Customer Reviews

Kissing the Limitless: Deep Magic and the Great Work of Transforming Yourself and the World

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If you've read Thorn's first book - this is a totally different context and perspective. Anyone of any belief path that has an open mind and heart will find insights and inspiration from this book.

Thorn taught me to not "judge a book" by it's cover. Years ago I wrestled with purchasing her book because her personal appearance was that of a "wild woman" (laugh). Her writing drew me in and after months of avoiding purchasing her book, curiousity got the best of me.

This book is so filled with what I would call "Unlimited" perspectives - I call it POTU approved (Path of the Unlimited), my own brand of looking at life and Spirituality.

She shares her diverse life experiences with religions, meaning and spirituality - her path is probably similiar to many who are seeking and awakening. She doesn't polorize you to her point of view - instead she inspires you to find out more about YOU and your relationship with the divine.

This book belongs on any shelf in the book store that discusses religion, beliefs and spirituality.

I do have one complaint. It isn't available in hardcover. This is infomation that I would purchase in leather bound hardcover and special paper so that it could be part of my library that I pass on to future generations.

Many books are formulas and theories about connecting with the Divine; many are inspirational stories about who we "wish" we could connect with the Divine. This book is written by a fellow human being that lives that connection moment by moment, day by day. For me it was - recognition of another person who understands.

If you've studied world religions, both modern and ancient from around the world you'll recognize some blending of beautiful elements and practices.

The most beautiful "religion" I have ever seen is ancient, pre-Hatian influence Huna (a modern name for it) - from Hawaii, paradise lost, being reclaimed. "Kissing the Limitless" - brings the best of what is ancient and makes it modern without any limitations or complicated/bizzzare processes.

This is one of those rare reviews where I would have to say that this book is an essential read for today's occultist. Taking a mystic's perspective to magic and it's integration into our lives, Coyle provides a model of attaining mindful awareness that isn't newagey and is something the occult culture sorely needs. She explores in depth the value of internal work and provides exercises that the reader can use to get in touch with his/her higher self. This book is a guide to internal work and what is refreshing about it is that it's written from a Western tradition of magical practice. Definitely put this book on your must read list this year.

I read Evolutionary Witchcraft about six years ago, give or take, and was kind of blown away at how direct and non-obfuscated it is in terms of explanation and philosophy and technique. It was really refreshing to read at a time when the market has been flooded (I won't say if that's good or bad, this flood of books, because they run such a gamut) with Witchy 101- and Wicca 101-type books. I got good practical knowledge out of it and still appreciate its directness.

I am finding I like Kissing the Limitless a lot better than Evolutionary Witchcraft, because it focuses on getting one's act together, in order to act more effectively. And it provides really practical approaches and techniques to doing just that. I have not quite finished this book yet, and actually intend after this initial read to go back and do the exercises chapter by chapter, at a workable pace. Coyle is really good with metaphors and analogies for describing the processes one goes through, including metaphors of the forge and metallurgy (which is very prescient if one's been reading a great deal about British Traditional Witchcraft, as I've been doing). She's also not afraid to mention Aleister Crowley as an influence (he sure is a polarizing hot potato), the materials she's drawn from Gurdjieff make me want to pick up Gurdjieff finally, because they're practical as all getout, and I sense Jung as influential as well.

Anyway, I am going to go out on a limb and say this book should be required reading for someone who wants to be a magic worker, or active witch or wiccan of various stripes. Or wort-cunner, or whathaveyou. If you are looking to learn to work effectively with energy, it is a good foundational book. I can see a heck of a lot of dabblers reading this and freaking out that it is just too much work, and they don't have time, and can't be bothered, or they think they're already gifted, whatever. To that sentiment I say, you can't be great until you've been humble. Don't assume you are gifted. Results are also about work done and perspiration as opposed to merely inspiration and aspiration. If you are going to go on and presume to do work for others, how can you do that without having first worked on yourself?

Just my 2 cents.

Kissing the Limitless is Thorn Coyle's follow up book to her successful Evolutionary Witchcraft. Kissing deals and builds on practices and theories that are outlined in her first book - on a more personal, spiritual healing level.
- Chris.

Readers picking up Kissing the Limitless expecting lists of rituals and goal-specific spells written in the style of Feri tradition witchcraft will soon be disappointed, but its pages overflow with something far more valuable: Thorn's own strivings to deepen and expand her magical work, and the integrity and self-knowledge that such work has brought to her life, shine softly in every word. Each exercise she presents (in sections titled "Doing the Work") is embedded in thoughtful prose to provide context and insight into the practice. Discussions of ethics and theology impress upon the reader the importance of taking magic seriously, of acknowledging the power of self-awareness and self-possession to transform and create, and of cultivating a integrative attitude of love, gratitude and grace both towards that which is within and that which is beyond the individual. Exercises in "Reflection" invite the reader to engage in intense introspection, sifting through the unconscious to bring to light unacknowledged desires and fears and developing contemplative self-discipline, in order to prepare for "doing the work" of magical practice. At times, the line between "reflection" and "work" becomes blurry; simple rituals merge self-reflective musings with acts of will to manifest desires or articulate "inner demons."

