Dear Supporters,

What follows is a major update for Interlinear Magic. First, I must apologize for the lack of communication over the last two months. 2023 has proven to be extremely busy so far, but after returning from presenting my research at an academic conference last month, completing the book as soon as possible is again my highest priority.

Of the twelve long chapters (Rites 1-12), seven have extensive commentaries already written and only need to be cleaned up. The other five of these commentaries will probably be somewhat shorter, because the book length is already exceeding the original cost projections at this point. I still have some wiggle room with page format (and very large pages), but it may be the case that I end up releasing some of this material as supplemental PDFs (e.g., the Greek “vocabulary tools” for each of these twelve chapters).

Of the 48 shorter chapters (Rites 13-60), 34 of these are now polished and complete, leaving only 14 chapters that need the final touches.

Supplemental materials, including bonus translations, artwork, and most of the appendices are complete, leaving only a few appendices and explanatory tables (Greek and Egyptian transliteration, etc.) still to create. These additional appendices will also now contain sections on the attested variants of some of the most common divine-name formulae in the PGM (in the original Greek and in English transliteration), including the Harponknouphi formula and the Maskelli-Maskellō formula.

The General Introduction is now around 62,000 words (roughly 105 pages). A few sections remain to be finished up and the whole thing needs a thorough edit, but I am saving this task for last because there is still a fair amount of updating of individual sections that is required before giving the whole thing a revision. And as I go through the final chapters that need to be touched up, I am adding cross-references to these, where relevant, in the Introduction.

The Bibliography (a work in progress) is now posted online. Primarily, this will enable you to look up cited sources from the sample chapters if you want to dig deeper into any of these ritual-texts. I do of course plan on including the bibliography in the print volume. http://www.interlinearmagic.com/bibliography/

So far, two sample chapters from Interlinear Magic have been released. I plan on releasing at least one more sample chapter (from among the longer Rites 1-12) before the book is published. For ease of distribution, I have made these available on my Academia.edu page, which also has a free PDF of my 300+ page 2020 PhD dissertation on Iamblichus and the PGM: https://independent.academia.edu/AltBrian

I’ve also started writing and recording the course videos for the free course for all Kickstarter supporters. I anticipate that the first few videos will be released right as the book is released (this summer). These first sessions will cover the Greco-Egyptian theurgic practice of Iamblichus and its many connections to the PGM rituals in the book, including the ancient doctrine of the Personal Daimon (the historical precursor to the “Guardian Angel”), which was shared by Iamblichus and some important PGM ritual-texts from the same time period.

I will send more frequent updates from now on. I expect the book to be published and delivered this summer. Please ask questions if you have them.

Sincerely,

Brian Alt, PhD