Customer Reviews

Space/Time Magic

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Manipulating perception is a key component in working magic, but we humans are frequently unable to escape the linear model of time that is a primary component of our society. Space/Time Magic provides a cogent argument for moving outside of this linear trap and into a working model of the universe in which our reality can be programmed according to our will (i.e. transformed by magic) - not only in the future, but our past.

Understanding space/time is a key to understanding our reality, and learning to consciously manipulate it is how we learn to work magic. Within this realm of shifting possibilities we can exert our will, manipulate the energy, make a choice, and in doing so we create new possibilities and a changed reality. Whether we are reaching into the space/time `pool' to move outside of physical time and divine the future (or past) or focusing our attention in such a way as to slow down the passage of time (in order to get more done) we are working space/time magic.

The reading can be a bit difficult if one is not comfortable with a logical paradigm of magic (Stephen Hawking is referenced, as are notable chaos magicians Phil Hine and Genesis P-orridge), but Ellwood manages to make many of the more scientific perspectives understandable, as well as practical.

Divination is an easy way to understand space/time magic, but I found the discussion on working retroactive magic (essentially, going back in time to change our past) to be a touch frightening - and yet compelling. I would like to think that the past can not be literally changed, that only our perception changes (and that is sufficient to bring about present change) but a part of me wonders if it is possible, and if I were to do so, how I would change in ways I can not predict? Ellwood also discusses using sigils, writing, science, and technology in space/time magic, all with fascinating results. His personal experiences enhance the theoretical explanations, and make for wonderful reading.

The author of a number of fascinating and unusual books, including Pop Culture Magick and Creating Magical Entities, Taylor Ellwood is clearly someone who does not see magic as a connection to the divine, but a rule-based, logically -defined energy source that allows any person with sufficient training to use it. Although I am more of an intuitive witch, basing my rituals on increasing my connection with the Divine, I found Space/Time Magic very useful. I am already incorporating much of this information into my own practice.

I highly recommend this book.

Quantum mechanics is well and truly in the public consciousness these days, largely due to the success of the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know!?" This movie opened the eyes of viewers to the incredible possibilities available. The obvious question those viewers should have asked themselves is how they could go about taking full advantage of the possibilities.

Quantum mechanics provides an explanation for much of what is experienced while practicing magick, in particular that pertaining to the non-linearity of time. Many of the ancients viewed time as circular, while quantum mechanics assigns probabilities to various events.

Taylor takes the reader into a quantum world, where time is non-linear, and retroactive magick is possible. The concept of retroactive magick is fascinating. Taylor deals with the importance of perception defining our reality, and presents this as one of the keys to successful retroactive magick. This to me is probably the most exciting portion of the book as just about everyone has daydreamed about how they would have done things differently with the benefit of hindsight. The possibility of revisiting the past is truly exciting.

As with "Pop Culture Magic," I certainly don't accept everything that Taylor writes in this book. His ideas however, are intriguing, and certainly merit further investigation. Readers will certainly be able to adapt Taylor's ideas into their own paradigms. Taylor's message is an exhortation to leave the confines of the mainstream and experiment, and it is a message well worth sharing.

When Peter Carroll brought chaos magick to the forefront with such works as Liber Null, Psychonaut, and Liber Kaos he touched on some fascinating subject matter in the occult, but left the experimentation up to the reader, much to the dismay of armchair theorists worldwide. But where Carroll leaves off, it seems that the works of Taylor Ellwood pick up to take readers along an occult journey of experimentation and discovery.

Space/Time Magic is probably the most original and refreshing book on practical occultism to be published in quite some time. Taylor Ellwood takes a subject matter of high demand, but little textbook time, and delivers exactly the experimental occultism that one would expect from the author of Pop Culture Magick.

Space/Time Magic covers the occult topics that many speculate about, few experiment with, and even fewer write about. Ever wanted to read some examples of retroactive magick and how to put it to good use? Until Space/Time Magic your options were extremely limited... if not non-existent.

In addition to its more experimental edge, Taylor Ellwood's writing skills have grown as well. In Pop Culture Magick, readers could see some growing pains in the text. With Space/Time Magic, most of these growing pains are gone, and in their place is a text that flows more freely through the cerebral cortex.

It seems to be Taylor Ellwood's mission to spearhead the documentation and publication of experimental occultism. With Space/Time Magic, this mission moves along ever further. I can only imagine what Inner Alchemy and Magic on the Edge bring.

(Before the review - a disclaimer. I do know the author.)

The book essentially has three themes to it:
1) Magic involving time and space/time such as retroactive magic, time manipulation, divination, and soforth.
2) Concepts and activities that involve our space, time, and space/time ideas, activites, and interpretations.
3) The direct, practacal application of #1 and #2 and how the author did them, often with detailed information.

Therefore Space/Time Magic is probably best thought of as "Space/Time Magic, Space/Time Concepts, and A Whole Lot of Other Stuff." The amount of useful ideas-per-page is extremely high and the repetition of common (or just plain over-repeated information) is extremely low. This is a book that takes difficult concepts, and shows how to apply them, often with direct author's testimony.

However, the book does suffer from times of loosing focus, or introducing techniques that may be useful for space/time work, but aren't as relevant as, say, other elements of the book. This doesn't reduce its usefullness, but it can be distracting.

