Customer Reviews

Three Books of Occult Philosophy or Magic

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

 

 

The title of this particular offering is somewhat misleading - however, in the publisher notes above it is clearly stated that this is ONLY Agrippa's First Book on Occult Philosophy, which covers Natural Magic. You will NOT find his Second book concerning Celestial Magic, nor his Third book concerning Ceremonial Magic within this volume. You can however order his Fourth book, which is a simplified "rude and unfashioned" How To reference to his third book - if you can find it. In the mean time, you might do better ordering Francis Barrett's - The Magus, which is basically a condensed version of Agrippa's work.

1. Title is deceptive, it is only the FIRST book, not three.
2. It is cheaply reproduced.
3. Recommend LLewellyn's

Don't waste $25 on a partial edition --- spend $30 for Llewellyn's complete "Three Books of Occult Philosophy," which is also a much better edition, with good annotations. This edition, like just about everything from Kessinger, is essentially a xerox copy bound in thin cardstock. Agrippa's book is the great masterpiece of its kind from the early 16th century; modern practitioners as well as intellectual historians may find it somewhat impenetrable. As an historical resource and compendium of magical material, the work is unparalleled. I suspect that many modern practitioners will find it annoying that Agrippa gives essentially no practical examples. For the linguistically adept, there is an excellent Latin critical edition from E.J. Brill, edited by V. Perrone Compagni. If you want to understand the book from a non-practical perspective, my _The Language of Demons and Angels_ is now out.

This heavy volume gives an amazing insight into the role of pre-modern-era science, or occult concepts. Much praise must go to the editor who must have a personal library the size of ancient Alexandria to have compiled the much needed notes throughout the work. The appendices are excellent and have great value in themselves. An essential reference book for all who are captivated by magical lore, but if anyone reads this all the way through without suffering one headache or case of eye strain, they have my sincere respect.

From a true scholar of the middle ages, revered by many in alchemy, his famous "De Occulta Philosophia" is depicted in this book. Agrippa combines magic, astrology, Qabbalah, theurgy, medicine, and the occult properties of plants. rocks, and metals to name a few. It is not hard to see, after reading this book, why Agrippa's work was such an important factor in the spread of medieval occult sciences. Absolutely Fascinating to read!

The title of Agrippa's work is "Three Books of Occult Philosophy". That is what I thought I was buying. Guess what...this is only Volume 1. Nowhere in the order description did it say this was only volume 1. It said "Three Books".

Llewellens looks like a complete triad for only $10 more. Don't waste your time with the Cosimo version

I found this book to be interesting but a little difficult to comprehend. It being difficult is natural, considering when it was written and then later translated into English. Overall I enjoyed the book. But I think that the book is not for everyone. You have to be really interested in this type of subject matter.

It was a GREAT! book. very informative. I learned unfathomable amounts about my religion's roots, lore, and more experienced magick. It was sooooo helpful in my studies. I hope you get a chance to read it.

It seems a lot of different editions of this book were published with varying tables of contents or I only have one book and not three. Not very practical and vaguely despriptive. However it has lots of information on astrology.