Customer Reviews

The Magician's Workbook: A Modern Grimoire

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

 

 

The Magician's Workbook does offer some unique material on the basics of ceremonial magic, but it is definitely not for a beginner. A lot of the "requirements" the author has in this book, and in the next volume (Goetic Evocation), are way too specific for practical use.

The book is badly organized in that there is no real introduction to the material; the reader is simply thrown in mid-topic and expected to know everything that is going on. This is a book for beginners but written for advanced users, which seems to defeat the purpose.

I found this book extremely practical, well written and very useful. The material is very original, easy to read, without all the usual mumbo jumbo and rehash found in most magical textbooks. The lessons on astral projection, in step-by-step format, is the most efficient system I have ever seen in either classic or modern texts, and I have over 100 books on the subject. The original ritual presented illustrates how one may create their own rituals, and the sections on making magical tools, talismans and amulets have been very beneficial to me personally. The sections on tarot, qabalah and yoga are very informative, and I highly recommend this book.

I've only had a chance to read a few passages of this book, but I very much like what I've seen. Another reviewer said it isn't really a beginners book. Perhaps, but it is a novice's book. By this I mean if someone has been attracted to Ceremonial Magic they will have already touched on, at least tangentially, much of the material in this book.

The introduction offers glimpses of the possibilities. Enough that if you yearn for the promise of the magical quest you will see bits of sunlight rising in the East. Then the first chapter tosses you right into the deep end. You will either thrash your way toward the edge of the pool to climb sputtering back to dry land or find enough calm and resolve to keep you head above the water and begin to swim.

What follows is a systematic, step-by-step training regimen that, if followed, will take you from dabbler to practitioner. It can also serve as a teaching guide for more advanced individuals who who are ready to take the responsibility for sharing their knowledge.

The author draws on the classic works from the likes of Agrippa, Levi, Mather's and Waite through the post Golden Dawn masters such as Crowley and Regardie. He touches on meditation, Qabalah, astral travel, tarot and yoga. His original material demonstrates how it all can be applied and extended on an individual basis.

After a bit of tease from my friend's copy I'm buying it for myself.

Excellent book that stays true to its title. This is a serious, no nonsense workbook on qabalistic ritual magick in the western tradition, not exactly for beginners but you don't have to be an advanced practitioner either to start working on it, but it would help if you have some prior knowledge. If you are a definite beginner, I would strongly recommend that you purchase and read Donald Kraig's "Modern Magick" first, so you can become familiar with the exercises, banishing/invoking rituals and hebrew and enochian pronuniciations first, and alot of other helpful material, then buy this book. Don't let any negative reviews fool you, THIS IS A VERY GOOD BOOK. This book is also alot less wishy-washy than most of those out there dealing with the study and practice of ritual magick, and focuses mainly on preparations and training for proper ritual invocation and evocation, and should take you about a year to learn and memorize the lessons here, exactly the amount of time recommended before attempting and sort of evocations based of the Keys of Solomon and such. Also includes alot of advanced astral exercises, manipulations, and pathworking. Definetly recommended.

This book, I must say, is something of an anachronism for today's students. While it does cover basic magical practice and theory sufficiently, it doesn't offer the breadth of more recent and popular books, such as Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts (Llewellyn's High Magick). I would perhaps recommend it mostly for its examples of various rituals and magical operations.

There are quite a few magickal workbooks for the occultist starting out. And what sets this one apart from the rest are clearly defined rituals, A plus B then C. These rituals are straight forward without being oversimplified to the point that artistry is lost. These are the practices that have filtered down from the Hermetic order of the Golden Dawn and these exercises are Qabbalistically based. Being a individual born and raised in Western Society I understood and melded with this concept of Scientific Illuminism, since our society is one that is based on logical positivism. It should seem paradoxical that scientific methodology is being applied to spiritual development but that's exactly what a person is doing by utilizing in these established rituals. But there is enough wriggle room for very unique individualize results. And with that stated a person, it is in the individual's best interest to try to let go any preconceived about magick before undertaking these exercises that will better ensure you are truly tapping into the spirit world.

Not bad. I found it a little confusing really. The second volume is my favorite out of both. I would still recommend it as it does have some really good info.