The Summer Solstice, June 21 (2026), marks the 18th Anniversary of the official “modern” Mardukite inception – first launched publicly by Joshua Free in 2008 (June 21) simultaneous with an underground limited edition release of his original “Arcanum: The Great Magical Arcanum” mega-volume.

“Arcanum” marked the first reappearance of Joshua Free in public view after nearly a decade, having initially made his mark in the underground “New Age” esoteric occult community in the 1990s – and first time in public under his given name, having used a pseudonym (Merlyn Stone) exclusively prior.

The “Arcanum” volume provided a synthesis of available standardized metaphysical and occult knowledge collected from the “New Age” up to that point. In turn it provided a standardized research reference for a slow-to-emerge group of modern “magicians” and “academics” eventually known as the Mardukite Chamberlains in 2009.

However, although the internet and sudden appearance of publications (in public view) might appear as though Joshua Free and the Mardukites appeared as if from nowhere, a significant amount of time and work actually led up to this development.

Looking back now: “Arcanum” and the founding of a modern Mardukite movement marked completion of the “first-phase” of Joshua Free‘s literary and philosophic career (referred to as Grade-I in a chronological study of his progressive works for Mardukite Academy) pertaining exclusively to the world of traditional “magick” – both high ceremonial and nature-oriented systems.

Between the years 1995 and 2008, Joshua Free produced a variety of “traditional magick” texts – differing significantly from the scope of work that came afterward.

Although more widely available now, the very first books were initially all self-published and delivered directly to underground contacts – and a handful of “New Age” retail outlets willing to take a chance on the young “magician’s” work.

Today, many of the earlier works are now collected together in large prestigious anthologies for posterity, including:

* * “The Complete Draconomicon” (just recently released in a commemorative 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition); and

* * “The Complete Elvenomicon” (now available in both Deluxe Hardcover and Oversized Paperback to commemorate the 20th Anniversary);

and, of course, the aforementioned “Arcanum” master edition – which, for the first time, now also includes the material from “The Sorcerer’s Handbook” as its Introduction.

As an emerging metaspiritual movement, launching Mardukite Chamberlains signaled the start of a second major developmental phase of Joshua Free‘s notoriety and literary works (referred to as Grade-II in chronological studies of his progressive work for Mardukite Academy).

This new phase was dedicated to Mesopotamian Anunnaki of the Ancient Near East; but above all else, illuminating the archaic and obscure “Mardukite” mystery tradition of historical (and near pre-historical) Babylon. It is, perhaps, this work regarding the Anunnaki that is the most widely circulated (most well known to a larger demographic of readers and Seekers) of all books by Joshua Free.

In 2009, and for a few years thereafter, several “discourses” were prepared for use by the Mardukite Chamberlains. It took very little time for these to be collected together to form the very first “source book” of study and practice for a modern tradition – and the official “Mardukite” interpretation of ancient cuneiform texts forming a “Bible” that predated the Judeo-Christian religious system.

This so-called “Mardukite Bible” (or “Necronomicon Bible” as it is also known in select esoteric circles – and there isn’t room enough in this blog to get into the reasons for this) is now updated to its Ninth Edition for a 15th Anniversary release available in both “esoteric” and “academic” versions (meaning essentially, both with and without the word “Necronomicon” in the title). Without dispute, for over a decade, it is literally the most popular material produced by JFI Publications.

The current 15th Anniversary (Ninth Edition) updated printings released of the complete “Bible” are as follows:

* * “Necronomicon: The Complete Anunnaki Bible” (available in both Deluxe Hardcover and Oversized Paperback); and/or

* * “The Complete Anunnaki Bible” (available in both Deluxe Hardcover and Paperback).

The first few years (2010 through 2014) following “The Complete Anunnaki Bible” source book consisted of a lot of activity. Many important supporting supplements to the “Bible” were published, including: “Sumerian Religion”; “Babylonian Myth and Magic”; and for the esoteric community, “Novem Portis.” Together, the total collected body of knowledge became known as the “Mardukite Core.”

During the initial development period of Mardukite work (and a “Magick School” that organically emerged from the phase-one work), from 2008 through 2011, Joshua Free posted hundreds of YouTube videos to the internet at the height of the Web 2.0 era – becoming one of the earlier known “internet personas” long before capitalized social influencing and paid sponsored exposure dominantly overshadowed the online world.

The original (fundamental) end-goal of this second-phase (Grade-II) work concerns establishing a standardized “Mardukite” system of Mesopotamian Neopaganism for modern practitioners seeking such. Accomplishing this ultimately fills a dire need in modern esoterica – since most other revival traditions were usually grounded in relatively more accessible mythoi, such as Celtic, Norse, Roman, African, Native American, Hawaiian, Greek and Egyptian cultures.

To distinguish from the original continuously updated research and development era of the Mardukite Chamberlains, this relatively more recently produced “new standard” for the “New Age” became known as Mardukite Zuism. In this case, materials from the original “Mardukite Core” are now also available in pocket paperback “New Standard Zuist Editions” that compose an incredibly unique library when combined.

