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Books for beginning magicians

Gendudehashadenough

20:01 / 25.11.03

I've been becoming more interested in magick these days and yet in order not to be up a creek without a padle, when it comes to the ocean of information on the net, I would like to ask:

are there any quitessential books on the basics i.e. meditation, sigilism, rituals, etc. that might get me started with some of the core tennets (if there even are such things)? I wasn't sure if this would fit best in the "Books" forum or this one, so move it if you wish.

21:14 / 25.11.03

My own "first magic book" was "Real Magic" by PEI Bonewitz (don't be put off by the name, he is actually quite good

), followed by Voices from the Circle (cannot remember who edited it!!), both of which are very good..........the latter especially if you have pagan leanings........

22:34 / 25.11.03

Here are a few good, very basic books that will have you doing PRACTICAL work immediately.

Donald Michael Kraig, Modern Magick.
The best introduction to Golden Dawn-style ceremonial magic.

Grant Morrison, Pop Magic
http://www.grantmorrison.com/pop_magic_part_one.htm
A solid introduction to chaos magic and sigils

Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising
A primer on developing magical consciousness, written in slightly dated, pseudo-cybernetic language. Hideous art.

Chris Hyatt, Undoing Yourself With Energized Meditation
The exercises are brilliant. Ignore everything else in the book.

and, just for a change of pace,

Jean Couch, The Runner's Yoga Book
Despite the name, an excellent introduction to Iyengar-style hatha yoga for beginners of any flexibility level.

03:12 / 26.11.03

I'd recommend "Theater of Magick" and "Book of Results". Both are by Ray Sherwin and both are available at various places on the 'net for FREE. "Book of Results" deals with sigils, and goes into great detail.

You could try "Techniques of Chaos Magic" by Joseph Max too:

http://home.attbi.com/~max555/book.html

Another freebie and more info than you can shake a stick/wand/athame/sword at.

Best of luck!

Nietzsch E. Coyote

07:51 / 26.11.03

Liber MMM
Liber KKK
Eight Magics
and Slight of Mind
All by Peter J. Carroll
all available free on the internet
all part of books I paid money for.

08:04 / 26.11.03

DO get 'Promethea' by Alan Moore, the magical primer thinly disguised as a comic. Volume 2&3 give you an excellent introduction to Tarot and the Qaballah.

DON'T get 'To Ride A Silver Broomstick' because it's crap.

Check out these other magick book threads;
Pros and Cons
Starter Books
Hardcore Books

09:39 / 26.11.03

Hey! Silverbroomstick is funny! Ok, granted, for all the wrong reasons (it is so TWEE it hurts!)

Boy in a Suitcase

12:25 / 26.11.03

"Book 4" by Crowley (800-page version: effin' hardcore style)
"Liber Null and Psychonaut" by Peter Carroll
"Thee Grey Book" by Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth (free online)
"Oven-Ready Chaos" by Phil Hine (also online)
Writings of Austin Osman Spare (www.hermetic.com)
"777" by Crowley
"The Golden Dawn" edited by Israel Regardie
"The Tower of Alchemy" by David Goddard
"The Legemeton" translated by MacGregor Mathers
"Initiation into Hermetics" by Franz Bardon
"Book of Lies" edited by Richard Metzger
"Vodou Visions" by Sallie Ann Glassman

There, that should keep you busy for, uhh... the rest of your life.

13:15 / 26.11.03

Rodya,

Do you prefer reading books or listening to the taped version?

The former shows a general suitability towards hermetic magic, whilst the latter might mean you are more of natural magician......different bias (hermetics tend to be more, erm, pretentious

)

*casts protection from flame*

Gendudehashadenough

14:17 / 26.11.03

Though I've never listened to books on tape before, i would MUCH rather read them. Reading at my pace, so as to soak up the material, not be bombarded by it using audio, would be most benificial

I've attempted to read some of Crowley (online) and been fumbling around with Phil Hines site a little bit, but all in all I'd still like a good magick book to warm up with next to the fire.

Thanks for those other threads Quantum.

14:38 / 26.11.03

magick book to warm up with next to the fire

Be careful what you wish for; there may be christians listening

The Knights Templar Boogie Machine

14:36 / 27.11.03

Some to add to your list off the top of my head........

For western adventures with a modern perspective:

Cosmic Trigger - Robert Anton Wilson ( New Falcon )
Chaos ritual - Steve Wilson ( Neptune Press )
Practical Sigil Magick - Frater UD ( erm...Can't remember...)

Traditional Ceremonial:

Ritual Magick Workbook- Dolores Ashcroft Nowicki (aquarian press) WARNING!: Can be sold with v.dodgy cover, but this is a good introduction to ceremonial magick nonetheless, if not a little patronising at times...

Dion Fortune - The mystical Qaballah ( A clear exposition of the qaballah and the tree of life from a western perspective)
For online Qaballah theres some good stuff by Colin Low and Bill heidrick. ( Can't remember any links at the mo..)

Aleister Crowley - Magick in theory and practice

Professor Silly

15:42 / 27.11.03

From a Thelemic perspective I also have a tendency to suggest Crowley's books...but not for a beginner per se....

Maybe a better place to start would be Lon DuQuette's "The Magick of Thelema" which covers a lot of material in a short space, including pentagram and hexagram rituals, eucharists, and even a basic form of the invocation and conversation with the "holy guardian angel." It's also more easily understood, whereas Crowley can be very daunting to a new-comer.

Gendudehashadenough

17:53 / 27.11.03

I've come across the words "Thelemic" "Hermetic" in some of the research I've done. What sects or areas of magickal discipline to do these words indicate? Comparisons?

23:08 / 27.11.03

"Hermetic" usually means "relating to the classical Western magical tradition."

Hermetic magic is syncretic and includes elements of early Egyptian, Greek and Hebrew occultism, neo-Platonism, gnosticism, cabala, alchemy, Rosicrucianism, etc. It generally focuses on "The Great Work" -- perfecting the human spirit by uniting the individual magician with the divine. The Golden Dawn (full name, "The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn") was a hermetic magical group.

The name comes from Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus, a legendary priest-magician who supposedly wrote The Hermetica, early influential magical texts. Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus took his name from Hermes Trismegistus ("Thrice-Great Hermes"), the Egyptian/Greek god Thoth-Hermes.

"Thelemic" usually means "relating to the magical teachings of Aleister Crowley." In particular, it refers to those teachings set forth in Crowley's "Liber Al vel Legis," or Book of the Law. (This book was supposedly dictated to Crowley by an entity known as Aiwass or Aiwaz in Cairo in 1904.) "Thelema" is the Greek word for "will."

The Book of the Law is known for the famous quotes (and central tenets of Thelemic philosophy) "Do What Thou Wilt Shall be the Whole of the Law" and "Love is the Law, Love Under Will."

Professor Silly

14:04 / 28.11.03

...one might go further and say that the definition given for Hermeticism above applies equally to Thelema--that the latter simply builds on the former. Both deal with the union of the microcosm (the individual) with the macrocosm (the divine), although they might use different terminology.

I am often surprised when I meet magicians that aren't in it for the trancendental mystical experience: union with "God." This goal is so cemented in my mind that I tend to forget that others might practice magic for other reasons.