• Decodes the alchemical, Qabalistic, hermetic, spiritual, and Tarot-related references in many of Plath’s poems • Based on more than 15 years of research, including analysis of Plath’s unpublished personal writings from the Plath archives at Indiana University • Examines the influences of Plath’s parents, her early interests in Hermeticism, and her and husband Ted Hughes’s explorations in the supernatural and the occult Sharing her more than 15 years of compelling research—including analysis of Sylvia Plath’s unpublished calendars, notebooks, scrapbooks, book annotations, and underlinings, as well as published memoirs, biographies, letters, journals, and interviews with Plath and her husband, friends, and family—Plath scholar Julia Gordon-Bramer reveals Sylvia Plath’s enduring interest and active practice in mysticism and the occult from childhood until her tragic death in 1963. She examines Plath’s early years growing up in a transcendentalist Unitarian church under a brilliant, if stern, Freemason father and a mother who wrote her master’s dissertation on the famous alchemist Paracelsus. She reveals Plath’s early knowledge of Hermeticism, how she devoured books on the occult throughout her life, and how, since adolescence, Plath regularly wrote of premonitory dreams. Examining Plath’s tumultuous marriage with poet Ted Hughes, she looks at their explorations in the supernatural and Hughes’s mentoring of Plath in meditation, crystal-gazing, astrology, Qabalah, Tarot, automatic writing, magical workings, and use of the Ouija board. She also reveals how, at the end of her marriage, Plath used her husband’s hair and fingernails in rituals. Looking at Plath’s writing and her evolution as a person through mystical, political, personal, and historical lenses, Gordon-Bramer shows how her poems take on radically new, surprising, and universal meanings—explaining why Hughes perpetually denied that Plath was “a confessional poet.” Contrasting the versions in Letters Home with those held in the Plath archives at Indiana University, the author also shows how all occult influences have been rigorously excised from the letters approved for publication by the Plath and Hughes Estate. Revealing significant, previously undiscovered meanings in Sylvia Plath’s works, much broader than the narrow lens of her tragic autobiography, the author shows how Plath’s writings are deeply rooted in her mystical and occult endeavors.

"Fixed stars govern a life: decoding Sylvia Plath aligns Plath's great poetry collection, Ariel, with the tarot and Qabalah"--back cover.

Ariel (1965) contains many of Sylvia Plath's best-known poems written in an extraordinary burst of creativity just before her death in 1963, including 'Lady Lazarus', 'Edge', 'Daddy' and 'Paralytic'. The first of four collections to be published by Faber & Faber, Ariel is the volume on which Sylvia Plath's reputation as one of the most original, daring and gifted poets of the twentieth century rests. This beautiful hardback reproduces the classic design of the first edition of a volume now recognised to be one of the most shocking and iconic collections of poetry of the twentieth century. 'If the poems are despairing, vengeful and destructive, they are at the same time tender, open to things, and also unusually clever, sardonic, hardminded . . . They are works of great artistic purity and, despite all the nihilism, great generosity . . . the book is a major literary event.' A. Alvarez in the Observer

The authors discuss Sylvia Plath archival discoveries in unique ways, unearthing previously unknown materials and bringing new context to well-known worksNew essays on the sociological notion of ‘haunting’ in the archiveInnovative approaches to distance/international collaboration in archival scholarshipIntroduces new ways of understanding Sylvia PlathPlath’s The Bell Jar is to be released in 2018 as a major film starring Dakota Fanning and directed by Kirsten Dunst These Ghostly Archives: The Unearthing of Sylvia Plath offers a ground-breaking look at Plath studies. Focusing on previously unpublished material found in archives from around the world, These Ghostly Archives aims to reconstruct the ghostly figure of Plath within our culture via unseen letters, manuscripts, photographs, places and poems. This book approaches archival studies exploring both the practical and experiential work carried out in the archive, highlighting the ‘detective’-type work that it involves and the traces left behind from history. However, for the first time, this work also combines the sociological notion of ‘haunting’ - that is, the archive as a location where researchers haunt the research subject and in turn are haunted by the traces left behind. Never is material culture more powerful than when associated with the dead; never is the archive ghostlier when haunted by the absent presence of Plath. This book showcases the necessity to leave no archival box or folder left unopened, and how the researcher and the archive can change even though its documents might stay the same. Illustrations: 32 colour photographs

