Late last year our good friend Matt Staggs posted a link to the “Nervous Breakdown Reading List: Occult and High Weirdness“. This got me to thinking that once the Christmas craziness had settled down, a fun project might be to compile a list of books that any Fortean should definitely have on their bookshelf. But how to approach the compilation?
My thought was that the process could be done in two-steps. Firstly, I’ll put out a general call (first one below) for NOMINATIONS of books to a certain Fortean category (to simplify things a bit). From that list of nominations, a short-list will be compiled based on the number of nominations, which will then be PUT TO A VOTE to determine the order of importance. I’m thinking some parts of the process may end up being a little organic, but this should provide us with a reasonably fair end result.
This week I’m looking for nominations for the topic of ‘Esoterica and the Occult’. This can range from histories and analysis through to working grimoires and the like:
The Essential Fortean Booklist
Category: ESOTERICA AND THE OCCULT
Please list a maximum of ten books that you think are required reading/reference material on this topic for a Fortean, in the comments section below. This may be for a number of reasons, from historical/sociological importance through to scientific importance. Note: this means it does not necessarily have to be the *best* or most *scientifically valid* book on a topic – the criteria is simply that it deserves to be on the bookshelf.
Note that the number of nominations may be crucial in making the short-list, so you shouldn’t decide to not post a certain book just because it has already been mentioned.
A one or two line blurb accompanying the nomination describing the reason for its importance is encouraged and appreciated (and may end up being used in the final presentation of books)!
(You will need to be registered as a Daily Grail user to nominate and vote, to avoid spammers/self-promotion/poll-crashing by external sites.)
I look forward to seeing your recommendations!
