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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining short story, not handbook of Magick, June 22, 2005
This review is from: The Black Pullet: Science of Magical Talisman (Paperback)
I have a 1976 paperback edition, 80 pages, published by Weiser, which I found at a used book shop. It is set in an "Egyptian" square-serif font that almost looks like it was typed on a typewriter. The cover seems to be the same as the new edition: a rough-looking woodcut of the black hen with some eggs, a gleaming sun with rays that fill the sky and "LA POULE NOIRE" written inside it.
I'm very skeptical of this as a serious magickal resource. The text is in the form of a narrative, supposedly written by a French officer in Napoleon's army (though he never mentions Napoleon by name) during the Egyptian expedition. While surveying the Pyramids, his unit is attacked by Bedouins and all are killed except him. He is badly wounded, almost dead, when he is rescued by a little old man who comes out of a secret door on the side of the pyramid. Our hero convalesces in the old man's sumptuous pyramid apartment. The old fellow adopts him as his son and teaches him the secrets of ancient magic from documents rescued from "the burning of Ptolemy's library."
This story is fun to read and it was probably an influence for HP Lovecraft. The magical amulets, rings, and words of power all have the air of being completely made up by a clever and inventive writer.
Despite what the back-cover copy says, complete instructions for the manufacture of the Black Pullet, the wondrous gold-finding bird, are NOT included. Certain aspects of the bird's training are mentioned but not discussed. I would certainly not trust these instructions well enough to ever try them myself.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Look at it another way, June 13, 2005
This review is from: The Black Pullet: Science of Magical Talisman (Paperback)
Many people interested in what they call "ceremonial magic" look at this book and or choose to use it. There is another facet of this book. This book is also used in Hoodoo and Conjure. As the lucky mojo site lists it...
Orig. pub. late 1700s; this is a 1972 English-language edition, reprinted in 2000.
A fabulous classic of talismanic and treasure-seeking spell-work, "The Black Pullet" has long been accepted by both Appalachian and African-American conjurers, and -- under the title "Gallina Negra" -- is also popular in Mexican brujeria and in Santeria.
Take a minute to look at this book and maybe youll decide it's something you can work with.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fun for a evening, nothing more, October 3, 2011
This review is from: The Black Pullet: Science of Magical Talisman (Paperback)
This is a good buy if you just want a simple fun read for an evening, and the cover art and font look great. I don't believe many would find it useful as regards magick. As a story, it is not particularly interesting. The characters in it are flat. The climax of the story occurs a few pages in, and everything comes too easily after that. There is no sense of tension or reward. Finally, I suspect this is not even an old book (is that mean or cold to just say?). Not that I would know, but it had the feel of being written in the 1970's by an American to fill up the shelves in occult shops. If this is not the case, my apologies for being misleading in my review. I simply noticed no evidence that this is old. Nothing wrong with this - I think it's legitimate to try to create old style books, but I think somebody buying it with the hopes of obtaining a genuinely old grimoire should be skeptical.
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