The Wytch Files Ep. 11: Promethea or How to learn magick from comics!

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PROMETHEA, A GODDESS FOR OUR AEON.

We are simply delighted to bring you our in-depth analysis of the comic book series Promethea written by the legendary Alan Moore. The book's stunning art is by the phenomenally talented J.H. Williams III and Mick Gray. It also boasts incredible artwork by Charles Vess and colors by Jeromy Cox. The comic book series was originally published as 32 issues by America’s Best Comics from 1999 to 2005.

Alan Moore is every bit as fascinating as any character he penned for the page. For some interesting insight into the mind of Alan Moore check out our Promethea playlist containing not only the documentary "The Mindscape of Alan Moore" but also several interviews with the writer.

A huge part of Promethea's magick is delivered through it's art. Be sure to check out the artwork of J.H. Williams III, Mick Gray, Charles Vess and Jeromy Cox.

The pages of Promethea are dripping with mythology and Western esoteric magick! Hermeticism and Hellenic Egyptian magick play a central role in the series. The "Corpus Hermeticum" are the books purportedly written by Hermes Trismegistus and provide the foundation for hermeticism. An excellent book on Hermes Trismegistus is Gary Lachman's book "The Quest for Hermes Trismegistus". Gordon White from Rune Soup has a great podcast episode called "Talking Hermeticism and Magical Egypt with Aaron Cheak". The "Sacred Texts" website has some of the above mention hermetic texts that you can read for free along with many others. Also, check out "Esoteric Texts" another wonderful resource to read many classic Western esoteric texts for free.

If you are interested in the Hermetic Kabbalah, check out "A Garden of Pomegranates" by Dr. Francis Israel Regardie and "The Mystical Qabalah" by Dion Fortune. A much more recent and accessible book on the Kabbalah is John Bonner's "Qabalah: A Magical Primer".

Aleister Crowley's Thelema also figures prominently in the series. If the story has piqued your interest in this path of ceremonial magick, please be sure to check out the books of Lon Milo Duquette. Mr. Duquette's books on Thelema are great primers and much more accessible for the beginning student than Crowley's books. "Living Thelema" by David Shoemaker is another wonderful choice for the beginner. Mr. Shoemaker's old podcast of the same name is a great starting point for the new seeker. However, we would be sorely remiss if we did not recommend that you begin with the book that started it all: "The Book of the Law". Once you have a decent grasp of the basics of Thelema, then dig in and read the rest of Crowley's books. Speaking of Crowley, an excellent biography of the Master Therion's life is "Perdurabo, The Life of Aleister Crowley by Richard Kaczynski.

If Goetic and Enochian magic are more your speed, we again recommend Lon Milo Duquette's books on the subject. We also recommend the books of David Rankine and Dr. Stephen Skinner.

Tarot pathworking is used extensively in the Promethea comic and we wholeheartedly recommend Rachel Pollack's book "Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book on Tarot" as a good starting point for learning the tarot. A good companion deck for the book is the Rider-Waite deck.

Theme music X-Files Theme Parody by Mallon Khan. 

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