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David Rankine's Profile

"The StarSorceror"
David Rankine relaxing at Llantony Priory (Monmouthshire)
Location:
Monmouthshire, Wales
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Birthday:
7/24
Web page:
www.ritualmagick.co.uk
 
Biography
David Rankine is an author, researcher, Qabalist and magician who lives & works in Monmouthshire (Wales) with his partner, Sorita D'Este and baby son. David has been writing and contributing articles to a variety of publications and has given talks, lectures and workshops since the early 1980's.

His personal passions include the Qabalah, Medieval & Renaissance Magick, Heka (Egyptian Magick), Thelema and Witchcraft. David also has a thing for Crystals and their use in magick since men emerged f...[more]
Interests
Magick, writing, reading fiction (especially horror, fantasy, sci-fi, thrillers, comedy), music, walking (one of the benefits of living in Wales is there is plenty of beautiful countryside to wander through, from beaches to mountains to woods to caves), good food (vegetarian), more magick (e.g. Heka, Kabbalah, Grimores).
Favorite Items

Favorite Books

What a nightmare trying to reduce it to five. I contented myself with the knowledge that many of my favourite books are on the lists I have created! A lot of my favourite authors just didn't make it because of space, like William Gibson, Philip Pullman, Charles DeLint, Gene Wolfe, Louis de Bernieres and Patricia Geary. Special mention should be made of the Magic in History series published by Pennsylvania State University Press though, it is one of the top highlights of recent years in esoteric academic publishing. Also I must include Aryeh Kaplan as one of the great Kabbalists of recent times.
  1. Tao Teh King by Lao-Tzu
  2. Shibumi: A Novel by Trevanian
  3. The Wood Wife by Terri Windling
  4. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel by Susanna Clarke
  5. Strange Toys by Patricia Geary

Favorite Music

This was a hard choice to make, there are so many other singers and bands and musicians I like! Shriekback had to be at the top of the list, but selecting five pieces of music meant leaving off so many fantastic albums by artists like Captain Beefheart, Faith & the Muse, Afro-Celt Sound System, PWEI, Rickie Lee Jones, The The, Aimless, Kate Bush, Zone, Death in June, Jimi Hendrix, Popol Vuh, The Doors, QNTAL, Cyndi Lauper, The Infinity Project, the list goes on and on!
  1. Sacred City ~ Shriekback
  2. She Hangs Brightly ~ Mazzy Star
  3. Ambient 4: On Land ~ Brian Eno
  4. Dreams of Paradise ~ Adela Dalto
  5. Gris-Gris ~ Dr. John

Favorite Movies

Another set of nigh-on impossible choices. Malpertuis is just amazing, particularly if you can get the full version, it has some of the qualities of Cocteau, combined with Greek myth! I am also a fan of classic oldies, and had to resist the temptation to put films like Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Left Hand of God in this list. And of course as is obvious I love horror. There was a huge list that could have gone in here, but I chose a couple of films that had their own classic twists.
  1. Malpertuis (Malpertuis: Histoire d'une maison maudite) (Malpertuis: The Legend of Doom House) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Belgium ] DVD ~ Orson Welles
  2. Casablanca DVD ~ Humphrey Bogart
  3. Blade Runner - The Director's Cut (Remastered Limited Edition) DVD ~ Harrison Ford
  4. Pi DVD ~ Sean Gullette
  5. Stigmata DVD ~ Patricia Arquette

Other Favorites

  1. Kingston Data Traveler 2 GB USB Drive (DTI/2GB) by Kingston
  2. Apple iPod shuffle 512 MB White (1st Generation) by Apple
AmazonConnect Blog

The Solomonic Tradition - bigger than we all thought!

