The Occult Sciences by Arthur Edward Waite

First published in 1923, The Occult Sciences is written by scholarly mystic and poet, A. E. Waite. The prolific writer published many works on occult subjects and co-created the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. His vast knowledge of the occult is evident in this informative volume, and he touches on many topics including crystal-gazing and alchemy.

This reference guide's contents include:

• Magic: Definitions
• White Magic: The Evocation of Angels
• White Magic: The Evocation of the Spirits of The Elements
• Black Magic: The Evocation of Demons
• Necromancy: The Evocation of the Souls of the Dead
• Secret Sciences in Connection With Magic
• Alchemy
• The Elixir of Life
• Crystallomancy
• The Composition of Talisman

CONTENTS:
Introduction
Part I: Magical Practices
Part II: Secret Sciences in Connection with Magic
Part III: Professors of Magical Art
Part IV: Modern Phenomena

Arthur Edward Waite (1857-1942), was an American-born British poet and scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, including divination, esotericism, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, ceremonial magic, Kabbalism, the holy grail, and alchemy. He is probably best known now as the co-creator of the Rider-Waite tarot deck.

Shortly after joining the Second Order of the Golden Dawn in 1899, he became a Freemason and received the Rectified Scottish Rite and its grade of Chevalier Bienfaisant. Waite believed that the Rectified Scottish Rite, more than any other Masonic Rite, represented the "Secret Tradition" of mystical spiritual illumination.

In 1915, one year after leaving the Golden Dawn due to internal feuding, he formed the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, not to be confused with the Societas Rosicruciana. By that time there existed some half-dozen offshoots from the original Golden Dawn, and as a whole it never recovered.