I am delighted to announce that there is a new magazine now available for the discerning magickal practitioner (particularly, but not exclusively, who resides south of the equator), with the first edition of The Green Man Quarterly having rolled off the printing presses ... or more accurately in this modern age, digitalised with files whizzing through cyberspace.
I have yet to receive my hardcopy of the magazine, however from the digital copy, I have to say that I was mighty impressed with the standard of articles, not to mention the amount of work the editor(s) have put into the magazine.
Whilst not as "polished" as some digitally produced magazines that are available today (some of which can actually end up being rather difficult to read as a result), considering this is the first edition and that the editor(s) does/do not come from a publishing background, a big WELL DONE is in order.
 |
| George Pickingill |
Over the years I have subscribed to a number of publications, both local as well as international, as a way of quenching my thirst for occult learning. It is unfortunate that save for a very few subscription-only privately published magazines, the majority have never truly properly quenched this thirst. A large percentage of the Pagan orientated magazines available today tend to focus on the popular readership demographic of the 101 novice and/or younger female with a seemingly endless supply of beginner's "how to" advice and fae-like models gracing the pages. Rarely are there articles that challenge the reader, that focus on the masculine (or even non-gender specific) aspect, or even those that focus on serious magickal workings at all. This means that up until now, those of us who actually do have a few magickal miles clocked up and who also perform what can best be described these days as non-neo-Pagan occultism, are often left unsatisfied. This new publication, The Green Man Quarterly, however does looks rather promising.
Some 40 pages in length, The Green Man Quarterly consists of a number of solid and well researched articles, all focusing on a variety of subjects, such as:
The "Four Powers of the Sphinx", what is considered to be the cornerstone of occult teachings, is covered in DG Mattichak Jr's article "Where did the Sphinx get its Magick Powers?"
Australian author and magickian, Peregrin Wildoak, offers a rather insightful investigation into "The Early Years of Wicca in Perth", which raises the question (at least for me) as to how did the Craft actually start in all the other centres around Australia and who were its main instigators? Little has actually been publically made available on the Australia scene, possibly due to a lack of medium to publish such material. Maybe The Green Man Quarterly is that very medium.
 |
| Witches' Sabbat by Goya (1798) |
Y.T. Scott bravely commences to lift the lid off a potential can of worms that surrounds the George Pickingill affair in "The Burden of Proof" (the first of a multi-part series).
Lee Morgan (another Australian author and Traditional Crafter) explores what could be a rather confronting thought (at least for some modern Pagans) of the use of Christian psalms within Witchcraft in her article "Traditional Witchcraft and Christian Heresy".
There are also articles on how rituals work, wortcunning with Wormwood for all those budding herbalists, and magic beyond belief, as well as my own article on the Horned God (that had been re-researched and expanded to over 4,300 words from previous incarnations, and which is still very much work in progress).
The Green Man Quarterly is now calling for submissions for its second edition, and in light of my upcoming commitments, I have already managed to forward mine. For anyone wishing to order a copy (as it is not available through newsagents - making it just that little more elitist and special :) ), you can do just that by subscribing through their web site for both digital (perfect for international subscribers) as well as hardcopy (for those of us "old timers" who still enjoy actually turning pages).
Once again, a job well done to the team behind The Green Man Quarterly - may there be many more issues to come.
