A mummified hand found in Castleton, North
Yorkshire, England is perhaps the last of its kind. This mummified hand, taken
from the body of a hanged man, supposedly has the power to “entrance humans.” Hands
of Glory were also a favorite tool for thieves for over 200 years.
The power and wisdom are quite limited I assure you. I’m
just a fool who knows a few tricks.
Do I doubt my own path? All the time. I think everyone
should. It has evolved much over the years. But I am human and I often stick to
principles for far too long even after I have evidence to the contrary. I
sincerely believe, however, that the less I fear the more my life and my
practice changes for the better. So far, I have not regretted going down this
dark and hidden road. I have done and seen so many things I would not have done
otherwise.
I believe that happiness is over rated. Are we supposed to
be happy all the time? Shouldn’t we be content to just be? I’m not miserable
and unhappy the majority of the time. Does that count?
How lovely is this copy of Johann Rudolf Glauber’s Pharmacopoea Spagyrica published in 1688? The Othmer Library’s copy has beautiful handwritten notes between the sections and a wonderful fold-out plate with illustrations that look like they could be from a spell book found in the library of a certain Sorcerer Supreme. I mean you would need a pretty expansive library if you were tasked to train some random doctor in the ancient mystical arts. It’s really not that strange if you think about it. This book does have the subject heading Medicine, Magic, Mystic and Spagiric.