A complete Mesopotamian Neopagan revival and standardization of Zuism reflected by the second-phase (Grade-II) of work by Joshua Freeis, in many ways, still ongoing…

After more than five years, the most recent new addition to the Mardukite Core took place only last year (in 2025) with the premiere hardcover release of “Priestess of Babylon” by Kyra Kaos (writing with Joshua Free); also issued as “Anunnaki Priestess” for its pocket paperback New Standard Zuist Edition.

Given the fact that a couple more titles are planned for that series over the next couple years, it is safe to say that: at its completion, the modern Mardukite legacy will be the result of two solid decades of development and refinement. And while certainly impressive in itself, even this second-phase of work is not the ultimate end-point of what Joshua Free intended to accomplish when starting out over thirty years ago…

Seeds of a third-phase of work took root within the heart of the second… In fact, many Mardukite Chamberlains even served as an integral part of the third-phase (Grade-III+) simultaneous with ongoing development of the Mardukite Core / Mardukite Zuism. This is because: prior to being given a public launch at the end of 2019, initial development of Joshua Free‘s “Systemology” remained primarily underground and behind-the-scenes (away from public view) for nearly a decade.

Beyond a synthesis of “western magical tradition” or even the “anunnaki tradition” of the near-east, Joshua Free‘s original intended goals for both personal metaspirituality and a literary career concerns the communication (a written relay for posterity) of the ultimate universal Systemology – not to be confused with any other author’s use of the term.

Having laid out the overall picture, let us correct a misunderstanding that we at the office are frequently asked about…

Published materials from the Mardukite Academy (JFI Publications) are “Graded” based on the chronological “sequence” or “order” in which they were originally developed during Joshua Free‘s literary career. This is the logic on which the Academy is structured, but they do not need to be studied this way; nor does someone need to, for example, study Grade-II (Mesopotamia, etc.) in order to understand and use Grade-III+ Systemology. While it is true that all of the work is related in some way and complimentary to each other, each “Grade” is complete enough to be treated exclusive the others.

Just as years of refinement were necessary to bring the Mardukite Core to a point of standardization, the same may be said of the research and development behind Systemology – although after 2018, it occurred at a much faster pace and required significantly more resources than the other two phases combined.

Until 2019, the only publicly available texts on Mardukite New Thought were later compiled into “Systemology: The Original Thesis.” Although the fundamental concept was in place for a long time, taking the work all the way to the top (to the Nth-degree) as an actual applied philosophy of effective metaspiritual technology would require many more years of intensive work. Fortunately, the necessary physical infrastructure had arrived to host both Mardukite Borsippa HQ and the Mardukite Academy of Systemology – and thus the work ensued.

Officially emerging from the underground in 2019, the original cross-over material created a bridge between Mardukite Zuism and Systemology,

demonstrating precisely how the latter was initially derived from the former. An entire Systemology Research Library began with the release of “The Tablets of Destiny Revelation” – also available in a pocket paperback New Standard Zuist Edition as “Anunnaki Wisdom: The Tablet of Destinies.”

Much like the standardization of its precursor (Mardukite Zuism), the crowning achievement of the third-and-final-phase of literary and metaspiritual work – the end result – is widely considered the definitive apex or “magnum opus” by Joshua Free: New Standard Systemology. The significance of this essential work, while not as widely known to readers as the first two phases, could never be overstated or exaggerated. It is purely and simply phenomenal.

Mardukite Academy began issuing individual installments of New Standard Systemologyin late 2023 (and continued until its completion in early 2024). In total, New Standard Systemology consists of 33 individual parts intended for study in progressive sequence. And while all 33 parts are available as separate booklets, they do not need to be acquired individually one at a time in that way.

For example: the first six parts compose the individual lessons for the “New Standard Systemology Basic Course” – are all available in a single volume, “Fundamentals of Systemology” in either its original premiere hardcover edition or a workbook-sized paperback.

New Standard Systemology is a progressive cumulative study. In order to bring it together into one place – one complete body – access to the earlier parts (such as from the Basic Course) is necessary to properly understand and use later parts.

After completing the first six parts of the “Basics,” the next step is for a Seeker to embark upon the main portion of their new journey: the “New Standard Systemology Professional Course,” which contains sixteen partsand covers Systemology Processing Levels 0 -to- 6.

Lessons from the “New Standard Systemology Professional Course”were first published as individual booklets by the Mardukite Academy, then combined together for two collector’s edition premiere hardcover volumes as “The Pathway to Ascension.” All sixteen parts have since been compiled into one workbook-sized paperback, “The Complete Pathway to Ascension.”

For the esoteric community, both the “Basic” and “Professional Course” material (22 parts in total) were combined together to compose an deluxe hardcover anthology, “Hidden Keys of the Necronomicon: Nabu’s Guide to Crossing the Seven Gates of Ascension.” NOTE: A paperback version of this “Hidden Keys” anthology is also forthcoming as a Summer 2026 release!

A commemoration of the 18 Years of Mardukite work, Systemology developments and the esoteric occult legacy of Joshua Free; press-release prepared by Mardukite Borsippa HQ Admin Staff for the 18th Anniversary of the Mardukite inception; first appearing on the mardukite.com blog site.