Butler Books

I read this book more times than I can count as a girl growing up in Wisconsin. The fact that it was set in the state where I lived helped connect me to it, but it's also just a good story for anyone who, like me, loves historical fiction.

I enjoyed this collection of stories; there is something for everyone. The writing styles are varied enough to keep you interested. The themes are similiar to other books and stories, but I liked it anyway.

If there is a bit of irony in my review title, so be it. This book is based on a Phd. dissertation that caught the attention of William Tabernee. Tabernee was working on Montanist archealogy, and along came this. How the connection was made, I do not know. However, what we get here is a closely reasoned academic monograph that is not exactly in tune with Roman Orthodoxy. The author, Dr. Bulter, teaches at the Southwestern Baptist Seminary. The book was published by the Catholic University of America Press. That combination was enough to get me to fork up a substantial amount of money for this slim volume.

By the numbers, including all the scholarly work on the topic from the sources of the 19th Century, the author makes his points. He misses nothing that I know of, and his work takes into account all the sources that you and I cannot lay our hands on. Priced by the footnote, this book is probably a massive bargin. The bibliography of ancient and secondary works on the topic is complete as of the present. The conclusions drawn are clear. The entire orginal document on the passion of Perpetua and Felicita is a Montanist writing in all its three parts. This is argued beyond a doubt based on current scholarly knowledge.

The Roman Church has a great deal to answer for as regards the modification of Primitive Christianity to suit its episcopal needs. That the C.U.A. published this is refreshing. And, the book convincingly pushes the perception of the gifts of the Holy Spirit up into the middle of the 3rd Century B.C.E. This is a must read for anyone interested in the historical manifestations of the Holy Spirit in early Christianity. For indeed, it was "Christianity" that this book is speaking of by the late Second Century CE. And, by this time, the Roman Church had institutional needs of its own. The distortion of the legacy of Perpetua and Felicita to meet the needs of the patriachcal Roman Church and its cessationist position is clearly explicated in this essential work.

The photogarphy in this book is so vivid, it demands your full attention to the plight of those pilots and crewmen involved in the incidents depicted and described. One can almost hear the voices and feel the heat of the fires often encountered in mishaps of this nature. I found it a one-sitting, hold-your-breath sort of presentation. I've returned often to absorb those photos and to try to imagine what led up to each of the awesome and sometimes gruesome events. Having been a Navy pilot for over two decades with carrier experience; some in the beloved F6F-5 Hellcat, I find myself feeling a very close kinship with those in this perfectly outstanding book. Many kudos to Mssrs, Keeney and Butler for putting together a very much needed reminder that in carrier aviation there are, indeed, No Easy Days.

This second part of Eliza Butler's trilogical survey of Faustian Literature is rightfully established as an incomparable classic in historical/scholarly works of ceremonial Magic. In words set to atone for the whole, she remarks: "How tenacious those ill weeds that have grown apace on the field of magical ritual, that ominous tract which, all agree, Hides the Dark Tower"...I, mere Dedicated Literary Servitor, feel blessed to have been fortunate enough to have come across the blazened trails wending strange ways through those fields Butler charted herein while composing my own work setting out to establish the origins of Gothic Literature, & malefic fictions in general. Having found their incubation chambers within the Renaissance Malefic compendiums of the Witch-Hunters, and innumerable fantastic works in response, respect, or revolt against the remnants of Medieval superstition, Butler's works provided the missing arcane key to "What constitutes the Science of ceremonial magic which its devotees call the Art"...so essential if one is to ever makes sense of divers historical arenas such as Art History or Intellectual & Esoteric History.
"For the inventors & practitioners of the rites/often gave proof to Art/to the advantage of the Literature which has survived/its means show evidence of highly creative instincts, poetical imagination and great feeling for beauty & drama/This is what makes the study of Ritual Magic so interesting today"
Butler speaks with a respective authority that avoids disrespect of her human, all too human subjects; all the while exacting the magical crux of the ritual matter without sacrificing the scholarly critical outside-looking-inside perspective. She writes with a surgeon's sharp intelligibility, without becoming cold as the over-scrutinizing scalpel she wields like a pro. A more profound exegesis and wider span of written works of Ritual Magic is to me, inconceivable. Voluminous quotations from original first & critical second-hand sources graces Butler's pages, revealing the odd often monstrous apparitions that people mankind's collective psyche, which have found a wide deep harbor in the texts and treatise' Ritual Magic, whether they be of Nec-Romantic, Goetic & Theurgic persuasion.
From Akkadian Tableture & Greco-Egyptian papyri; to the great Epic Poems of Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome,& even Iceland; to the Hebrew wisdom of Old-testifying Clavicles of Solomon along with Cabalistic Magic tomes; and of course the French Grimoires (those infernal Grammar books of the underground crypts); and finally, into the very heart of Butler's work: The Germanic works of both Magia Naturalis et Innaturalis, as told of FAUSTUS & MEPHISTOPHELES and All the progenitors, Disciples and Poets of each of these categories and sub-categories; from olden times to new.
Butler's works is..."as subtle and as rich as Sprenger, Bodin, Wierus or de Lancre ever imagined; a whole world of wicked spirits, whose personalities are carefully distinguished, their attributes precisely determined, and their hierarchy learnedly classified" (Lenormant's work on the Magic of Chaldea; Butler,5).
Elizabeth Margaret Butler fearlessly summons all the Harrowings of Hells, the Raising of the spirits of Cain. Spanning through brilliant biographical summations of all variety of Black Magi, she treads on Holy and Accursed grounds. From the Wiley likes of Casanova, the Infernal court records and murderous inhuman charges against poor suffering Bluebeard of Orleans; the penultimate renaissance man of viceful passions Cellini and that Nigromant of Norcia; Dee and that earless rogue Kelly and all exponents of the Dark Arts until finally, after extending her hand carefully into the epitome of more modern times she draws many insightful conclusions from the works of LEVI, Francis Barrett, Mathers, Waite, and even Crowley; until laying a stake through the heart of The Myth Of Satanism, she sets the stage for part three. There the Origins of Faustian Literature in Ritual Magic shall have the same genius applied to them in an equally brilliant exposition on the MAGIC OF LITERATURE----having just come in this work from the dangerous adventure of surmising the LITERATURE OF MAGIC---and as pt.2 was to Occultism, exploring Ritual Magic by means of generous quotations and examples drawn from historical and biographical detail; so shall the next work, The Fortunes of Faust, bring Butler's trilogy round full circle, that snake eating itself continuously, the Ouroboros of the world's magical History, which is Our Own.

