The Hedge Mason: Studia Occulta Islamica

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Studia Occulta Islamica

A new journal of interest to all fascinated by the roots of Hermeticism and Masonic Esotericism.

A few months ago I first became aware of the Societas Occulta Islamica thanks to a friend and brother mason in South Africa, who maintains a wonderful blog known as Hermesphilus (http://hermesphilus.wordpress.com/).

Well, time rests for nobody, and it appears that the Societas Occulta Islamica is hard at work. They have announced the launching of a peer-reviewed electronic journal entitled Studia Occulta Islamica (http://www.occultaislamica.com/journal/)

The inaugural issue of Studia Occulta Islamica will be devoted to the premier Occult Sage of Islamicate Civilization, Abū-l-‘Abbas Aḥmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Yūsuf al-Qurashī al-Būnī (d. 622 H / 1225 CE at Cairo) and his formidable oeuvre, which has been aptly termed the ‘Corpus Būnīanum’ by Jan Just Witkam. Without doubt the most distinguished work of the Corpus Būnīanum is the celebrated Shams al-Ma‘ārif al-Kubrā (The Great Sun of Knowledge) which will be the principal work of focus in the first issue of Studia Occulta Islamica.

The electronic publication of the Buni number is projected to occur on 1 September 2012 14:33 GMT (16:23 Cairo). Print copies may be made available on demand after this time as well.

Future issues of the journal will investigate the Divine Names, ‘Ilm al-Jafr, Astrology, Alchemy, ‘Magic Squares’, et cetera…

Papers from researchers in Islamic studies as well as those with interdisciplinary interests are most welcome. Please see the links below for further information. All submissions are subject to blind peer-review.

Call for Papers

Journal Article Guidelines

1 comment:

September said...: The website of the Societas Occulta Islamica has gone down. It doesn't exist as a proper link on your page, as far as I can tell.

I'm interested in these people, too.; November 19, 2014 at 6:18 PM

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Welcome to the Hedge Mason Blog, affiliated with the UMURM

A word or two by way of explanation may be

worth offering concerning the title of this blog.

Hedge Mason, like similar terms Hedge Master,

Hedge Lodge, and the more widely recognized

Hedge School, are terms from Hiberno-English.

The latter of these terms, as many Irish will know,

refers to illicit schools dedicated to the maintenance

of Irish culture and language, alongside the classics

of European Philosophy, including Greek and Latin studies.

These institutions were founded throughout rural Ireland during

the Penal era when Irish Gaelic culture was under attack

by the English occupier. During this time also, the term

Hedge was added to masonic terms to refer to any masonic

individual or institution not approved of by the

Anglophone world. These often were lodges and masons

working to advance the cause of Irish independence.

It seems a very appropriate term then, for me to use to

name this blog.

For quite a while I have observed various blogs and podcasts

relating to Freemasonry, finding both much worth emulating

and a few things worth avoiding among them. Fairly

quickly it became apparent to me that there was little

being published in North America (or elsewhere for that matter)

that dealt fairly and offering a positive perspective on Liberal

Freemasonry or the world beyond the confines of the

Preston-Webb Rites or the AASR Northern or Southern

Jurisdictions and especially with the Modern Rite with which

we are associated.. Such sites exist beyond the Anglophone

Internet, but The Hedge Mason will endeavor to bring some

of that information within the grasp of an English speaking

audience.

It seems to me that it is time for a change, and this blog

will hopefully serve as a small corrective step in that direction.

The goal of this blog will be to provide interesting topics

from time to time on subjects relating to Liberal Freemasonry

and on responsible alternatives to what is exemplified by the

mainstream Grand Lodge system in North America.

While this site will not avoid covering contemporary issues,

it will try to avoid heavy handed critiques of any system or

tradition within Freemasonry. It is my belief that there is no

such thing as clandestine or irregular freemasonry. Such

labels belittle the rich tapestry of our traditions both

contemporary and historical. Further, such attitudes

directly contradict the premise of brotherhood and fraternalism

which is the foundation of Freemasonry.

In short, this site is about education and expanding

the horizons of Freemasons of all stripes and those who

are just interested in the subject. It is not a place intended

for debate or dispute, although if it engenders some that might

be a good thing.

Just in case some object to certain posts being off topic,

please note the subtitle of this blog includes the phrase,

"and other stuff." That of course is because it's my blog and

occasionally I want to ramble.

We look forward to sharing with you!