with eight illustrations, including original artwork by James Dunk and Timo Ketola. Royal octavo.