Llewellyn Worldwide (formerly Llewellyn Publications) is a

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

based in Woodbury, Minnesota. Llewellyn's mission is to "serve the trade and consumers worldwide with options and tools for exploring new worlds of mind & spirit, thereby aiding in the quests of expanded human potential, spiritual consciousness, and planetary awareness."

History

Llewellyn Publications was formed in 1901 by Llewellyn George in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

. At first the company concentrated exclusively on

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

, in the form of both books and annuals. Later, Llewellyn began to branch out into other New Age topics such as alternative healing,

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...

development, and earth-centered religions, among others. In 1920 Llewellyn Publications moved from Portland to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

. George died in 1954 and the company was bought by

Carl L. Weschcke Carl Llewellyn Weschcke (September 10, 1930 – November 7, 2015) was an American publisher and the president/owner of Llewellyn Worldwide (formerly Llewellyn Publications) from 1961 until his death. He received nationwide media attention when h ...

in 1961, who then moved the headquarters to St. Paul, Minnesota. During the 1960s and 1970s, Llewellyn published books from authors such as

Dion Fortune Dion Fortune (born Violet Mary Firth, 6 December 1890 – 6 January 1946) was a British occultist, ceremonial magician, novelist and author. She was a co-founder of the Fraternity of the Inner Light, an occult organisation that promoted ph ...

and

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prop ...

writing on

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism ...

and other topics. President and publisher Weschcke founded a series of Gnostic Aquarian festivals to help create a broader audience. Llewellyn went on to publish books such as

Raymond Buckland Raymond Buckland (31 August 1934 – 27 September 2017), whose craft name was Robat, was an English writer on the subject of Wicca and the occult, and a significant figure in the history of Wicca, of which he was a high priest in both the Gard ...

's 1986 ''Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft'',

Scott Cunningham Scott Douglas Cunningham (June 27, 1956 – March 28, 1993) was an American writer. Cunningham is the author of several books on Wicca and various other alternative religious subjects. His work ''Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner'' ...

's 1988 ''Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner'', and

Ted Andrews Ted Andrews (July 15, 1952 – October 24, 2009) was an American author and teacher of esoteric practices, and a clairvoyant. His book on animals as spirit guides and symbols, ''Animal Speak'', sold almost 500,000 copies from 1993 to 2009; th ...

' 1993 ''Animal Speak'', a shamanistic guide to totem animals. The company also expanded into

tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots ...

decks, magical "kits," and materials for younger readers. Declines in sales in 2001 spurred the company toward

layoff A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing (reducing the ...

s and a restructure of its sales and marketing departments in 2002. By the end of 2003 the company had rebounded with $16 million in gross sales."Llewellyn looks to the stars," Publishers Weekly
, 12 Jan 2004">Publishers Weekly">"Llewellyn looks to the stars," Publishers Weekly
, 12 Jan 2004/ref> In July 2005, Llewellyn moved its offices to the St. Paul suburb of Woodbury. On February 1, 2005, Llewellyn launched its first fiction imprint, Midnight Ink. A year later, Llewellyn launched its second fiction imprint, Flux Books.

Notable authors

The company publishes a wide offering of non-fiction books by such noted authors as

, Michael Newton, Michael Newton (hypnotist)">Michael Newton, Donald Michael Kraig, Richard Webster (New Zealand Author)">Richard Webster, Silver RavenWolf">Donald Michael Kraig">Michael Newton (hypnotist)">Michael Newton, Donald Michael Kraig, Richard Webster (New Zealand Author)">Richard Webster, Silver RavenWolf, Karen Mehringer, and Mark A. Michaels & Patricia Johnson. Authors for its fiction lines include Maggie Stiefvater, Simone Elkeles, Laurie Faria Stolarz, Kirstin Cronn-Mills, Amanda Grace (a pen name for author Mandy Hubbard), Kelsey Sutton,

A.S. King Amy Sarig King (born March 10, 1970) is an American writer of short fiction and young adult fiction. She is the recipient of the 2022 Margaret A. Edwards Award for her "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature." Biography ...

, and Nick James.

References

External links

* {{Official New Age organizations Modern pagan media Book publishing companies based in Minnesota Publishing companies established in 1901