The Brass Goggles Occult Society...The Esoteric Order of the Brazen Dawn...

[DrTom]

A summoning room with various circles inlaid in the floor...

Of course, many secret passageways (much of which begin or end behind bookcases in the library) will be important.

[rovingjack]

Yes we have window on the structure, thirteen on the outside and twenty one on the inside. the view from each is wonderful, though some of the abyssal windows do need a good cleaning from the soot.

The large double doors on level three are nicely counter weighted for easy opening because people more often use that doorway then the inset door in the left door. It takes a bold adventurer indeed to go to those places (depending on which side of the larger door you start on), I do belive that the rare duel member of this and the VanHellsings have gone through more then once.

And who ever keeps pulling the books on library shelves needs to stop, I've said before the secret doors are accessed through the eternal cold flame wall sconses, too much rough handling on some of these tomes is not good for them, and a few of the older ones are starting to complain.

[DrTom]

And who ever keeps pulling the books on library shelves needs to stop, I've said before the secret doors are accessed through the eternal cold flame wall sconses, too much rough handling on some of these tomes is not good for them, and a few of the older ones are starting to complain.

"Put ze cendle beck!"

[Mrs. Sullivan]

I assume there will be resident service staff as well?  After all, someone has to clean that ectoplasm off the walls...

Or is it BYOH? (Bring your own henchmen)

[James Harrison]

If there are resident staff, do we have our own rooms and suites therein?  I must say that the meeting place increasingly sounds to me like

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

the Talamasca motherhouses described in Anne Rice novels...

[DrTom]

House-supplied service staff are provided, but their loyalties are not always certain.  It's advised that the most delicate of tasks be delegated to known and trusted personal minions.

[lady sakara]

hehehe staying on a theme...try the hellfire caves!

[rovingjack]

I assume there will be resident service staff as well?  After all, someone has to clean that ectoplasm off the walls...

Or is it BYOH? (Bring your own henchmen)

I rather think that it's some of the house staff that's leaving those nasty ecto-skid marks on the carpet, and walls... and ceiling? Just what in balzes are they doing? You people and your ghosts, when are you going to get with the times and create a humunculus. Of course when one of the little buggers goes rouge the mallet chase can cause it's own sort of messes.

[groomporter]

I could see highly tolerant, capable, long-suffering servants who put up with supernatural school boy pranks inflicted by the younger members on each other, and occasionally on innocent bystanders.

[Mlle A. Aurantia]

I could survive living amongst the Talamasca, I think, but that many telepaths in one house has got to be awkward after a while.

[groomporter]

I knew you were going to say that... ;-)

[groomporter]

What about an occasional dinner for members in various branches of the military like the PsyCorps Necromancy Corps...

[groomporter]

Here's a website with info on Hoodoo magic and related topics
http://www.luckymojo.com/

It even has several texts written by Aleister Crowley available online.
http://www.luckymojo.com/crowley/

[arcane]

No music box, but there are facsimile Hellraiser puzzle boxes for sale, some even have moving parts. they even have  a "Rubik's cube" puzzle box
http://www.hellraiserpuzzlebox.com/boxes.html

I love the name of the box. The Lament Configuration.
Technically they are Lemarchand Boxes according to the Hellraiser mythos, and there are a variety of different ones. The one from the movies is called the Lament Configuration though.

[Jonas Kain]

An esoteric order? Capital! I shall have Nigel, my undead butler, write up my registration immediately!

[deps]

Funny thing is that I have been a little interested in runecasting for the last couple of days, and this thread didn't really calm it down...
I have spent a part of this evening researching it, but most pages seems to differ on how to read the runes. (how to read some layouts, or what the runes actually means)

Anyone got any nice links to pages people usually thinks is, or close to, the way the runes should be read?
I could throw out a few I have read, but I thought it would be better to just start from scratch and ask for help.
Got any nice links to pages that describes how to read the runes? Or is it simple enough to describe in a few short paragraphs in this thread?

[Lady Anne]

The meeting place of the Order needs to be in a place that can only be accessed under certain circumstances.  Like if you walk towards it from the East, you'll find it, but any other direction and you'll pass it.  Or perhaps the door can only be seen by looking through a seeing stone.

[Toji Chiba]

The meeting place of the Order needs to be in a place that can only be accessed under certain circumstances.  Like if you walk towards it from the East, you'll find it, but any other direction and you'll pass it.  Or perhaps the door can only be seen by looking through a seeing stone.

If anything turns out as expected, I may have two or three seeing stones by tomorrow evening

[DrTom]

Funny thing is that I have been a little interested in runecasting for the last couple of days, and this thread didn't really calm it down...
I have spent a part of this evening researching it, but most pages seems to differ on how to read the runes. (how to read some layouts, or what the runes actually means)

Anyone got any nice links to pages people usually thinks is, or close to, the way the runes should be read?
I could throw out a few I have read, but I thought it would be better to just start from scratch and ask for help.
Got any nice links to pages that describes how to read the runes? Or is it simple enough to describe in a few short paragraphs in this thread?

Lisa Peschel's A Practical Guide to the Runes is a fairly well-respected standard in Runle lore these days.  You may wish to start there.

