Fortean Times 260

Fortean Times, the long-running UK magazine of paranormal investigation, UFOs, cryptozoology, ancient civilizations and other mysteries, has included a full page article on myself and my Dictionary of Gnosticism, "G Is For Gnostic." It's a very well written piece by alternative religion writer David V . Barrett. It's in the current issue, number 260.

Watkins Bookshop Closes

Watkins Bookshop, London's premier esoteric bookshop, which was founded in 1897, has closed and the company is being liquidated. My commiserations to go the staff, particularly my friend Klaus who also happened to be the editor of my first ever book. Watkins stocked Bardic Press titles and my books with other publishers and were generally very helpful. I only discovered that Watkins had gone down the tubes when I received a creditor's letter. Luckily they only owed me a small amount of money. Watkins Publishing is now owned by Duncan Baird, so it doesn't affect The Gnostics: History Traditions Scriptures Influence.

Two news items on the demise of Watkins:

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/113633-cecil-court-institution-watkins-books-in-administration.html

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23810176-cecil-courts-esoteric-book-shop-watkins-shuts-down.do

Knowsis

I had to laugh at this local newspaper account of a spelling bee:
"

Logan Karlen, a seventh-grader at Elsinore Middle School, finished second, successfully spelling paraphernalia in the third round of a spell-off for the runner-up spot.

Logan, 12, who finished second in the Lake Elsinore Unified School District two years ago, is happy that Kendra won't be eligible next year, giving him a better opportunity to win.

"Until Kendra got here, I thought I had a pretty good chance," Logan said. "Still, I thought I had a chance, but she's the cream of the crop."

Logan said he prepared by studying the word list with his mother, who he said is the biggest reason for his success.

He was tripped up of "gnosis," an esoteric knowledge of spiritual truth held by the ancient Gnostics to be essential to salvation."

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/lake-elsinore/article_3833a7f0-1450-500f-8c0c-d3b4fc9f6ea4.html

andrewphillipsmith.com

I've updated andrewphillipsmith.com.The site now includes all of my in-print books, with my own comments on them, links to all of them online interviews available, a bio, FAQ and more.

Not the Sexiest Gnostic

I forgot to mention that my dictionary made it onto the Top 10 Gnostic Stories of 2009, courtesy of Chicago Examiner writer Miguel Conner.

http://www.examiner.com/x-28537-Chicago-Gnosticism--Heretical-Spirituality-Examiner~y2009m12d22-The-top-10-Gnostic-stories-of-2009

10. ‘A Dictionary of Gnosticism’ is published. Andrew Phillip Smith released the first comprehensive lexicon on Gnostic terminology since the perennial heretics came into the scene thousands of years ago. The Gnostics wrote in many languages including Coptic, Greek, Syriac and even some dialects of Chinese. They enjoyed puns and invented words in a way that would make Lewis Carroll proud. From Simon Magus to The Matrix, it’s all there and defined. Containing over 1,700 entries, ‘A Dictionary of Gnosticism’ is an essential tool for both those friendly and hostile to Gnosticism.

Sad to say, I didn't make it onto his subsequent list of the Top 10 Sexiest Gnostics.

Intro to A Dictionary of Gnosticism

Happy New Year!


What with being in Hungary, plus all the snow in Ireland and the UK, plus being ill, it feels like the new year is only just beginning for me.

Not much to report on yet this year, but the entire introduction to A Dictionary of Gnosticism, is available online courtesy of The Monthly Aspectarian, by permission of Quest Books. It's a potted history of Gnosticism

http://www.lightworks.com/_Issues/2009/12/TMA-0912-098.html?N00000

Looking Back at the Year

I always felt that I’ve done less than half of what I could have done, but, looking back, this year was a fairly full one. I put out three Bardic Press publications. One of these was the first new Bardic Press book for a couple of years, Planetary Types: The Science of Celestial Influence, by Anthony Cartledge. Planetary Types looks at the human typology based on the characteristics and influence of the planets that was, in the twentieth century at least, first described by Rodney Collin, a pupil of P.D. Ouspensky. Cartledge describes the physical and psychological characteristics of these types, and their origin in the Fourth Way teachings, and then goes on to tie them in to the modern scientific exploration of astrology, particularly the unimpeachable statistical results of Michel Gauquelin, who found a statistically significant link between planetary positions at the time of birth and profession. So top generals or top athletes are more likely to have Mars in a particular range of positions in the natal horoscope than is allowed by chance. The author goes on to refine this connection and to suggest a possible mechanism by which the planets might influence character. The book is something of a sleeper, but I’m sure that it will have a significant long term impact.
The other two Bardic Press publications are the first two issues of The Gnostic, published in Spring and Autumn of this year. The Gnostic has been very well received and I intend to keep up the bi-annual publication schedule and to continue with a solid base of articles related to Gnosticism, along with other forms of spirituality, Gnostic-inspired creative work and whatever else takes my fancy.
A Dictionary of Gnosticism was published in November. I knew that there was a real need for this book—the first of its kind ever to be published—and I’m please to announce that it’s already on its second print run, and I’m very happy with the reception it has so far received. I’ve done several interviews on the book, and Fortean Times will be running a piece on me in the new year.
I’ve also contributed editorials, columns, reviews and articles for The Gnostic, plus a short story which looks at the emotional implications of carrying out the quantum suicide physics thought experiment as a piece of performance art! I do want to write more fiction in the coming year. I have plenty of ideas and I simply need to pick one of them and get down to it,

Among the non-fiction books I have been working on but haven’t completed are: a biography of Alan Moore (unauthorised), my longstanding biography of Rodney Collin, and a book about the Mandaeans. I have ideas for half a dozen other books, one of which is a short book on what we know of the lives of the ancient Gnostics, tentatively titled Ten Ancient Gnostics (or Eight, or Nine, or Eleven, or however many the final book contains.)
One of the most notable aspects of my spiritual exploration was a weeklong gathering of people who follow or are interested in the teaching of J.G. Bennett, a pupil of Gurdjieff, in Wales this August. My travels have taken me to Italy (for a wedding), Wales and Hungary, and as this blog post appears I’ll be back again in Budapest about to celebrate New Year with my best friend, Lala/Ashford.

So Happy New Year to you.