Authentic Thaumaturgy [Paperback]

Isaac Bonewits (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A book that has influenced countless game designers since its first publication. 4 "stars" (Daniel Harms) -- RPGnet: the Inside Scoop on Games

The rich effects achievable by this very flexible system are well worth the effort. -- Answers.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Steve Jackson Games; 2nd edition (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556343604
• ISBN-13: 978-1556343605
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,898,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Isaac Bonewits is one of North America's leading experts on ancient and modern Druidism, Witchcraft and the rapidly growing Earth Religions movement.

Now the Headmaster at RealMagicSchool.com, he has been a practicing Neopagan priest, scholar, teacher, bard, and polytheologian for over thirty-five years, he has coined much of the vocabulary and articulated many of the issues that have shaped the rapidly growing Neopagan community in the United States and Canada, with opinions both playful and controversial.

He is the author of Real Magic, Authentic Thaumaturgy, The Pagan Man, Bonewits's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca, Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism, Real Energy, and Neopagan Rites, as well as numerous articles, reviews and essays. He is a singer-songwriter with two-and-a-half albums to his credit. As a 'spellbinding' speaker, he has educated, enlightened and entertained two generations of modern Goddess worshippers, nature mystics, and followers of other minority belief systems, and has explained these movements to journalists, law enforcement officers, college students, and academic researchers.

He is the Founder and an Archdruid Emeritus of Ar nDraiocht Fein: A Druid Fellowship, (ADF, the best known Neopagan Druid organization based in North America), a 3rd Degree Druid within the United Ancient Order of Druids (the best known Mesopagan Druid order), a retired High Priest in both the Gardnerian ('British Orthodox') and the N.R.O.O.G.D. ('California Heterodox') traditions of Wicca (Neopagan Witchcraft), an initiate of Santeria (Afro-Cuban Mesopaganism) and the 'Caliphate Line' of the Ordo Templi Orientis (Aleister Crowley's Mesopagan magical tradition), as well as a member of other Neopagan and Mesopagan Druid orders. He has been a member of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) for several years. Having survived five previous spouses (and vice versa), he is now married to former CUUPS Vice President, tarot expert, writer, and Wiccan Priestess, Phaedra Bonewits (hope springs eternal).

Isaac wishes it officially known that he is not 'A Pagan Spiritual Leader,' but merely one of the Neopagan movement's better-known Unindicted Co-conspirators...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice, fun, very opinionated, March 21, 2001

By 

Brad Smith (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Authentic Thaumaturgy (Paperback)

Does this let you do real magic? No. At least, I hope not...

What, then, is this for?

This is written as a guide by a self-styled Real World Magician on how to translate the magic he knows of into gaming terms. Bearing in mind this is his perspective, and that what is "real" is not necessarily the best thing, this is actually a useful book.

He basically goes into magical laws (of which Murphy's has been included), the relationship between magic and psionics (see The Psionics Handbook for D&D3 for a similar view), cultural references, and, finally, a rump magic system that's very calculation-intensive.

Is this for everyone? No. Mr. Bonewits has some very, ah, strong opinions that some might find irritating, offensive, or otherwise bad. It also might not be useful to everybody, given that I know very few people who actually make up their own systems. I bought it, but am not going to ever use it for anything other than reading material. However, I am glad that I bought it. You may want to do some quick perusing in the store first, though.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable addition to any gamer's library, February 24, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Authentic Thaumaturgy (Paperback)

If you've ever wondered about the theory behind the magic systems used in your favorite RPG, this gem will surely enlighten you. Bonewits talks about the origins of the magic systems used in various games, shows how they are different from "real world" magic theories, and presents alternative approaches that will make your favorite game even more exciting. While he's obviously not a gamer himself, he gives those of us who are plenty of tools to modify our current games or create new ones. This requires work and imagination, but anything worthwhile does.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Every magician needs a copy - For gamers, it's a resource,, October 7, 2003

By 

"firewheelvortex" (Reno, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Authentic Thaumaturgy (Paperback)

If written today, this would be a simulation program - and it desperately needs one, ideally written to run on a Palm.

As a workable simulation system for role-playing, it just sucks; it's far too complex. It's far more accurate than any comparable system, but if you play it, all you will be playing IS magic.

As a workable simulation system to explain the process of magic in non-mystical terms, it is truly unique, and near as I can tell, accurate within the bounds of experimental error.

So as a means of developing a workable "spell list" for a campaign or a character, to then be expressed in other terms - magnificent. Likewise, it's great for designing effective rituals. (Um. This might be a "danger, will robinson, danger" moment for gamers - as it IS great for designing effective rituals.)

Authentic Thaumaturgy begs to be revisited and turned into a true gaming engine. It also begs to be revisited and turned into a resource aimed at truly pragmatic real-world spell design.

But until that's done, it's a great resource book, and the ideas it contains aren't easily found in any other single place.

BTW, I considered Bonewitz's uncensored opinions about nearly everyone under the sun to be hilarious, even when they annoyed me.

Isaac; "A spell is a THING, not a process!"
Don't confuse the spell with the ritual that produces it.

RITUALISTS! [snort]