Basic Sigil Magic [Paperback]

Phillip Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2001

The most effective way to communicate with your subconscious is via magically charged symbols, or sigils. Cooper shows you how to create sigils and use simple rituals to charge them with power. He also teaches you the importance of using color and the seven planetary energies to enhance the power of your sigils. Illustrated. With bibliography & index.

Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: Weiser Books (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578632072
• ISBN-13: 978-1578632077
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,560,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor, poor trees, June 17, 2003

By 

Psyche (spiralnature.com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Basic Sigil Magic (Paperback)

I picked this book up by accident, I'd ordered <u>Practical Sigil Magic</u> by Frater U.D., but this one had come in instead. I thought, what the hell, and bought it anyway. I now wish I hadn't.

The book is broken up into two parts 'The Psybermancer' and 'The Psybernomicon', it's unclear why. It's also unclear why the author spells magick with a 'c' in the title, then switches to 'ck' throughout the rest of the book. I'm not particularly bothered by which spelling is used, only that it be consistent.

After throwing out the mind - without giving a decent explaination as to why (pg. 15) and denying the power of emotions and their useful place in your life (pg. 16-17), Cooper then decides to do away with karma as well (pg. 17).

Before you can master the effects of your mind, you need to understand it, and in doing so, yourself. Take the example of emotions given (pg. 17) he suggests that 'each time you find that you are being negative, stop, remind yourself that your thinking will effect the outcome.' Denying how you think and feel will only surpress these thoughts and emotions until you burst, which can far more disasterous. He offers no real solutions to fears or doubts, just suggests you push it down a little deeper. He does away with karma, denouncing it as a useless concept, but doesn't seem to have a firm grasp of what it means, then decides to fabricate his own debt-system, calling it 'The Great Law of Tenfold Return'.

Copper's preference of Spare over Crowley seems not to have any real foundation, a common thread throughout this book. While I don't necessarily disagree, I would like to see an explaination given. The only quote by Crowley cited is secondhand, coming from a book by another author - it looks as though he's not even bothered to read Crowley before forming this opinion. There is no mention of Crowley in the bibliography.

The concepts presented in this book are barely even a rehashing of everything that's already been established much more effectively by other authors, and in more depth. The only new concepts he presents are baseless and useless.

I found this book to be a useless load of rubbish. Perhaps this ridiculous magickal philosophy is explained futher in his other works, but I found this one such a waste of time that I'm not inclined to persue them.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Where's the sigils?, December 25, 2004

By 

Karen (Billings, MT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Basic Sigil Magic (Paperback)

Of 110 pages in my edition, only 9 pages offer clear sigil info; Cooper admits he's lifted that info from another author -- and it was info I already had from a class I was taking. I had hoped this book would elaborate on class material.
The rest of the +100 pages seem irrelevant to the title: a mix of derision against other beliefs, and explanations for basic wicca (magick etc), visualization, and chakra info which can be found in hundreds of other books. The hundreds of other books, however, will also likely give better foundations for these concepts, and without having to wade through Cooper's ranting and railing. Out of the thousands of books I've read or owned, this is 1 of only 3 books which I will throw out.
I wish I had known of Cooper's other titles before I considered this book -- unfortunately, I relied too heavily on the misleading number of explanatory drawings to make this purchase. Do some research on this author before you buy.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Avoid., January 5, 2004

By 

Shannon C. Kane "shankie" (Rindge, NH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Basic Sigil Magic (Paperback)

I expected at least a bit of useful information from this book.. and it was totally useless to me. The author spent the all but a few lines merely summarizing modern metaphysical practice and his opinions on the matter. When he did finally get to the point of the book, it was pitiful.