Customer Reviews

Pacts With the Devil: A Chronicle of Sex, Blasphemy and Liberation

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Once again Hyatt and Black have done a great job setting the record straight. The book begins with extensive historical background information on the subject with the keen observations we've come to expect from these authors. Following are the names, sigils, and conjurations of the demons from the classical grimoires. I enjoy reading an author's personal anecdotes and this book along with some of the others by these people meet my expectations. A beginner in the black arts might do well to get a proper understanding of the basic 'formula' of successful magick beforehand, as this book is not a How-To on magick but rather an extensive resource on the subject of pacts with the Horrible Hordes from Hell.

Ave,

As a Luciferian, I tend to be a very harsh critic when it comes to works that deal with Satanism and Demonic entities, and I can say with little hesitation that this is a great book concerning the Left-hand path of magick and personal growth. While yes, the rituals within the book itself are of an era passed and seem almost "silly" now, there is much in the ways of technique that can be salvaged from these rituals. Any decent magickian will be able to take what they find intersting from the rituals and discard the rest.
The REAL gold within this book is the personal encounters that the authors give of their experience working with these entities. This shows a great deal of courage on the part of the authors as magickains who discuss their workings with the frankness that they do tend to be shunned by the masses as either heretics or lunatics. And of course they go into the general neurosis that society seems to have when it comes to the supernatural (originating from both the religious reich and the fanaticly-"rational" pseudo-intelligencia).
There are a depressingly few books on Satanism and the occult in general worth their money, but fortunatly thoes which ARE worth the paper they're printed on go above and beyond expectations and create somthing revolutionary. What Crowley did for magick oh-so-many years ago, Jason Black, Robert A. Wilson, and Christopher S. Hyatt are doing again.

Ave,
Mastorn

A refreshing change from the influx of new age fluffy bunny modern Wiccan 101 material that we have been surrounded with. This book is not exactly about "making a pact with the Devil" per se (in the Christian sense) - it's aim is to challenge that thinking of the modern occultist or magickian practitioner as to releasing just how much Christianise Western society dominates our subconscious.

There will be those who knock this book because it doesn't follow the fluffy new age modern Wicca aspect but if you want something to actually challenge you in the way you think, especially useful for any kind of serious occultist, then this book does just that - in fact the introduction does that!

While I have worked with the left hand path, I do not call myself a Satanist or Setian or anything like that - I believe in the polarity of things. And just as there is the yin/yang and masculine and feminine which balance out each other, so do the "light" and "dark" aspects.

I really don't understand so-called Pagans, Wiccans and Wytches who are afraid of the shadows - take a closer look at what happens within nature without your rose-tinted glasses. Or take a deep breath and read something challenging - like this book.

refreshing, totally respectless and funny. yes funny - and if you know yer magick literature you also know that funny books are very hard to come by in this field. «pacts» is black and hyatt at their best (like this other nasty little [person] they have created: urban voodoo). the techniques described by the magick «duo infernal» are fine and well tuned - most of them are known by the experiencend magickian though. the history part of the book is very entertaining. its the fresh attitude of the authors that makes this boook such a fantastic read. great stuff. rogue stuff. magick without pomp and circumstance. magick for the 21. century.

I found the book to have a number of good points to it and some not so good. First the good points.

It is well written, entertaining and contains a fair amount of interesting and useful information. It is a reasonably good book of modern magic with an adequate amount of explanation of the authors' philosophical and practical points of view.

I was less pleased to find that it consists largely of repeats of material from older books most magicians would already have read (or own) such as the Grand Grimoire, Grimorium Verum and the Grimoire of Honorius as well as more modern sources such as Crowley. I recognise the need to give sufficient material from the older grimoires to provide some basic groundwork for the topic of pacts, but had been hoping for something a bit rarer than the usual "old chestnuts".

There were a number of places where the writers grafted newer techniques into the older books and it was not always made clear why they had done so. For example, in the section "The Ritual of Lucifuge", they went to some pains to explain the substitution of a sexual rite for animal sacrifice as regards the making of the parchment. While it might be argued that paper with "sexual fluids" added is not precisely the same as parchment, the rationale was clearly given and explained. But immediately after, they grafted the "Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram" into the ritual with no warning or explanation to the reader. The way it reads, someone not familiar with the Grand Grimoire might not realize that the LBRP was not originally a part of the text or method of the Grand Grimoire.

Still, these things I see as flaws do not outweigh what is good about the book. The instructions are reasonably clear, the rationale explained, and the anecdotes both entertaining and informative. In my opinion as a practicing magician who has worked Goetic operations as well as many elements from the three classic grimoires most of the information is drawn from, I would have to say that the method presented by the authors is more sound than many that are in print in this day and age.