3:11 PM PDT, July 4, 2008
During the research I have been conducting with Stephen Skinner for the Veritable Key of Solomon, one point that has stood out is the number of different manuscripts called the Key of Solomon which we have tracked down.  Ignoring mis-labelled manuscripts, we have been able to locate more than 120 Keys of Solomon, a truly astonishing number when compared to the small numbers of all the other grimoires in circulation (almost always less than 10).  The obvious conclusion is that the Key of Solomon clearly deserves its reputation as the most significant grimoire, and that its signficance and influence were probably far greater than is generally credited.  The latter observation is substantiated by many of the connections we have found and include in the contextual material in the book, which set the provenance for the tradition and give information about key individuals connected with the Key of Solomon manuscripts in a similar manner to that we have used in the earlier books in the Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic series like  The Keys to the Gateway of Magic: Summoning the Solomonic Archangels and Demon Princes and   The Goetia of Dr Rudd: The Angels & Demons of Liber Malorum Spirituum Seu Goetia Lemegeton Clavicula Salomanis with a study of the techniques of evocation ... context of (Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic).  Such material implies a far greater level of communication across national boundaries and social classes than might otherwise be credited.  Truly the magician is a citizen of the world seeking its betterment!
 
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The Spirit of Holiness - the Beauty of Qabalah

2:40 AM PDT, June 26, 2008
I have been giving a great deal of thought to the Qabalah recently, even more than usual!  This is partially because I am putting together a structure and material for potential future volumes and partially because I am preparing my notes for a workshop I will be facilitating at Atlantis Bookshop in London on 4th October 2008.  The workshop, Qabalah Through The Worlds, will be aimed at people who already have a grasp of the basics of the Qabalah, and want to learn more about useful practices they can include in their daily lives.  Thus I will be looking at a range of subjects including Ruach ha-Qadosh, the magickal use of prayer, different types of light, fragrance, and less well known ways of using the Hebrew alphabet practically. 
Ruach ha-Qadosh, or the Spirit of Holiness, is for me a key concept of Qabalah, yet it is often ignored as part of the transformative journey experienced through the Tree of Life.  Ruach ha-Qadosh in its pure form equates to the power of prophecy, though in modern terms this is perhaps more easily considered as precognition.  It is referred to many times in the Bible, particularly in Psalms, such as Psalm 51:12-13, which says:
“A pure heart, create for me, O God,
A proper spirit, renew in me.
Cast me not away from Your presence,
And take not Your Spirit of Holiness [Ruach HaQadosh] from me.”
In a demonstration of wisdom which may well have been inspired by Ruach ha-Qadosh, the prophet Elijah said:
“I call heaven and earth to witness that any person, Jew or Gentile, man or woman, freeman or slave, if his deeds are worthy, then Ruach HaQadosh will descend upon him.”
The material in my workshop will not be drawn from my existing book   Climbing the Tree of Life: A Manual of Practical Magickal Qabalah, rather it is material aimed at challenging the practitioner to increase the level of practical Qabalah in their lives, promoting spiritual growth.  This growth will be encouraged by the techniques covered, which will include ways to strengthen the subtle body, maintain inner balance, attract desired qualities and be more receptive to inspiration.
 
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The Rain Never Stops, Nor Does The Writing!

6:19 AM PDT, May 30, 2008
The weather in the Welsh Borders has been pretty rainy lately, reducing the available outdoor time.  However nothing ever stops the writing (apart from my son Aeron), as there are still half-finished projects to be completed and got ready in the coming months.  I have recently finished my piece on Pan for the forthcoming anthology Horns of Power, and the main focus of my attention is on completing the Veritable Key of Solomon with Stephen Skinner.  Initially there will be a limited edition, leather bound full colour edition, available only from Golden Hoard, which will be followed by a hard back black and white edition being co-published by Golden Hoard and Llewellyn.  Despite the release date given in the entry for this book, in fact there has been some confusion with dates and the Llewellyn edition will not be released until 2009.  Unlike the only previous version of   The Key of Solomon the King (Clavicula Salomonis) produced by MacGregor Mathers in 1889, which compiled sections from seven different manuscripts, our version comprises two complete manuscripts, translated from the French, which contain far more material than the Mathers edition.  As with the previous books in the Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic series, we have also included a lot of contextual material which helps bring the history to life and set the scene for the return of the most famous of all grimoires.