JUSTE, Michael [AKA Michael Houghton] editor, Ross Nichols Assistant Editor. Contributions by John Cowper Powys, Ross Nichols, W. B. Crow, Gerald Yorke, John Hargrave, Bernard Brommage, Jean Michaud among others.

The Occult Observer ( Volume I ) [ 1949-1950 ] A Quarterly Journal of Occultism Art and Philosophy.

London: Atlantis Bookshop [Michael Houghton], 1949-1950. First Edition thus. Hardcover. Octavo. Bound periodical. 412 pp. Original black cloth boards with white parchment spine with black titling to. Contents index bound in at front. Only six numbers of this interesting but short-lived journal made it off the presses, they were first issued in wrappers and then the publisher, Michael Houghton, had all six issues bound as a single hardcover volume. Contents include an essay on Tantrism (which includes a passing reference to the OTO having knowlege of its sexual aspects) as well as a biographical essay on Aleister Crowley - both by Crowley's friend and one-time disciple, Gerald Yorke; a three page obituary of Dion Fortune by the Warden of the Society of the Inner Light, 'The Unconscious' by John Cowper Powys; 'The Matrix of Mythology' and 'Patterns of Culture and Cosmic Plan' by W. B. Crow; 'Scheme of Soul' and 'The Great Zodiac of Glastonbury: II' by Ross Nichols, 'The Symbolism of the Eagle' by George H. Brook; 'The Bronze Mirror' and The Rhododendrons' by Jean Michaud; 'Black Magic in Modern Art, and 'The Occult Interpretation of the Golden Flower' by John Hargrave; 'The Essence of Ouspensky,' by Bernard Bromage; 'Man and his Beast' and 'The Adept and the Imp' by Michael Juste (Houghton); 'The Literary Career of the Devil' by John Heath-Stubbs; 'The Tarot,' by Bernard Bromage; 'The Psychology of the Hand' and "The Book of Shadows" (Parts I & II) by Mir Bashir, etc. etc. (there is a school of thought which suggests that it was from the title of this article that Gerald Gardner took the term "Book of Shadows." The writers of the journal were very much a "Who's Who" of the small London occult world at the time. There were two issues of the hardcover edition, one in a navy cloth binding, and this, with the parchment spine - arguably the more handsome of the two. The issue with the navy cloth binding is more commonly encountered, but order of precedence is not known. Corners bumped, causing a tiny ripple in the extreme top corner of the text block. Covers lightly rubbed, but otherwise still a tight, bright VG + copy (no dust jacket: none issued). Item #62043

Sold