Customer Reviews

Out of the Shadows: An Exploration of Dark Paganism and Magick

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I learned about the existence of this book just as I was desparing that there were no good intermediate or advanced pagan books out there. "Out of the Shadows" was everything I was looking for and more. As someone who has long been attracted to dieties with darker, less nurturing aspects like Sekhmet, Kali, and Coyote, I agree that this book was much needed in presenting paganism without the "good vs. bad" dualism. The left hand path is often misunderstood, and I think this book is a wonderful introduction to it. It is a very psychological, thought provoking view. One will find no pre-made spells or rituals here; Coughlin explores the philosophy and mechanics of magic to help you understand why they work. -Quite a liberating thing!
It is also a joy to read; I really enjoyed the conversational style of writing that Coughlin used. He defines and clarifies several aspects of dark spirituality/goth subculture that I would not normally have read about, such as Vampirism and Satanism. He also goes into depth about subjects that would never see the light of day in other books: blood, pain, insanity, sex magic, curses, and drugs. Always there, though, is a reminder of the need for balance and responsibility. The final chapter on haunting was superb; it made sense of the hauntings that I have experienced and caused me to see them in a new way. This book tops my list of favorite pagan books; I reccomend it to everyone who can handle the subject matter and wants a full course meal in magic.

In Out of The Shadows, author John J. Coughlin trys to
rebuild the balance 'Light Paganism' has created. He
gives an easy and understandable description of what
the Darkness and 'Dark Paganism' actually are. Though
the focus of this book is 'Dark Paganism', the author in
no way tries to deny or degrade Light Paganism. In
fact, Coughlin actually describes it's benefits and
necessities in modern paganism.

In his explanation of the Darkness, Coughlin gives
information on "dark siders" including the Gothic and
Vampiric Sub-Culture. He gives a clear and understandable explanation of "The Shadow" in psychological terms, as well as symbols, images, and archetypes associated with darkness. I found the section on dark deities to be especially interesting,
where Coughlin offers information on specific deities
from various pantheons including Celtic,Egyptian,
Greek, and Hindu.

Part Two is an explanation of the nature and structure of magick. This section explains how and why magick works as well as it's limitations and psychological factors. Coughlin takes you through each step of the
spellcasting process by describing what and how to conduct ritual. This section also contains information on psychic abilities, chaos magick, and sex magick.

Out of The Shadows is really two books in one.
It is and exploration of Dark Paganism, but it is also
a guide to magick. Because so many books are focused
on Light Paganism, this text is truly ground breaking.
This book does an excellent job of providing the
seeker with the proper tools to explore yourself. It's
goal is to suggest, if not test, you to personalize
your belief system. You will learn the truth about the Darkness and Dark Paganism. It was an excellent read and I'd
highly recommend it to all Pagans.

What I like about this book is the author's upfront honesty. this is a book about magickal theory and exploring your dark side. The author never sets out to do a book that's focused on practice. He wants you to critically think and explore the concepts that he touches on, but in a manner that I believe gives a lot of respect to the reader.

I admit I expected the author to have an attitude that would put me off so I was very surprised to find the book so well presented. I very much enjoyed the author's wit and clear discourse on the topics.

I especially liked how the author stressed the importance of balance but that each of us can find our OWN balance based on our personal taste. As the author says, balance is not necessarily equality or neutrality. Each path can find balance within itself.

The second section on magic was also very informative and useful as well. Unlike most books, instead of listing spells and rituals, the author explains what makes them work so that we can design our own or tweak existing ones to work better for us.

This book is strongly recommended for ANYONE who is either attracted to the concepts of "darkness" or who are pagan and want a more well-balanced approach to their spirituality. The author has some related articles on darkpagan.com for those interested.

I wish there were more books like this!! You could tell the author really had a passion for his work.

Like the title and introduction of the book says, this is an exploration of dark paganism, magic, and also other darksiders in general. Written by a man whose personal aesthetics have been interwoven into his personal spirituality, he has a unique perspective.

There are numerous topics explored in this book, and the author rightly says in the introduction that each could have filled several chapters or even a whole book! It's an introduction and primer, and highly recommended to all Pagans and Wiccans to gain a deeper and more balanced understanding.
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It's best to also keep in mind that while the issue of balance within earth-based pagan paths, especially Wicca, is emphasized; the book is about Dark Paganism. To paraphrase the author, balance does not always mean equal. Such is the case with this book. Beyond challenging us to personalize our paths and to bring back balance, the book's focus is to prime the reader on the darker side.

Personally I found the best parts of this book to be the chapter on the Shadow, the exploring of emanations such as "auras" (free of New Age influence), a pagan/nature-based look at ghosts and a refreshing take on possessions and hauntings. But the best is saved for the second half, the chapters on magic theory. By far the best I've seen, it's both powerful and simple.

Run a search on the author: his website has a preview to the book. Also, if you liked the book and want to go a little further the website has more beyond the pages! Including: essays by several authors, a list of recommended books (very excellent if a bit short in this reviewers not-too-humble opinion), and links to other resources.

