The Book of English Magic [Hardcover]

Philip Carr-Gomm (Author), Richard Heygate (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 14, 2010

The Book of English Magic explores the curious and little-known fact that of all countries, England has the richest history of magical lore and practice.

English authors such as J.R.R.Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Terry Pratchett, and J.K.Rowling, dominate the world of magic in fiction, but from the earliest times, England has also acted as home to generations of eccentrics and scholars who have researched and explored every conceivable kind of occult art.

The Book of English Magic explores this hidden story, from its first stirrings to our present-day fascination with all things magical. Along the way readers are offered a rich menu of magical things to do and places to visit.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A use-friendly primer. A magical mystery tour, for readers who want to get a little deeper into magic, there are well informed suggestions."
-The Times

"A fabulous array."
-Daily Express

About the Author

Philip Carr-Gomm is a writer and psychologist. He is trained in psychotherapy for adults and in play therapy for children and has also trained in Montessori education. Sir Richard Heygate runs a successful software company and has a special interest in alternative worlds. He is co-author of Endangered Species, which was published by John Murray in 2007. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover; 1St Edition edition (October 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590204158
• ISBN-13: 978-1590204153
• Product Dimensions: 1.7 x 7 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,027,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Attractively combines history with how-to October 30, 2010

By John L Murphy TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

It's an accessible history, guidebook, and how-to compendium. In a friendly, yet cautious, manner, the writers encourage readers to learn more about the traditions of England, as well as forms invented and revamped by hundreds of thousands of pagans, believers, and "Armchair Magicians" today.

(N.B. I am not a magician, but a medievalist, so my interest in this was more scholarly than as a grimoire. I am aware of the infighting that may rage here as among pagans about nomenclature, inclusion, and exclusion. But my review is for a general reader looking inside a realm that most of us on the outside know little about...)

Twelve fast-paced, illustrated and annotated chapters reveal this vast storehouse of lore. Ancient roots, starting with prehistoric cave-dwellers, dig down into pre-Celtic and Celtic foundations. Saxon sorcerers displace and follow Druids. Their descendants become medieval Catholics, grail searchers with their own complicated relationship to their magical peers.

Alchemy intrigued "puffers" close to Elizabethan courtiers. Witches met persecution, if in England far fewer being hanged than some have supposed. Astrologers, cunning-men (akin to fortune-tellers or psychics today), wizards, Rosicrucians, scryers, Freemasons, Theosophists, Spiritualists, and mediums populate the chronicles of the past five hundred years. Even if most who feared or welcomed magic lived in isolation, one city grew in its allure. Enduring in its attraction for England's spiritual and scientific explorers, London, the authors remind us, is better than Cairo or Calcutta, Paris or Prague, for anybody curious about the Craft. They detail its lore and its three occult bookstores lovingly.

Essays by adepts enrich this volume.... Brian Bates, a psychologist and shamanistic researcher, laments the superficiality of how magic is treated. "People nowadays will happily read Harry Potter, but are wary of the real stuff." The reclamation of what popular culture distorts, while protecting the secrecy of lore and rituals entrusted to true initiates, characterizes many who guard their mystery traditions.

Some still remain anonymous here. One, a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn that once attracted W.B. Yeats as well as a man whom he detested, Aleister Crowley, explains his search "for the mystery of being." He reasons that magic is both objective and subjective. It is created by the imagination and then takes on its own life; it is real and separate from human beings at the same time.

Few contributors claim, as earlier witches did a few decades ago, to inherit magical skills. Instead, they seek out the few who control them, who create them, and who teach them. Carr-Gomm and Heygate warn of the easy lure of spell-casting; the love charm they include should be used to bring love into one's life, but not a particular lover. For, he or she once enticed may turn out to be the bane of one's existence.

Websites, reading lists of novels and manuals, experts, locations, and schools append each chapter. While some oversight may be inevitable (I missed James Blish's erudite novel on medieval alchemist Roger Bacon, "Doctor Mirabilis" [see my review], and the fiction of J.C. Powys and Iain Sinclair), the authors succeed in navigating between the skeptical and the credulous among those whom they address and whom they include. For those wishing to find out about such lore, such guidance remains necessary. Nigel Pennick, a prolific scholar-practitioner, laments how people "no longer do things because their ancestors did them; it is no longer part of our culture to pass things on to the next generation."

The repeal of the Witchcraft Act in 1951, Swinging Sixties appeal, and the ecological threats that increased awareness of earth-based religious practices in the 1980s contribute to the shift in perception among many English people that welcomed pagan or alternative forms of ritual and belief.

