November 18th is International Occult Day. The word itself comes from the Latin term “occultus,” which means “clandestine, hidden, secret” or “Knowledge of the Hidden”. I have a collection of occult books.
The first today is “The Occult Sciences” with subtitle “How to Get What You Want through Your Occult Powers” by Anthony Norvell, published 1971.
The author claims that one can learn the occult secret of Transmutation that can “change the undesirable situations in his or her life into happy, prosperous, loving and joyous one…the shimmering gold of success and riches.”
Even more dramatic is “The reader will see how to weave a Magnetic Spell over the minds and hearts of other people, and attract love and undying romance, as well as friendship and all the other rewards of love and affection.”This is an unusual book.
I also have another occult book, “The Secret Lore of Magic” by Idries Shah, published 1958.
The author of this book states that “Black Magic and sorcery have been practiced through the ages with the aid of certain writings which were jealously guarded for uncounted centuries.” I further read that this book “contains not one but all the major source-books of the magical arts, in most cases translated from French, Latin, Hebrew, and other tongues-fully illustrated by numerous diagrams, signs, and characters.”
Both of these books are very interesting books. I enjoyed reading them, though I am not sure if the ‘stuff” really works. Don’t know if I believe in it. But I do believe in something-princesses.
November 18th is National Princess Day. I have plenty of princess books. These three are special princess fairy tales. “Sleeping Beauty” “Snow White” and “Cinderella” by Playmore Publishers and Froebel-kan Co in Tokyo. They were printed in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. I have almost the entire series of these fairy tales.
What is great about these books are the photograph illustrations. They are all dolls, and all the furniture and landscaping is made as well. They are posed, staged, and then photographed. I believe that while they were made in Japan, the story could be printed in any language the publisher wanted.
I have the same three princess stories, with a similar style of using dolls and making the scenery. They are from Crown Publishers, made in the mid 1960’s.
My favorite princess story is “Princess Furball” the tale retold by Charlotte Huck and illustrated by Anita Lobel, 1989. This is a Russian varient of the Cinderella story.
My mom gave me this book after she was through writing her Masters Dissertation on Cinderella. It is a favorite fairy tale of mine to read. It is also a favorite book of my daughter, who became a teacher, like my mother.
My daughter will always be my little princess. It doesn’t matter that she is now grown up, with a family of her own. I see the same look in her eyes now, as I did when the world was first new to her. She still notices the good in people, and wants to continue to make the world a better place through her work and deeds. She is the best type of Princess!
My kingdom of treasures and books will all go to her…and may she live happily ever after.
Librarytomes 