Thomas Keightley

The Fairy Mythology Thomas Keightley

Publisher Marketing: According to a well-known law of our nature, effects suggest causes; and another law, perhaps equally general, impels us to ascribe to the actual and efficient cause the attribute of intelligence. The mind of the deepest philosopher is thus acted upon equally with that of the peasant or the savage; the only difference lies in the nature of the intelligent cause at which they respectively stop. The one pursues the chain of cause and effect, and traces out its various links till he arrives at the great intelligent cause of all, however he may designate him; the other, when unusual phenomena excite his attention, ascribes their production to the immediate agency of some of the inferior beings recognised by his legendary creed. The action of this latter principle must forcibly strike the minds of those who disdain not to bestow a portion of their attention on the popular legends and traditions of different countries. Every extraordinary appearance is found to have its extraordinary cause assigned; a cause always connected with the history or religion, ancient or modern, of the country, and not unfrequently varying with a change of faith. The noises and eruptions of AEtna and Stromboli were, in ancient times, ascribed to Typhon or Vulcan, and at this day the popular belief connects them with the infernal regions. The sounds resembling the clanking of chains, hammering of iron, and blowing of bellows, once to be heard in the island of Barrie, were made by the fiends whom Merlin had set to work to frame the wall of brass to surround Caermarthen Contributor Bio:  Keightley, Thomas James Wasserman has been a member of Ordo Templi Orientis sincer 1976. He has been described as a "founding father" of the modern O. T. O. and has played a key role in numerous seminal publications of Aleister Crowley's literary corpus. His writings and editorial efforts maintain a focus on spirituality, creative mythology, secret societies, history, religion, and politics. He has appeared in numerous documentaries on "The History Channel" and "The Discovery Channel", addressed the National Press Club on esoteric symbolism, and has appeared on many radio broadcasts and podcasts.