In the old days, long before the term New Age had been coined; when the term Aquarian Age was still fashionable, Marabas began the Sorcerer's Apprentice. He incoprorated within it a Magicians lair, an alchemical laboratory and a book store for browsing which were stuffed to the rafters with rare, strange and mystical thinges. For a while everything went smoothly; word was passed from mouth to ear amongst the closed occult community in the U.K. and the work of the gods was done. Serious seekers after magical truths travelled hundreds of miles to meet and consult with Marabas. Doors were opened, lifetime relationships forged. A current of magic unlike anywhere else was earthed here and gave birth to many of today's adepts and occult leaders. At this time the names Crowley, Gardner, Levi, Regardie, Bardon, Grant, and the rest meant absolutely nothing to 99.9% of the population. Their books were so rare as to be literally snatched from your hands at any price by those who knew. Much work was done. It was Marabas who instrumentally assisted in the birth of Chaos Magick; much of it being created within the walls of the S.A. It was Marabas who brought together previously warring factions in occult groups and promulgated the idea (novel at the time) that each occult path had something to contribute to every other occult path.

It seems astonishing now but at that time there was only one mainstream publisher of Aquarian Age books in the U.K. Most of the available occult books were written by academics who slated occultism! There were hardly any books written for occultists BY occultists and the choice of Thelemic titles was limited to one edition of Magick! It was Marabas who arranged for the first importation of Weiser's Thelemic titles into the U.K. and worked with other committed occultists to republish important works which were crying out to be published. It was Marabas who refused to impose censorship upon his range of books and literature and, despite tremendous pressures and victimisations put upon him by both Christian fundamentalists AND short-sighted members of our own community, gathered together literature which gave the truth about ALL magical and mystical paths. Books on Christian mysticism rubbed shoulders with books on Satanism, Buddhism, Islam, Thelema, Parapsychology, Witchcraft, Paganism, Shamanism, Huna, Hindusim, Taoism etc. etc.

So photogenic, strange and compelling was this oasis of spiritual and magical force that before long it became a Mecca to every sincere occultist in the U.K and overseas. In those days, when Marabas opened up on a Saturday morning there was already a queue of people waiting to gain admittance who may have travelled overnight. Indeed some actually camped outside the S.A. to be sure of being there first! Visitors came from overseas, from the U.S.A. from Africa, from behind the then 'Iron Curtain' and obscurer points of the compass. Adepts mixed with beginners and a great time was had by all. At the main festivals of the occult year visitors simply could not physically fit into the S.A. and formed a snake like queue which began on the outside of the building and wended its way through the shop, like visitors to a museum, and out again to form bunches of friends and discussion groups on the pavement outside. To take the overspill Marabas opened up an adjacent building as a Tea Room and this provided a fabulolus melting-pot of discussion which has often since been imitated but never fully replicated.

This well-spring of genuine and potent magic had not gone unnoticed by the intollerati. As the years passed the Xist authorities and the bigots and fundamentalists saw that what Marabas was doing was not only good; but was seen to be good. Marabas was already being courted by the media. Being an honest man he had openly presented genuine occultism to them in such a way that for once the truth began appearing in articles and broadcasts to scotch the old lies. The S.A. therefore utterly and completely overturned the lies which they had been feeding to the rest of the population. The Xists had said for hundreds of years that any involvement in the occult was anti-social and harmful. The S.A. was a practical illustration which PROVED that what they said about the ancient wisdom was completely untrue - thousands of people had for years followed a rainbow of occult paths and not only had none been harmed, but many had actually improved their lot and gained powerful prestige and independence. Not only that but they were ready to speak out for their beliefs to the media to show that occult methods had made them more socially responsible and more empowered and independent than they could ever have hoped to be without it.

The work done by the S.A. was dissipating the fear which the Xists had used for hundreds of years to control the minds of the masses to avoid them seeing genuine religous or magical alternatives. What was happening here was unique. Before these sectarian bigots had simply tortured and executed dissenters so that the truth died with them. In the aftermath of the 1960s the liberal political and media state made that path untenable and so this was perhaps the only time in history when Witches could be heard and the truth be told.

The fundamentalists could not allow that to happen and so began to whip up a new witch-hunt for modern times. They reformed their usual mediaeval paranoia into the modern myth of Satanic Ritual Child Abuse, and relied upon decades of indoctrination of nominal Christians with mediaeval stereotypes to make the subconscious link that everything that wasn't actually Christian must perforce be Satanic, ergo all aspects of the New Age were wicked and led to the murder and torture of children. It was the most heinous of false accusations and to everyone's astonishment the politicians and the media of Europe fell for it hook line and sinker.

