Customer Reviews

Generation Hex

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a kind of post-chaos magic text this book works well. Stephen Grasso's essays in particular are oustanding, documenting the dynamic progession of someone from within the chaos scene towards something both more pragmatically effective and personally fulfilling.

That being said, there is an equal amount of nonsense in GH. Practically every essay contains a reference to drug use as a magical tool. There's no doubt certain substances have their place in occult works, but if you read this book cold you'd tend to think they were necessary - no thanks!

Jason Louv clearly has some very noble ideals - much required in present occulture - however, there is an obvious question mark over some of the contributors in this text and their ability to inspire the next generation.

All things considered, this is a book that should be part of the contemporary magician's library, if only as a reference point to the real 'movers and shakers' in the selected reading section. Not that there isn't some vibrant magical creatures in this book - there are - but this tends to be balanced by the odd delusionary LSD tract expressing some ill-defined magical endowment.

I seriously look forward to the release of Grasso's forthcoming book.

If you're looking for a book with a mind shattering new magical paradigm, this is not that book. It is also not a handbook for beginning magicians. This is the book you're looking for if you're a magician in need of fresh inspiration in a bleak and self-destructive society.

If you've established a magical practice but are wondering "OK, I'm a magician, now what?" or feel there's just "something" missing from your practice, this book is for you. If these essays have an overarching theme, it's what it feels like to be a magician.

One of the criticisms leveled at this book is that there is a lack of diversity in voices. I have to agree. Despite many of the contributors saying "I'm not a chaos magician," most of the essays in this book come from a Western, chaos-influenced perspective. The majority of the contributors are male, and all but one lives in North America.

The problem with anthologies is always consistency. There were a few articles that I just did not like. But Stephen Grasso's essays, and Chris Arkenberg's article "My Love War with Fox News" are worth the price of admission on their own.

I'm hesitant to recommend this book to beginners, though I think with some work even the most basic beginner would take something away from this book. I recommend this book to all practicing magicians. Even if you think your practice is fine the way it is, I suspect you'll find something of value in this collection.

if you don't know anything about magic, read this book. if you do know a thing or two, read this book. if the whole idea makes you laugh, or freaks you out, please read this book! i have been around these ideas for awhile but reading this actually was the catalyst that inspired me to pick up this path on my own. i like some essays more than others, but all in all, it is a profound, exciting, beautiful collection, that leaves me feeling very hopeful about this generation.

I sat on that fence. I sat on that fence through the majority of chaos magick, I sat on that fence through feckin' silver ravenwolf's piles of fluffy crap, and slowly became disgusted with the whole business of occulture in general. I loved it, but couldn't find my place in it, couldn't find my belief in it, despite the fact that I did and do have a huge faith and belief in magick. It's so easy to get bogged down by Lewellyn's joke of a publishing company and just figure that magick really is nothing but make believe. It's terribly easy to remember the "witches" in highschool who had their vapid little witchy wars, binding and hexing eachother like they were starring in "The Craft" pretending to be possessed by whichever demon du jour. I tired of it, didn't know what was real and what was fake, and just let it go.

I'd come back again, and become disgusted... again. Over and over, and I'm only in my 20s. I picked up this book, because if anyone was going to do it right, Disinfo would. They didn't let me down. No small press books written by snotty prats with bad grammar, no fluffy ish, just experience, and truth. I don't agree with every essay, and didn't *like* EVERY essay, but they all had truth to them in some way. You don't have to like or agree with everyone to take something away from this book. I've found myself within the occult *finally*. I knew it was there somewhere, but the avenues presented to me in the past only lead me to dead ends, presented me with uncertainty in myself and within the validity of the whole experience. This book presented me with everything I needed, tossed my uncertainty out the window and helped me grow in my practice.

From Christian Sedman, to Crucio to Louv (whom I've developed a ridiculous girly crush on) there is so much to think about and digest, it just leaves you completely satisfied, like after a really good Thanks giving dinner, all fat and happy.

I've only ever had a passing interest in Magick with a k, since most of the literature--until now--has seemed esoteric and cliquey. But I guess that the Disinformation Company has made it its mission to make the underground accessible to people like me... Because, from the first few lines of editor Jason Louv's intro, I felt drawn into this world, welcomed and warmed by these adventures. Part bildungsroman, part how-to manual, this book reveals magick's playful and self-actualizing substance. At the risk of sounding pun-ish: I'm charmed...

If you read this book, chances are you'll pick up an idea of what Magick is, and how you can apply it to your life.

But from my perspective, as a contributor to the project, it's not really a "how to" book. This is instead a snapshot, a cultural tapestry that spotlights what it is to come into awareness outside a commonly accepted domain. In other words, this is what happens when a generation goes "what the f***?" and isn't satisfied by any of the answers provided. So they plumb deeper, and deeper. Magick is simply a system of looking at and working with reality both open and skeptical enough to allow this process to take place.

I can't say what the end of this story is, as I said this is a snapshot and it's unclear at this point whether "we" are converging or travelling off in various interesting configurations.

However for anyone that is interested in picking up the pen, wand, or guitar to change their world (and through that, THE world), this book is a must read.

"Generation Hex" embodies elemental fire! In it,

Jason Louv shares with us the visceral experience of

magick through the lives and stories of modern

magickians.

He instructs not through dry analytical explanation,

but through vital demonstration! Each section being a

taste of what magickians have found when they've

stepped through the gates of magick.

Far from being stylistically isolated, the book

presents a number of voices ranging from the

Discordian to the Hermetic, yet each voice is

profoundly alive!

If you feel that your magickal path is lagging, and

that you need an inspirational boost, then you need

this book!

Finally, a book about magic from someone other than the usual suspects, saying something other than the usual. My only complaint is that the book is sometimes difficult to read because I find myself stopping after individual essays to go for long walks and digest. Some essays, I find myself stopping after almost every sentence to think about what I've just read. I particularly like Louv's writing and ideas; there's a deep-down freshness to his writing and "oh gosh!" enthusiasm that I can't stop loving.

Generation Hex gives any reader an insightful slice of the personal journeys of the 14 individual contributers. While each of us has own own path to follow, the glimpse into others experiences is always an interesting view. Highly reccomended.

Durk Simmons author Strings of Connection Book One of the Witches in America Series

For 42 years I have been on a spiritual journey. I have felt so alone, until I read this book! I discovered that there are others out in the world that are on the same journey I am. Not of following dogma regurgitated by some dude in a collar and robes, but a thriving and experiential experience of the spirit world that respects and expects each of us to think for ourselves. This book helped me connect and respect parts of myself for the first time.

My most sincere thanks to the authors for their candor and randy enthusiasm!

I recommend this to EVERYONE! Especially those that are scratching their heads wondering what is happening to the world and more importantly to their friends and family as we digress from a dogmatic and shallow unified spirituality into a new era of spiritual self-discovery. This book will help you connect. Bring your guts, integrity and be ready for sincere and severe assaults on what you thought magic was and what you think the 'right' path is!

Humble thanks!