Customer Reviews

The Black Pullet: Science of Magical Talisman

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This book is for those that are seriously into magic. I found myself hoping that the spells in it came true. It makes you dream on being the one being served. A very interesting book. I recommend it to those that want to know about ancient magic. I wish spell books translated other languages in the spells, it would help to know what you are saying in another language if it was translated into english. But many books have spells like that. As I said it is for the curious magician/witch. It is a small book but very interesting.

I purchased the Black pullet after several of my close friends recommended it to me. After reading it, which it is quite a short book. I find that the information about those talismans, even though some of the inscriptions are rather hard to read it still is a wonderful book.

Greetings;

Well as far as the technical merits of the book go, I am not a professional magister of nearly any field, though I have studied a great deal and have dabbled. However as far as the book itself goes, it is, if nothing else rather imaginative. However much truth might have gone into the writing of the text itself I cannot say, but it isn't bad for a read, that is certain. One point that I would like to make though, the one that most impressed me was that the book was actually printed-the copy I received in the mail, new, had actually been printed a week after I had ordered it. The book was said to take a bit more time to arrive and so that part of my order was broken up, but they apparently printed the book up new for me personally, or so I would have to assume. As though to say that whoever is printing them knows that someone ordered it, personally knows, which I find to be quite interesting. I akin the sensation to that of sitting at a comic booth at a convention and selling one book at a time to a fan base as an writer. Not a terrible feeling, which is in a way, a good thing, something even mentioned to some degree in the book. Sharing the knowledge with those deemed worthy of such power, as it were.

Thank you...

Being a book of magical talismans it is very different since it is written as a story. The main character goes thrue a journey to meat with many different angels to get the secrets to everything in forms of talismans and rings. In a way the journey is like a magical initiation much like the abramelin rite.

The reason why I only give it four stars instead of five is because its origin is very questionable. It is mentioned in other grimoires and parts of it is even published in other MSS that are quite old so perhaps it is a valid magical text. Either way it is an interesting story and I enjoyed it.

This book is a goetic romance as A.E.Wait has said. The reference for the young French soldier, who inherited the magic legacy of an old man of the Pyramid seems to push the possible date of the book after the Napoleonic expedition, i.e. the first quarter of the 19 century. The original was French but purports to be translated from "the language of the Magi".
The book is absolutely unorthodox, its symbolism is very sincretistic and controversial but not without a charm. The twenty talismans and the twenty magic rings could be interesting for Tolkien's funs, but not an easy challenge to understand the role of this book in Tolkien's imgaination, if any.

Shows the construction of each of the talismans, some of which will (when made properly) enable you to do things such as control others, the elements, find treasure, etc.

I wonder if the first review of this book is by the author. It seems like it might be.