Not your average literary criticism, Decoding Sylvia Plath's "Daddy" talks you through complex information in a lively, conversational way. Revised and expanded from the Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath system (2014, Stephen F. Austin State University Press), Decoding Sylvia Plath's "Daddy" is an affordable, concise, comprehensive analysis of Plath's poem "Daddy," written in a playful spirit that brings Plath out of the ashes of mere depressive autobiography and into the fascinating world of mysticism-in which Plath and her husband Ted Hughes had an intense interest. See what the academics have missed for over 50 years. Explore Plath's "Daddy" and how it perfectly aligns to reflect the "mirrors" of tarot and Qabalah, alchemy, mythology, history and the world, astrology and astronomy, and the arts and humanities. Gordon-Bramer surprises us with startling new insights and connections that, once seen, simply cannot be denied. She builds a strong case that we have yet to recognize Plath for her real genius and that Plath remains as relevant as ever. Back cover text: "Daddy" Not your average everyday Electra complex... "You do not do" Sylvia Plath studies without her bedazzling poem "Daddy." But do you get it? ...beyond the drama of anger and attraction from a daughter and wife? Fans: Discover the parallel themes of Sigmund Freud, King Brutus, the London Stone, and other exciting facts within "Daddy" that scholars have missed for over 50 years Poets & Writers: Judge for yourself how "Daddy" includes themes of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Joyce's Finnegans Wake, and other literary works Students: Understand all themes and meanings beyond the superficial; learn why Plath used derogatory names and racism in "Daddy," and enlighten your classmates to her higher goals Teachers: Save time with a complete class plan, discussion questions and more Decoding Sylvia Plath's "Daddy" is the first of a series of Decoding books presenting Plath in compelling, original context, interpreted by the Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath system, by author Julia Gordon-Bramer. What readers are saying about Decoding Sylvia Plath's "Daddy" "I am fascinated and intrigued by Julia Gordon-Bramer's wildly and dizzyingly original readings of Sylvia Plath's poems. Not only does she make me realize that I need to go back and read the poems again, she comes pretty close to convincing me that I have really never read them at all." -Troy Jollimore, National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts Recipient "Julia Gordon-Bramer's Decoding Sylvia Plath's 'Daddy' presents the iconic poet in full three-dimensional view. Or six-dimensional, if you prefer. This Sylvia Plath is far more than the depressive, suicidal drama queen and father-hater depicted in easier accounts of the poet's life. Plath emerges as the genius's genius. Ms. Bramer's tone adds enjoyment to her already rigorous and penetrating work." -Robert Nazarene, founding editor, The American Journal of Poetry "This is a friendly, conversational approach so that students won't feel overwhelmed, and it talks about topics that other guides don't, allowing students to make original, insightful commentary on the work. The study guide is a worthwhile, useful investment for students." -Cathleen Allyn Conway, editor, Plath Profiles: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Plath Studies 101 pages Author Julia Gordon-Bramer is a cross between Gregg Braden, who brings spirituality to science, and Jen Sincero, who brings spirituality to being a "Badass." With personality, clarity, and wit, this author, poet, scholar, professor and professional tarot card reader has spent the last decade interpreting Sylvia Plath's

Revised and expanded from the Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath system (2014, Stephen F. Austin State University Press), Decoding Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus" is an affordable, concise, comprehensive analysis of Plath's poem "Lady Lazarus," written in a playful spirit that brings Plath out of the ashes of mere depressive autobiography and into the fascinating world of mysticism-in which Plath and her husband Ted Hughes had an intense interest. See what the academics have missed for over 50 years. Explore Plath's "Lady Lazarus" and how it perfectly aligns to reflect the "mirrors" of tarot and Qabalah, alchemy, mythology, history and the world, astrology and astronomy, and the arts and humanities. Gordon-Bramer surprises us with startling new insights and connections that, once seen, simply cannot be denied. She builds a strong case that we have yet to recognize Plath for her real genius and that Plath remains as relevant as ever. Back cover text: "Lady Lazarus" More than just a hot mess You get the sense already that Plath's "Lady Lazarus" is a fierce, angry, feminist poem. But do you know why? Can you explain it beyond your personal feeling or Plath's literal autobiography? Fans: Discover the parallel themes of the Statue of Liberty, the abolitionist, the feminist, and other exciting facts within "Lady Lazarus" that scholars have missed for over 50 years Poets & Writers: Judge for yourself how "Lady Lazarus" includes themes of Emma Lazarus' poem "The New Colossus," Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?," and the Egyptian Book of the Dead's titles of Isis Students: Understand all themes and meanings beyond the superficial; learn why Plath used Jewish and Holocaust references in "Lady Lazarus," and enlighten your classmates to Plath's higher goals Teachers: Save time with a complete class plan, discussion questions and more Decoding Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus" is the second in a series of Decoding books presenting Plath in compelling, original context, interpreted by the Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath system, by author Julia Gordon-Bramer. What readers are saying about the Decoding Sylvia Plath series: "I am fascinated and intrigued by Julia Gordon-Bramer's wildly and dizzyingly original readings of Sylvia Plath's poems. Not only does she make me realize that I need to go back and read the poems again, she comes pretty close to convincing me that I have really never read them at all." -Troy Jollimore, National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts Recipient "Julia Gordon-Bramer's Decoding Sylvia Plath series presents the iconic poet in full three-dimensional view. Or six-dimensional, if you prefer. This Sylvia Plath is far more than the depressive, suicidal drama queen and father-hater depicted in easier accounts of the poet's life. Plath emerges as the genius's genius. Ms. Bramer's tone adds enjoyment to her already rigorous and penetrating work." -Robert Nazarene, founding editor, The American Journal of Poetry "This is a friendly, conversational approach so that students won't feel overwhelmed, and it talks about topics that other guides don't, allowing students to make original, insightful commentary on the work. The study guide is a worthwhile, useful investment for students." -Cathleen Allyn Conway, editor, Plath Profiles: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Plath Studies # pages