I would not recommend it for beginners, since a fair bit of ritual experience as well as general magical experience is assumed. For a serious experienced magician it would be superfluous, since they would already have studied most of the material covered at one time or another and most likely would already posess the source texts that it is based on. But for the intermediate student or any advanced student of the Arts who has not studied such material previously, it would certainly be well worth the money.

Definitely a 4 out of 5.

Hyatt and Black are definately the saviours of occultism. Finally, we have a book that really understands and applies many of the principles of the left hand path while at the same time being funny, entertaining AND well illustrated.
This book is NOT a key to working the old grimoires. From just about any perspective, they are unworkable and pretty much the product of silly wannabe heretics who for some reason found it appropriate to "control" Satan by calling up Jehovah. It doesn't work and never did.
However, the book is very successful in capturing the ancient rebellious spirit of the magicians gutsy enough to consort with the devil. As silly as it may seem to some now a days, it was punishable by death back then.
Hyatt provides awesome psychological analysis of Satan and his hosts without falling into the trap of simply regarding them as "archetypes" like many other so called Satanists.
It is in Black's material that the book really shines. Most people who write books on occultism don't include personal accounts of magic simply because they have NEVER IN THEIR LIFE DONE ANYTHING MAGICAL!! They will wax on about theory but they have never and probably will never cast a spell to save their lives. Black, on the other hand is a PRACTICING magician and provides many useful anecdotes that you will gain more from than a whole stack of Wicca 101 primers.
Good luck in all of your dark endevours here and and I really hope you consider buying this book.

This book cuts through all of the garbage surrounding the "scary" topic of the devil and magic. It is practical in that it provides you with the working tools to create a pact yourself and explains to you the reasons that it may be in the best interest of your psychological health to do such a thing!

Deffanatly not your standard "neo-pagan" book instrusting the adept to "throweth thee acorns at thy kith and kin, and dance about skyclad in the rain." This is magic for those who live in the real world. The authors personal experances and anicdotes are usefull and intriguing. The history lesson is entertaining, and the general point of veiw is refreshing. I consider this a must read.

So you're a fan of controversial literature?

Good. Then I'm sure you've heard of New Falcon Publications, S. Jason Black, and Christopher Hyatt before. The latter has, among other things, published several books about Aleister Crowley and written the book The Psychopath's Bible, and New Falcon has a reputation of releasing works that are, to say the least, unusual.

But beware. Just because something happens to be unusual and controversial doesn't automatically result in it being something good. But in this particular case, it really is. Black, a practicing magician, and Hyatt, a super-smart intellectual, have written a book that is one half a history lesson in "black" magic, and one half a grimoire containing old notorious spells any serious student of the occult must have heard of at least once.

As with most other non-academic books (that is, books that are not published by a university publisher or written by "acclaimed" researchers) that claim to be historically correct, the bibliography is not as good as it could have been, and furthermore, the reasoning sometimes doesn't make very much sense. But despite these faults, the book is still very much worth the effort, in particular the first, historical section. The second part, containing magical instructions, is more difficult to read, and the rituals are not the easiest to perform. This is ok though, since the first part is such a great read. Or in other words, you can buy the book, more or less ignore the second part, and still not feel like you've been fooled in any way.

Christian Broadcasting Network said the book was "extremely disturbing", and The Black Flame thought that "This book is dangerous!". Better arguments than these are indeed hard to find, and alongside with the fact that it's not an expensive book I have only this to say:

GO GET IT!

Christopher Hyatt is one of the most enjoyable iconoclasts to ever walk the face of this planet. In collaboration with S. Jason Black, of course, he eloquently destroys your mind, in the sense of happily showing you ways of tearing down many of the misconceptions, biases, and prejudices you and others have been filling your pretty little head with all these years.

Is Dr. Hyatt perfect - hell no. This is precisely why his works are ultimately so convincing. Eschewing the tendency on the part of most "academics" to proselytize their message from a haughty, self-righteous perspective, Hyatt goes in for the intellectual jugular with street smarts. He uses intelligent but emphatic, concise dialogue that gives you the goods pronto (and in a nicely self-effacing manner that shows you he has struggled himself).

Somehow, within the context of breaking down orthodox views (Hyatt was highly critical of church officials long before it became fashionable) and obliterating all our stupid thoughts, he manages to give us hope. Pacts With The Devil, like so many of his works, performs the ritual of giving you options to change your viewpoints and then supplant them with new and improved ideas. Sort of like rebuilding the transmission in your car. Your "cortex converter" gets a much needed oil change that - contrary to popular opinion that destroying some of your 'core' beliefs is bad - leaves you refreshed and fulfilled, with at least most pistons firing like they should. Yes, my friend, you are getting torqued.

This is what's so elegant and fun about it - you get the things you originally set out for once you break down so many of the original ambitions and expectations you came with. How Zen. How Kabalistic. And yes dear pagans, ironically (the Devil would love irony, wouldn't he), how very mystically Christian.