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Magic by return of post: How mail order delivered the occult

51 points by Vigier

by rfarley04

1 subcomments

Ha, I was just researching early email newsletter history and came across High Weirdness By Mail - A Directory of The Fringe: Mad Prophets, Crackpots, Kooks & True Visionaries. It's literally just subscription addresses and paragraph summaries like
> "A neo-pagan publication aimed mainly at neophytes, shamans, medicine men. And women...Drawing on numerous traditions, it provides almost a survey course in such diverse topics as astrology, runecasting, elemental (magic) the I Ching, > and Chinese medicine, 75¢ each, $8/year."
https://archive.org/details/highweirdnessbym0000stan

by technothrasher

0 subcomment

My father used to sell occult devices by mail order back in the early 1960's under the name "Metaphysical Cybertronics". He had a Cybertronic detector, which was very similar to the Scientology E-Meter, a Cybertronic Destiny Wheel, which was like a spinning pointer Ouija board, and a Cybertronic Touch Stone, which were just polished black rocks he bought from the old lady across the street. He now sheepishly admits he knew he was fleecing people, but it paid his way through school.

0 subcomment

by nyeah

0 subcomment

by rdevilla

0 subcomment

Almost 10 years ago, I used to have materials delivered from the Builders of the Adytum to my door in Little Portugal. They were bulky letters with a rather striking sender address.
Torontonians obliged themselves by opening these letters, multiple times, out of a communal mailbox, to see what they were all about. This is an indictable offence in Canada, but neither common decency nor the rule of law actually exist in this country so that's ok.
... Unless, of course, you are Portugese - then the law is fully on your side, as a Canadian white.