P. D. Newman has been immersed in the study and practice of alchemy, hermetism, and theurgy for more than two decades. A member of both the Masonic Fraternity and the Society of Rosicrucians, he lectures internationally and has published articles in many esoteric journals, including The Scottish Rite Journal, Knights Templar Magazine, and Ad Lucem. He is the author of Angels in Vermilion: The Philosophers’ Stone from Dee to DMT and Alchemically Stoned: The Psychedelic Secret of Freemasonry. He lives in Tupelo, Mississippi, with his son, Bacchus, and his wife, Rebecca.
Connects the magical practice of theurgy to the time of Homer
• Explores the many theurgic themes and events in the Odyssey and the Iliad
• Analyzes the writings of Neoplatonists Porphyry and Proclus, showing how both describe the technical ritual praxis of theurgy in Homeric terms
• Examines the methods of telestikē, a form of theurgic statue animation and technique to divinize the soul, and how theurgy is akin to shamanic soul flight
(2024)
by P.D. Newman
First defined by the second century Chaldean Oracles, theurgy is an ancient magic practice whereby practitioners divinized the soul and achieved mystical union with a deity, the Demiurge, or the One.
In this detailed study, P. D. Newman pushes the roots of theurgy all the way back before the time of Homer. He shows how the Chaldean Oracles were not only written in Homeric Greek but also in dactylic hexameter, the same meter as the epics of Homer. Linking the Greek shamanic practices of the late Archaic period with the theurgic rites of late antiquity, the author explains how both anabasis, soul ascent, and katabasis, soul descent, can be considered varieties of shamanic soul flight and how these practices existed in ancient Greek culture prior to the influx of shamanic influence from Thrace and the Hyperborean North.
Newman explores the many theurgic themes and symbolic events in the Odyssey and the Iliad, including the famous journey of Odysseus to Hades and the incident of the funeral pyre of Patroclus. He presents a close analysis of On the Cave of the Nymphs, Porphyry’s commentary on Homer’s Odyssey, as well as a detailed look at Proclus’s symbolic reading of Homer’s Iliad, showing how both of these Neoplatonists describe the philosophical theory and the technical ritual praxis of theurgy. Using the Chaldean Oracles as a case study, Newman examines in detail the methods of telestikē, a form of theurgic statue animation, linking this practice to ancient Egyptian and Greek traditions as well as theurgic techniques to divinize the soul.
Revealing how the theurgic arts are far older than the second century, Newman’s study not only examines the philosophical theory of theurgy but also the actual ritual practices of the theurgists, as described in their own words.
(2021)
by P.D. Newman
Once considered the "Holy Grail" of hallucinogens, over the last quarter century, DMT has entered the public mind like never before. No longer a taboo topic to be discussed in the hushed tones among an esoteric elite, P.D. Newman's Angels In Vermillion traces the secret lineage of transmission, beginning with Elizabethan alchemists, Dr. John Dee and Sir Edward Kelley, winding through the Royal Society and Masonic fraternity, and leading all the way up to the nineteenth century occult revival - and beyond. Fathoming Hell and soaring angelic, Newman leaves no stone unturned in his quest to uncover the hidden, hallucinatory history of the "Spirit Molecule," DMT.
(2017)
by P.D. Newman
P.D. Newman's bold and daring theory provides a radical interpretation of Masonic symbolism. In the tradition of Wasson, Hofmann and Ruck, in "The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries" (1978), and Heinrich's "Strange Fruit: Alchemy, Religion, and Magical Foods" (1995), Newman suggests that practical psychoactive pharmacology, rather than philosophy, lies concealed in the root of some of our allegories and mysteries. Admitting to being more than a mere theoretician, Newman draws from his own personal experiences, and a wide range of sources, in presenting his theory in a logical manner, which merits consideration. - Arturo De Hoyos, 33* Grand Archivist and Grand Historian Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction