The Daemon
A sapient legend from the Orient
tells us that the spirits of evil power
lie imprisoned in the ocean’s night,
sealed in by the hand of an anxious god.
***
But my father broke away the seal.
He did not see the rising breath of evil.
He let the daemon soar into the world.
A. Haushofer, Moabit Sonnets
Dear Ms. Cowell,
I couldn’t find a way to send you an email, and I’m not on social media, so I’m using this comments field to thank you for translating and publishing the works of Vladimir Shmakov and G.O.M. It is a truly titanic achievement, and I can see clearly that it was a labor of love. Without you, these books would have remained closed to the English-speaking world.
I’ve just started The Holy Book of Thoth and already I feel that I am in the presence of a highly unusual and penetrating mind. Shmakov’s melding of Tarot, hermeticism, Kabbalah, Vedanta, relativistic physics, and calculus is absolutely distinctive and fascinating. I hope that as a result of Shin Publications’ efforts, he will be recognized not only within the ever-growing Tarot world but also by scholars of intellectual history, culture, and arts.
I should add that the graphic-design and production aspects of your books are very pleasing.
Finally, one small point, if you don’t mind: You may already be aware of this, but the Hebrew and Aramaic quotations in Shmakov’s book are for the most part spelled backward. If you ever do a reprint, would you be able to reset that type?
Please let me know if you’ve read this, because I really am not sure if the blog comments box is a valid way to communicate with you!
Very best regards,
John Dorfman
Newton, Massachusetts, U.S.A.