Much of this work will sound familiar to those who have read about or practiced magic before. Some practices are occasional, designed to meet particular needs or round-out and strengthen certain areas of weakness ("Manifesting Home" and "Enspiriting Matter," for instance, are both incredibly useful exercises for connecting more deeply to domestic life and career choices). Others help establish a foundation of simple but powerful daily work incorporating breath techniques, energy-sensing and soul alignment. There is nothing shockingly original in the techniques themselves. I was startled to find, for example, that I had already intuitively developed a version of "soul alignment" for my own daily meditations, based on the Druid Prayer of Peace rather than the three "bodies" of Feri witchcraft. Reading Thorn's discussion of soul alignment, however, helped me to clarify and adjust my own practice, so that it could become both more challenging and more fruitful than before. And this is what her writing brings to practice: a new understanding, a broad perspective which places even the most familiar exercises in the context of a healthy, thriving spiritual life. Thorn examines, with depth and enthusiasm, practices that are usually summed up in one or two short paragraphs in the average Magic 101 book, and her exploration only helps to emphasize how complex and powerful these seemingly simple practices really are. Reading Kissing the Limitless, it is easy to imagine a musician delicately tuning her instrument until she hears the pure tones of perfect pitch, just as the spiritual seeker returns again and again to the same foundation in order to deepen and align with the "perfect tones" of the Limitless.


(For full review, check out Sky Earth Sea: A Journal of Practical Spirituality, Fall 2009: [...])

I absolutely adore T. Thorn Coyle and her work. I own her previous book Evolutionary Witchcraft and this sequel is stunning.

I love the chapters and the exercises, combined with lessons that really make you take a moment and think.

I highly recommend it for anyone's bookshelf, even if your not into the Feri Tradition, the tools provided in this books are good for everyday living.

After having read and enjoyed the author's first book, I expected a lot of this work and must confess to being a little bit disappointed. It's not a bad beginner's book, but I think its a bit like having had a spicy main course, only to have it be followed by a somewhat bland dessert. "Kissing the Limitless" is well written, friendly and easy to get into, but could have used a bit more flair.

It has useful exercises and thoughts to explore, especially if you are just beginning on a path (whatever path it is), but not much for those who've been doing the work for some time now. More than that, by attempting to appeal to as many people and paths as possible, perhaps that's where some of the zest disappeared. I don't hear the author's voice in this work, at least not as much as in her first book, and after having seen the author in person and heard her speak and inspire hundreds, that's truly a sad thing.

The book is broken up into three parts. Part one is based off of God Herself/Goddess Himself. Part two is related to the Divine Twins. Part three is equated to the coming together, the union symbolized by the Peacock Angel. The work includes material that is reminiscent of some of the better New Age books and self-help books out there, but with a slight pagan/Feri twist. Thankfully, there are Feri thoughts and ideas scattered throughout the book, but it is still geared towards being useful to just about any path and not just Feri, and perhaps that is where it is lacking.

Again, it's not a bad book and I would recommend it as a gift for someone in the beginning stages of exploring their lives and their path, especially someone who is just starting to explore Feri Trad. Perhaps, it could even be given in conjunction with the author's first book. For someone who is just starting out, it is likely to inspire insight and change if they honestly do the work and consider their lives, who they are and who they need to be. But, for those who have been traveling this road for a while now, what you find in this book will not really come as a revelation.

To read about someone who is walking in the way of God-Self, I would recommend Jean Houston's "A Mythic Life: Learning to Live Our Greater Story." Another recommendation would be Joseph Campbell's "Hero With a Thousand Faces," a book that is all daring to undertake the Quest in each of our lives.

This book for me holds such deep meaning. I got it over 3 years ago randomly from amazon when I bought alot of other books and the like without first thinking it through. Over these past few years I have broken away from my troubled life and truly begin to live my dreams fully and out loud! This has included me being a Nomadic traveling Gypsy of a sort, and I got rid of basically every thing I owned, somehow even through numerous moves and fianally the breaking away where I own very little I still have this book. I have not read it straight through over even most of it, but from time to time I feel such a deep NEED to read it and dive into myself using this book as a guide. I find it so inspiration, and even though it is more based through the Feri tradition I find it would be so relavant to so many people from differnt faiths/walks of life, if they kept an open mind and were willing to truely transform themselves AND the world. I have identified myself with many things throughout my life mainly being a Witch, then I called myself a Universalist because I found the term witch to be in some ways very limiting. Now I call myself a mystic, but I still practice magick in my own way, and live my life very freely and constantly evolve and hel my soul onto to new levels.

Even though I use alot of maps when I travel to physical places being nomadic and all, this map I use to guide me through the spiritual realms, and through the heart into my true self and come out of my journey stronger and truer than ever.

Basically what I'm trying to say is I find this book to be extremely irreplacably valuable. I think it gives so much because in addition to giving amazing insights and inspiration it truly challanges us to dive within ourselves and offers many actual ACTIVITIES that make your inner work seem like it's coming together alot more in physical ways, I guess I really like that because I am an artist and therefore I find art in everything...including this book.

Highly recommended

I'm reading this slowly so as to savor and take in all of it! And enjoying every word! It is well worth every cent!

Thorn demonstrated in her first book "Evolutionary Witchcraft" that she can write. It offered several useful practices, and interesting insights into the feri tradition and her own life and practise. Too few witch authors intentionally reveal themselves as this author has done, though many do so unintentionally. Unlike her first book, I found "Kissing the Limitless" however, to be repetitive, and overall lacking in purpose. All a bit declarative and new-agey for my liking. A good editor could have doubled the effectiveness of this book by halving its length. Appendix A in the book reveals 45 practices sprinkled throughout. Who has got enough spare time to do all this stuff? Not me. Some (all?) of it is the work of a lifetime. Having said this, however, I concede that the practices are obviously a smorgasboard to be used selectively according to need or interest. Occasional references to Crowley are also a minor irritant. Why anyone cares what a deadbeat addict said or did when his last words were "I am perplexed" is beyond me. Having thought about my expectations of witch authors as a result of reading this book, I realise that all I would really like to know from witches who write is what exactly they have done with their craft, what internal and/or external changes are probably attributable to their actions, and whether it was all worth it, and why? And at what price? My copy of "kissing the limitless" will soon be in circulation again.