Postcryptum: Part one of Butler's Faustian work is entitled 'The Myth of the Magus', and is presently available at the Amazonian encampment through Cambridge press Canto editions. Pts.2 & 3 are (re)published by Penn State's Press's extraordinary 'Magic In History' series, perhaps thanks to the Societas Magica, an entirely scholarly unsecret society dedicated to the discipline and adventure of assessing honestly, and finally, the History of Magic.

Really cute little book w/ drawings depicting funny scenes from things you've probably encountered before while golfing. Cute enough to copy into a card, flyer, bulletin or etc. Covers silly etiquette topics such as slapping mosquitoes, psychology on the green, helping your opponent lose. Gives funny definations on the duffer, a Mulligan, a Gimmie, Sandbagger, Sand Traps, Divots, Bunkers, Out-of-bounds, Waggles, Addressing the ball, bad lies, Yips, Rub of the Green, Fore, Teed Off, Woods, Handicaps, Double and Triple Bogies, Pars, Birdies, Eagles, Hole-in-One's, Windmills, Honor, Drives. Uses rules in scenarios such as agreeing to waive rules, unimprovable situations, impaired vision, superstitions allowed, lost balls, disputes-decisions-doubts, discouraging jogging on the green, throwing golf clubs in extenuating circumstances, alligators-mad dogs-bee hives, entitlements by being hit by the ball or nearly hit, sizing up the caddie (Eager Beaver/Ancient Mariner/ or Pro's Son), and rights of Spouses. Lots of laugh for the serious or not-so-serious golfer.

From the San Jose Mercury: "A delightful balance of historical, personal and architectural background...that will please both old-timers and newcomers." "Phyllis Butler has given us stories, superb stories, to go with architecture...hopes, dreams, passions of men and women." Kevin Starr

I haven't read other books on social anxiety, but I have read a number of books on anxiety disorders. This book is so helpful to me - it's practical and realistic. The author totally gets social anxiety - the causes, beliefs, behaviors, and effects - and suggests cognitive behavioral techniques to address and ultimately minimize the anxiety. It's a comforting relief to have someone understand, explain, and help resolve something that can sometimes be so difficult to live with.

This book is AWESOME, a wonderful story about making new friends and fitting in. In the story Owen has to make some tough choices and the reader gets to choose with Owen. Each path shows the reader the consequences of their choice.
A beautifully written and illustrated book about real life situations. I can't wait for the next in the series!

This is the shame that the Butler's "Paleomagnetism" is out of print. The idea of paying some $175 for a used copy is simply ridiculous (unless you're a collector). The PDF vesion of this book can be LEGALLY dowloaded at [...] and is absolutely FREE.