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I like this thread,so I'm digging it up. The following always seem to be at the top of my stack of magic related books because I use them so much. I'll limit the list to top 10 to keep it short, and follow each by a short description to keep it relevant.
Book 4, Aleister Crowley
-For me, this is THE book on magick. Whenever I open it I feel I come across something that I have missed. It's an exhaustive resource for rituals, correspondances, spirits, and humor.
The Goetia, Mathers/Crowley
-I really like the Goetia. I use the symbolism of the Goetia but I treat the Goetia as neuro-psychological subroutines. This book helps me flesh them out.
The Golden Dawn Vol. I & II, Israel Regardie
-I'm a solitary practitioner, so Regardie's Golden Dawn system provides me with an idea of what structure might be like in an initiatory system. This book has really influenced my own initiatory path. To this day, I kind of see myself as an unofficial apostate of the Golden Dawn.
Liber Aleph, Crowley
-If I ever really need advice, it seems I wind up picking up this book. Whether or not Crowley actually believed he was writing to a divine child he prophesized, this book is written in such an obstruse and elusive way that anyone who considers themselves a descendent of Crowley, whether figuratively or literally, can take something away from it.
Garden of Pomegranates, Regardie
-A different, but similar, perspective on the Kabbalah from Crowley's. The edition I use has an entire workbook attached to it written by Chic Cicero. A practical resource.
Psybermagick, Carroll
-Another book I turn to for insight and humor.
Prometheus Rising, Robert Anton Wilson
-This is a book I read when I am trying to make connections between Golden Dawn hermeticism, chaos magick, and my own perspectives on life. I think this book is probably the most concise and instructive piece on what I call the Leary-Wilson model of the 8 circuit mind.
The Complete Promethea Series, Alan Moore
-This collection is not one book, in the sense that it shares one binding, but like Book 4, its a collection of works when taken together can be really illuminating and instructive. Promethea puts a compassionate face on magick and the imagination while tying in the works of Crowley, Wilson, Regardie, and many others.
Condensed/Prime Chaos, Phil Hine
-These books are similar to Promethea and Book 4, individually they're pretty worthwhile, but taken together is another story. Most of my ritual work has been very influence by these two books.
The Bible, KJV
-Nothing adds more to a ritual then reading from a book you where raised on for psychological effect. The only thing that makes it more effective, for me, is a lot of thee and thou-ing while describing God's wrath. This book has that.
Well, there you have it. I hope someone else would care to share. |
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