This sense of adventure, for perhaps more wary seekers, accounts for the rise in public perceptions of esoteric, and formerly shunned or banned, practices. Music's touched on within a summation of Chaos Magic, but the impact of film and television portrayals of magic, oddly, is absent from this survey. Compared to Margot Adler's magisterial account of American New Age and neo-pagan movements, "Drawing Down the Moon" (see my review), this counterpart appears more grounded in the living history which connects the English varieties directly to their dolmens and fields, their hideaways and chambers. This, after all, is the strength inherent in their magical legacy.

This book closes movingly, acknowledging the eclectic, syncretic nature of the corpus of a resuscitated English magical tradition. Deep down, the authors advise, one knows if one or more of the paths sketched in this book may direct one to fulfillment. This magical quest draws on a depth of awareness that contemplation and study may reveal. Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative and Attractive November 21, 2010

By Rebecca

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a book of history on English magic, I found this book enjoyable to read. The draw for me was not the how-to's, but the exploration of the history and the anecdotal stories. While others may have found this as a "pre-kindergarten" book, I would say that they were looking at it entirely in the "how-to" perspective rather than as a social history. There are times when an overly scholarly puts off the average reader. If this "pre-kindergarten" book can then encourage others to delve more deeply into the topic and history, then it has done a job well done.

I was fortunate enough to get the hardcover UK edition when it was first published. It is a beautifully bound book - truly one of the more attractive books in my collection!

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the history of English magic, especially history that is written in a less formal, more approachable fashion.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great presentation September 11, 2009

By W. Paul Blakey

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

First and foremost I love the look and feel of this book. The weight of it, the texture of the cover, the softness of the pages and the typography and illustrations are top notch. The contents too, are very good.

The book is multi-layered. Each chapter contains an essay on the topic, then short biographies of notable practitioners of said art, and finally there are exercises to try yourself and a useful list of further reading or web sites to try.

The authors took on a mammoth task and the only reason I gave the book four stars rather than five is because some of my favourite magicians were rather sparsely treated. (W.E. Butler and Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki are mentioned, but only in passing.)

I'm sure a volume two is in order.

Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Joy of Cooking for Magical Arts December 4, 2010

By Brian C. Richardson

Format:Hardcover

The Book of English Magic became available recently on this side of the pond. I picked up my copy on Samhain and while I'm not new to many of the subjects covered in this hefty book I find it is written well for new and old alike.

It is a delightful read unlike many occult books I've read in the past and full of many pearls of wisdom. Underlying message starting with chapter one is the importance of intent and discretion. Building upon this through the books dozen chapters one is also blessed with tools to walk diligently along ones spiritual path.

The Book of English Magic is "The Joy of Cooking" for the magical arts and I highly recommend it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Magic in the contemporary world December 1, 2010

By Anita Sullivan

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book gives a good combination of the history of "magic" in Britain along with a good idea of how well the practice is thriving there today. The subject is divided into familiar categories, with separate chapters for Druids, Witches, King Arthur, Alchemy, etc. and each chapter includes inserts with specific references to current practitioners or experts in these various fields. It's an excellent reference book, but doesn't go into much depth in terms of ideas. I believe it's worth buying for its value as a way of bringing the subject completely into the contemporary world.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars WONDERFULL!!!!!!!!!! March 24, 2011

By Sean Powers

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Hello! This is not a lengthy review, however I feel compelled to comment on this book. If you are drawn to this book I am guessing you have a pretty strong grasp on the "occult" in general. I have read hundreds of occult books ranging in almost every topic, I am however always drawn to old traditional witchcraft. There is a mystique and wonderment that the English bring to the table in this regard. This book is great! In the first few pages the author states the importance of books, occult books in general, and how they have the ability to transport you to another time and place, how true!

This is in no way an "advanced" book on magic, nor does it claim to be. It is however a brilliant volume of all things English magic, hence the title. If you are looking for a medieval grimoire, look somewhere else. If you are looking for a book to fuel your imagination, not at the cost of the readers intelligence, don't even hesitate. This is the type of book that makes me love books!!!!!

Explaining the contents would be futile, as this is such a unique, fun, page turner. There are magical practices, great for getting started, but more for putting you in the element of what your reading to complement the experience.It is beautifully bound, and you will love it the second you pull it out of the box, I PROMISE!!!!

If you have an avid love for the occult, especially English like me, you will be very glad you found this treasure!!!!

Bravo Chaps!!!!!