[Lady Anne]

The meeting place of the Order needs to be in a place that can only be accessed under certain circumstances.  Like if you walk towards it from the East, you'll find it, but any other direction and you'll pass it.  Or perhaps the door can only be seen by looking through a seeing stone.

If anything turns out as expected, I may have two or three seeing stones by tomorrow evening

Then you will be able to see all the doors!  It sounds like you're machining them.  I have often come across those stone "donut" pieces in the beading aisle and though, Oh, look, mass-produced seeing stones...

[rovingjack]

actually you just walk to the corner tobacco shop and go into the back where there is a door set in the middel of the room with two door knobs in from a red one on the left and a blue one on the right...

Nah, that's just what we tell others. That would be absolutely absurd. The building is on a nice ordinary plot of land with a four foot wall topped by six feet of wrought iron fencing. There are no doors or gates, that would just be inviting the snooping masses. If you are really inclined to go via magic we do have some lovely looking glasses that work most of the time, and one little wag is trying his best to make some fictional fire place travel work.

But If you would prefer to go a tried and true way just make your way to the underground, wait on the platform until a ride comes and is boarded by everyone. As soon as the doors close quietly walk down the platform to the back of it, in the shadows there a some steps that you'll really have to look to find, take them and follow the obscured walkway some ways down. You'll find a nook that is well concealed in a bend in the tunnel. DON'T take it it is a decoy. If you look closely you will find a pipe with a crank wheel beside it. Turn the wheel two turns right three left and one right. and the 'gravel' to the side of the rails will drop down into a stairwell.

These stairs lead to the main entrance to the building, much easier then the back entrance on the tird floor above ground on the north side. (Feel free to assume this is another miss information tactic)

[Lady Anne]

He's lying.  Just so you know.

[Toji Chiba]

The meeting place of the Order needs to be in a place that can only be accessed under certain circumstances.  Like if you walk towards it from the East, you'll find it, but any other direction and you'll pass it.  Or perhaps the door can only be seen by looking through a seeing stone.

If anything turns out as expected, I may have two or three seeing stones by tomorrow evening

Then you will be able to see all the doors!  It sounds like you're machining them.  I have often come across those stone "donut" pieces in the beading aisle and though, Oh, look, mass-produced seeing stones...

by all means, as far as I know, manufactured seeing stones do not work. The hole has to be made into the stone by nature, not by human hand. I would never machine them. Magic does not work that way... in my world at least.

[Connor MacPhie]

http://www.forgottenbooks.org/ republishes old books and offers free full-text free versions online through Google books. There are several occult and magick -related works from the late 1800's and early 1900's that might be of interest as inspiration for pseudo-magic symbols, esoteric quotes, incantations, and other stuff for steam/occult stories, props or LARPs.

After a quick scan through the titles here's a few I saw that might be worth looking at, and there are few more I think I missed
   Ancient and Modern Initiation
   The Book of Ceremonial Magic
   The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage
        The Coming of the Fairies
   Demonology, by King James I
   The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
   The Gardnerian Book of Shadows
   Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft
   The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy Vol 1 & 2
        The Vampire, his Kith and Kin

Please don't forget the classics!

The Geotia - The Greater and Lesser Seals of Solomon
The Maleaus Malifacarum (Witches Hammer)
Picatrix (I have only found a partial translation of this work, and only in Seattle. The second half of the book is supposed to be translated soon, but will be limited in only short run publication). Note - my copy of the first two segments of this work cost me over a C-Note to finally get an english translation of a text, to date, had only been available in Latin.
The Emerald Tablets of Hermes Trimagesticus
The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor
Magus (the collected works of John Dee) or The Celestial Inteligencer.
The Kabalah
The Kabalion
Anything by the Order of the Rose...

I wish I had my library on hand but unfortunately, it's currently in storage, or I would add a few other titles to the list.

Contempory esoteric works during the day...
Magik in Theory and Practice
Aridia, Gospel of the Witches

Note: Some words have been misspelled intentionly, this was done deliberately. For my own reasons.
Second Note: Gardener was really a late commer into the occult community. Dorine Valeante was his main source and she would be more "period". Also, please dig a bit and also find her ties with Crowely, it's an interesting read.

One of the things I have found working in the esoteric communities is how tightly interwoven the circles of practioners are...and how few realize it.

v/r
Connor

PS
The occult was as much, if not more of an aspect of Victorian culture that Verne, H.G. Wells and Doyle. It is a viable subject for discussion in Steam Punk forums. Especially if we were to start discussions of clockwork computers whose activation would cause an esoteric formula to be executed. (The Hellraiser Puzzle Boxes come to mind. :-) )

Count me in, not only as a tinkerer in the punk, but a practioner of the Arts for almost 20 years.

Paganism
Herbalism
Tarot
Magik (Ceremonial and Natural)
Shamanism
Earth Magik (Ley Line) studies
Paranormal Investigation (Ghost Hunting)
Psychic research and investigation
Crypto-biology

The Golden Compass has been acknowledged as Punk. How does it not touch on Tarot, Magick/Mana/Dust and clockwork technology all working together? Why can't we do the same? IMO Shelly and Frankenstein is as much steampunk as Verne.

[arcane]

http://www.esotericarchives.com/