Space/Time Magic is a book of experimental magic. There's no repetitive correspondence tables or things you've seen before. Though you can apply the work and ideas with surprising ease, its not Magic 101 despite its friendliness.

I came into this book having a good understanding of this form of magic through personal experience. I will say, this book did a great job of taking my anecdotal knowledge and supplementing it with a formalized (re-)introduction to the material. Taylor shares may of his personal experiences in this book, experiences that everyone can meaningfully learn from.

If you are looking for a scientific understanding of space/time, you'd do best looking at a scientific book. This is a metaphysical book that dabbles in science and does a great job of being a guide to this form of metaphysics.

Taylor is very articulate and the book is very well organized. I will definitely recommend this to anyone interested in this form of magic. This is certainly not a "Occult 101" book, which is what made me love this book. However, I feel those that have even a minimal metaphysical background will be able to read, understand and apply the concepts and practices mentioned in this book.

Overall, I was very impressed by the content.

Space/Time Magic is a metaphysical studies guide to taking control of the complex probabilities of one's life. Chapters describe how to use sigils to manifest multiple probabilities; how to use the DNA spiral to explore space/time; writing as a divination practice; how to use technology to enhance space/time workings; and much more. Space/Time Magic literally lives up to its title in its study of mystical practices that affect the four dimensions, and its down-to-earth terminology makes in accessible to readers of all backgrounds. "In magic, particularly results magic, there is a tendency to expect that the result will occur now. This tendency is dangerous, showing as it does that you've fallen into the brainwashing of linear time. No result can be measured as occurring at a specific moment of time, and to try to limit magic in such a manner is ultimately to emasculate your workings. Everything, and this includes magic, happens in its own time." A fascinating and worthy addition to new age and modern-day magic shelves, featuring step-by-step exercises after each chapter.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author provides theories from different points of view to explain how the magic works and lots and lots of practical exercises. He details what he has done and how it has turned out, but encourages the reader to take what he has done and build on it. He provided ideas that I would not have thought of; practices that can easily be added to anyone's daily routine. And he can write! I have purchased a few books from other authors in this genre and not all can.

I'm with Lupa, I know Taylor from our many conversations and his posts on his blog.

I've allways been interested in space/time magick since about 2001 and ever since reading Taylor Ellwood's Space/Time magick I think I've found someone who has come to very similar conclusions.

However, I would like to put a side warning that this book is definately not for people who are used to the pop-wicca books that are mostly just regurgitated from some source like Raymond buckland or even Aleister Crowley. These ideas are very advanced, assuming that the person already knows most of the fundimentals of magick, however for some though, these other ideas could be manipulated and 'simplified' for most people.

I think though, the most of what I got out of this was a refreshingin of my own (what I call) reality warping experiments, and made me remember to think nonlinearly when working magick and when working space/time magick.

Definately recomend for others.

I'm not going to say that "This time, Taylor Ellwood has outdone himself" because that would be horribly cliched and therefore not worthy of this review.

Instead I'm going to say that this is by far the most brain-twisting, reality-tunnel-shifting book I've read since I picked up RAW's "Prometheus Rising" several years ago--and mean every word of it.

Already established via his previous works (Pop Culture Magick and the co-authored Creating Magickal Entities) as an experimental magician, Taylor has pushed the envelope even further. Building on a foundation that includes writings from everyone from Pete Carroll to William G. Gray, he's produced a true gem of a book that will expand any magician's conception of magic.

One would think that by its very topic, Space/Time Magic would be firmly planted within the realms of quantum theory and the scientific model of magic. Not so. The chapters place everything from technology to writing, artwork and music within the paradigm of space/time magic. There's a significant portion also dealing specifically with different areas of science, but it's not that intimidating. In fact, if you can get through the first couple of chapters of Carroll's Liber Kaos you'll have no issue whatsoever with Space/Time Magic. It's worth the read, too--Taylor's writings on imaginary time alone are intriguing, to say the *very* least.

As always, Taylor includes a balanced mix of theory, and examples and anecdotes of practice. This serves to both explain the concepts more solidly but also to invite the reader to mess around with those concepts. The exercises at the end of each chapter reiterate this invitation.

Regardless of your take on magic you'll find something of use in this book. As an artist and writer I found particularly the sections dealing with those creative paradigms to be very mind-opening. The concept, for example, of writing possibility into reality gives anyone who can put words together the opportunity to create a better future for hirself. The same goes for the artwork chapter--who hasn't wanted to walk into a world that seemingly exists only within the frame of a painting? Taylor offers ways to use meditation to wenter that and many other realms of reality.

Taylor offers not only the techniques but also the reasons they work, a hallmark of someone who's speaking from experience. He makes an excellent point: "Regardless of which technique ofmeditation or ritual magic you apply to manifesting your probabilities, the most important aspect of all the procedures is that they work, and that you understand how they work. Knowing how to manifest the probability is the key to manifesting it when you need it, not just when you want it." p. 144)

Overall, Space/Time Magic is a groundbreaking work. Through it Taylor offers an entirely new idea of magic, taking it from traditional linear thought through the pioneering nonlinear model produced by Chaos magic and establishing the nonlinear model as a vital tool for improving any paradigm of magic. I highly recommend it to anyone who pratices magic with a passion and wants to further expand the possibilities for their practice and the results thereof.

Whilst I've been underwhelmed by some of Taylor's other work, this book is tour de force. Worth it for the elements on art alone. Fantastic