It was announced yesterday that Carl Llewellyn Weschcke had passed away on Nov. 7 at the age of 85. Carl was the Chairman of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd, the “the oldest and largest publishers of New Age, Metaphysical, Self-Help, and Spirituality books in the world.” He was a pioneer in the publishing world, a student of metaphysics and an author, himself.

Carl was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota into a Roman Catholic family. However, his parents did not object to spiritual and metaphysical exploration. According to the Encyclopedia of Witchcraft & Wicca, his grandfather was the vice-president of the Theosophical society and gave him an astrological chart on his 12th birthday. His parents were vegetarian naturalists who believed in reincarnation. This early exposure led Carl to a life long interest in exploring the many concepts found in metaphysical, spiritual. occult and New Age practices.