110 Years of Spiritual Development Part 3 of a 3-part Series Read Part 1 HERE ...........Read Part 2 HERE Going by the Gut. Massive Growth. Unlimited Potential. Historic Overview of Growth of Occultism and Spirituality In my previous posts in this series I have associated historical events with the advancement of spirituality in the West and the growth of Llewellyn. I contend that to really understand what was going on requires this three-fold approach. Therefore, to fully comprehend the development of Llewellyn and its impact on worldwide (and especially U.S.) spiritual growth between 1961 and the present begins with understanding the changes over time in the numbers of people

110 Years of Spiritual Development Part 2 of a 3-part Series Read Part 1 HERE Preparing the Ground. Planting the Seeds. Nursing the Seedlings. In the beginning of my first post on this history, I mentioned the concept of The Enlightenment. Part of the concept of The Enlightenment was that people no longer needed kings or religious authorities. They could rule themselves. This was highlighted in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution which used the biggest words on the page to declare that the U.S. was being founded not for religion, not by kings, but by “We the people.” In 1901, 117 years after the Constitution was created, countries of the world were still controlled by kings

110 Years of Spiritual Development Part 1 of a 3-part Series It was 110 year ago that Llewellyn Publications was founded. So? What’s the big deal? Llewellyn, after all, is just a publishing company. Yes, I suppose that’s true. But let me draw a comparison. In January, 1776, Thomas Paine published a small booklet entitled Common Sense (original title: Plain Truth). In three months it had sold an astounding 100,000 copies to American colonists, a copy for 1 in every 20 people. It was the best selling work in 18th century America. (To do that today, a book would have to sell 15.5 million copies in three months in the U.S.) Ideas always precede actions. It is quite likely that without

I grew up in an area of Los Angeles called Mar Vista. To the west was Venice Beach. To the south was Culver City and the enormous MGM movie lot (oh, how I wanted to get in there!). Soon after I entered 1st grade at Mar Vista Elementary School my father died. After about a year of enormous issues, my mother found a job and for the next six years raised me and my older brother on a very small income. Shopping was a money-saving ordeal. Groceries were bought at three or four markets which experience taught my mother had the best prices for the highest quality. There's nothing wrong with being frugal like that, but the last thing a six-year-old boy wanted to do on a sunny weekend day was get