This culminated in a ten year war of attrition to destroy Marabas, the S.A. and the fountainhead of magical knowledge which it represented. The absolutely despicable and unjust way that suppposedly honourable politicians, editors and self-styled Christians charged with control of our society ganged together like rats in a barrel to victimise the S.A. is a matter of public record and has been well documented elsewhere. However, it should not be imagined that it was this constant campaign of lies, defamation, bullying, threats, intimidation and criminal vandalism which lead to Marabas taking the decision to concentrate solely on the mail-order side of the S.A;. No, he successfully held out against all that the fundamentalist and thought-police could do because he was fully aware of the detrimental effect on free-speech and freedom of thought if he had given way.

Surprisingly, most of the pressures which forced him to go 100% mail order came from WITHIN the occult community itself. In the early years of the S.A. there were only a handful of occult shops run by committed occultists who were occultists first and foremost and businesspersons second. As the New Age developed the interest of GENUINE magical growth was subordinated by the sheer greed for superstitious knowledge caused by the media jumping on the bandwagon and presenting new age methods as a pick-and-mix fix. Such a demand was met by people who were businesspersons FIRST and occultists second (maybe!). People who often didn't believe in the supernatural at all but could spot an 'up' market.

For example; when Marabas started the S.A. there were only a handful of people in the U.K. who knew what Feng-Shui was. Today the media have ensured that every interior decorator has become a Feng-Shui 'practitioner' and superstitious Feng-Shui claptrap adorns most urban living rooms. The same thing occurred with almost every other occult method which the New Age found unthreatening. In 1978 That despicable rag the News of The World printed an attack on the S.A. condemning us for selling acupuncture equipment because it was 'dangerous'. Today any good high street chemist stocks and sells the very same acupuncture machines.

Aromatherapy and crystalotherapy are classic examples of the alchemy of the doctrine of signatures, first taught by Agrippa and Paracelsus. In 1975 Aromatherapy was considered a dangerous quack cure by the medical monoply and bunkum by ordinary folk in the street, yet now these methods have become part of a fashionable pseudo-science, beloved of the narcissistic cosmetic industry and cynically supported by Government as a mainstay of their program to deflect expensive-to-treat Chronic suffers from the National Health Service into the new help-yourself-or-die-cold-and-unloved private health initiative.

The vast majority of New Agers today rely blindly upon superstitious nonsense and flit like butterflies from one fad to another because of it. The ultimate effect is that the truth behind the occult wisdom is being travested and corrupted as much by ignorance from WITHIN occultism as without. People are insulating themselves with the contagious ignorance which makes up a large part of the New Age today. Worse, those who have relied upon superstition from some of the less scrupulous modern writers are now teaching it as though truth to the next generation of occultists It became clear to Marabas that to fully achieve his genuine magical aims and aspirations; he needed to take account of this new development and find a method of reorientating New Age butterflies back into Right Knowledge by throwing them back on their own resources.

Marabas saw all these things happening and has prophesied many more. He has no problem with people using occult methodology to help themselves, in fact he works hard to promote that, but he decries at every opportunity the way peddlers of the occult and the hypocritical media have lost or corrupted the knowledge which lies behind these outward manifestations of magic. There is a big difference between the supernatural and the superstitious. The supernatural exists and is accessed and benefited from by Right Knowledge. Superstition is what is left over after the knowledge is lost. Superstition is ignorance, the Supernatural is True Knowledge.

The general impression often gleaned by newcomers to the New Age is that any kind of magic is available at the drop of a hat, whenever required, providing you can pay for it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Magic requires a transformation WITHIN the operator , a change of attitude, a change of awareness of a situation or themselves and no-one will have success unless they realise that this is what the gods want. What goes round comes round. If Marabas remained true to the genuine teachings people who at first cannot seen the sense in his approach would eventually return to him after disatisfaction with the rest. Because Marabas already reached far more people by mail-order, emminently successfully, than he did who called into the shop (the S.A. has over sixty thousand regular mail-order clients worldwide) it was a natural next step to go entirely mail-order. The doors of the S.A. were closed to calling customers in 1995 and provisions put into place (free advice by mail etc) to balance up the service for those who were not used to ordering by mail. The decision has increased the standard of service which mail-order customers get and has proven entirely successful on all counts.

Marabas is one of the few True Initiates. Contrary to critical opinion he has never courted attention. The massive interest in his teachings from tens of thousands of sincere people world-wide is a natural response to authenticity, not publicity. The downside of this genuine and welcome interest is the horde of media-scavengers, replicators, poseurs, intolleratti, cosmic foo-foos and others who clamour for his attention. To stop such time-wasters interrupting the provision of his preparations, teachings and writings (so that he can concentrate more on sincere seekers) Marabas follows The Path of The Hermit (see card 9 of the Tarot Major Arcana) appearing to be unapproachable, whilst actually providing the swiftest pathways to the Ancient Wisdom through the S.A.s unique Mail Order Service. Those who have eyes to see, let them see.