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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I had to work all this out for myself, September 13, 2009
This review is from: The Weiser Concise Guide to Yoga for Magick: Build Physical and Mental Strength for Your Practice (Weiser Concise Guide Series) (Paperback)
I have been a practicing magician for nearly 20 years now and a member of the OTO and AA for almost fifteen of them. I had actually never read this book until this last weekend, when, with a little time to kill, I perused it in a book store. I have to admit that I didn't buy it, but I did think to myself, "I've got to remember to recommend this to the Minervals and First Degrees at my Oasis." Now, first of all, there is no substitute for the actual works of the Logos of the Aeon, Aleister Crowley. None of the primer books even begin to rival his work in either depth or breadth. But I don't think Nancy (nor Jim Wasserman, nor Lon DuQuette, nor Richard Kaczynski, et al.) would pretend to set their works against his. They're simply trying to help people find their way into Crowley's works. This little book does just that. Israel Regardie, in his "Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic" devotes a section to the minimum work actually necessary for attainment. What I think Nancy's book does so effectively is outline this minimum work within the narrow context of the Thelemic approach to yoga, modified slightly based on the accumulated western yogic tradition in the fifty or sixty years since Crowley published Eight Lectures on Yoga. I noticed that another review dismissed this book as simply being a rehash of Eight Lectures. I do not think that is a fair criticism. The discussion of the Middle Pillar Ritual as well as the presentation of a simple Sun Salutation routine and actual exercises of pratayahara and pranayama make this book quite worthwile in its own right. If you are an experienced practitioner of hatha or raja yoga, this book is probably not for you. But even experienced magicians who find their yoga skills undeveloped and would like to know where to begin will find this book a helpful introduction. That goes double for beginners of both magical and yoga disciplines.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Yoga for Majick, July 4, 2007
This review is from: The Weiser Concise Guide to Yoga for Magick: Build Physical and Mental Strength for Your Practice (Weiser Concise Guide Series) (Paperback)
I found the book insightfull and it opened new avenues of thought. It gives good basic background information on yoga in a manner that is easy for the beginer to understand and a good refresher for those who have been practicing both yoga and magic for a while. Allthough the subject matter deals mostly with ceremonial magic, those practicing Wicca or another form can certainly benefit from this book. I recommend this book for anyone who studies occult and wants to improve thier practice.
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12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing new here, August 3, 2007
This review is from: The Weiser Concise Guide to Yoga for Magick: Build Physical and Mental Strength for Your Practice (Weiser Concise Guide Series) (Paperback)
This book repeats what has been said by Swami Vivekananda in 'Raja Yoga' and by Aleister Crowley in 'Eight Lectures on Yoga' and 'Book 4: Part 1 - Mysticism' and adds nothing new. You can read all these works online (or, better yet, find things out by your own practice) so save the space on your bookshelves and give 'Yoga for Magick' a miss. Magicians will be eager to read a good book on yoga relevant to their practice. I fell for this appeal and bought the book, but regretted the decision when I started reading. The book on 'yoga for magick' is not "Yoga For Magick"; it is Crowley's "Eight Lectures On Yoga". As well as the dazzling lack of personal insight or new material, Nancy Wasserman seems to have an no idea of what she wants to accomplish in this book. The introduction and first two chapters talk about the necessity for magicians to cultivate their bodies, and how this can be done by Hatha Yoga. Then we get to the instructions and techniques of... Raja Yoga! There is nothing in this book about strengthening the body, despite the subtitle "Build Mental And Physical Strength For Your Practice". It's really incredible that the author of a book on yoga seems oblivious to the distinction between Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga. This book has many other flaws as well. For example, she mentions that "certain yoga practices" can cause kundalini to rise up from the Muladhara Chakra. "Yes..." we think, "And those practices are...?" The chapter comes to an abrupt ending here and no further mention is made of kundalini. Her description of pranayama is insufficient to guide even the most basic practice. Likewise her advice for dharana, which consists of a passage lifted directly from "The Equinox", an awful simile to the effect that dharana is concentration, but not the kind of concentration of a computer programmer (What?!) and an even worse simile about the mind being like a receptacle of sand and dharana deepening a certain compartment of it.
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