I hope that this review has helped those it can, and I wish all you seekers a pleasant day.

In general, Out Of The Shadows is well written and well-presented. However, I found the author's ideas on the topic to be rather shallow. I must say thatI found the whole issue of the 'gothic' subculture to be as irrelevant to the theology of Paganism as, say tie-die and flowers might be. Personal aesthetic choice does not, in my opinion, have much to do with spirituality, and the book spends far too much time defining and defending goth culture (to which I have no objections)for my taste. On the other hand, when it comes up against actual theological issues, such as the presence of pain and death in the world, the book seems to fall short of deep thought on these interesting matters.
All in all, an interesting first effort on a topic that deserves more thought - maybe, in the end, we can simply discard the ideas of 'light' and 'dark' as useful spiritual metaphors...

This is not a "cook-book" of rituals and spells, but a limited study of what makes up the "dark" aspects of Paganism and spirituality. Several of the chapters read like lectures--and if you object to being lectured by an author, give this book a pass.

The good: The author gives frank warnings of the pitfalls of "Darksider" practices, warning of the unstable types that exist in every group. Coughlin also gets credit for dealing with the subject of Satanism in a reasoned, mature manner, without judging.

He is also up front in stating that since his focus is on the "dark" portions of the text may read as dismissive of "Light Paganism" and its benefits. It's refreshing to see an author's prejudices set out from the beginning, instead of hidden behind flowery prose.

Coughlin spends some time on "Dark Deities", using his own categories. He spends the most time on deities he's personally familiar with. Perhaps the most useful portion of the book deals with the Jungian concept of the Shadow, and the dangers of "overindulging" in dark-questing. He provides some techniques for engaging the Shadow, in order to bring it into alignment with the Self.

The bad: Coughlin continually refers to other chapters, even those coming later in the book. This is rather jarring. He employs a subtle social Darwinism in his writing, "not all are created equal." Yet for all his talk of balance, he makes no mention of compassion and learning to live with others who are different. He seems to take the approach that those who are "different" whether "Darksiders" or "Light" are better off living in a segregated world instead of learning how to work together. This is not a message I believe a Pagan seeking "Balance" should endorse.

Secondly, Coughlin has no stated psychiatric credentials, so please take his words on mental conditions as *opinion*, not fact. Some of his theories can be very dangerous if misapplied, and do nothing to promote understanding for those suffering.

While the Jungian portions are the best part...it's also entirely possible to obtain Jung's own works in any decent library, and read his theories.

I would consider this book a third-level resource, to supplement other material, rather than a primary source.

I commend the author for trying to take on such a complex topic. Darkness means so many things to so many people and any exploration into that topic is bound to be hit and miss. I actually thought the section on Goths and vampires was very much needed, which another review seemed to not find relevant, but again, we all have our own ways of viewing darkness. As the author said in an interview, he did not try to define darkness but rather offer a collage of the various aspects associated with it, leaving the reader to draw his or her own conclusion. I found the book intriguing to say the least, especially the chapter on the shadow -- very well said and sorely lacking in most books on the subject today. The section on magick was also refreshing in approach and easily understandable. The whole book had a nice flow to it and kept my attention. I did not want to put it down which is rare for me! I do hope the author writes for on the subject, however, since an "exploration" could only cover so much. I could sense the author held back in many areas to keep things simple, so now that I am hooked I would like to see MORE!!

I would reccomend this book. The author covers a very broad subject well by the way he splits the book up, and it is well paced. While by no means an in depth study, it does not pretend to be, but the apsects it does cover are covered well and the overall sprit of the text makes it readable and interesting, even though it was covering familiar terretory. I just liked it a lot.

I wouldnt say it's was this book does do that's important, it's what it doesn't do. You dont seem to be wading through somsones un-neccessarily wordy university dissertation, you dont find youself taking the chapters or subjects you need and skipping the other subjects, and you dont find youself saying "Sod it, I'll work through that later, I'm going out."

I wish this book had been available about 21 years ago when I first began exploring Wicca and Paganism and wondering why I couldn't stand most of the people I was meeting and why I couldn't sit still for most of the rituals I attended. The truth was and is that the Dark Side is what I feel a true affinity with! The format of this book is simple and very to the point. I appreciate the fact that John does not make it easy for any reader by including rituals, but challenges us to create our own! Although I think his tone is a little too apologetic at times (like having to stress that Dark does not necessarily mean evil), he is not adverse to including a section on Satanism and the Left Hand Path, which too many other "Wiccans" will run screaming from. The differences and similarities between Satanists and Dark Pagans should be clear, but John is insightful enough to explain both. OUT OF THE SHADOWS will definitely ruffle a few feathers, but it will also evoke howls of delight from those brave enough to venture into the dark and appreciate what they find there. There's no doubt that this book fills a gap too long ignored by the Wiccan/Pagan community.