Alt.Magick Recommended Books
What books should I read to get started in magical practice?
Some regular alt.magick posters have recommended the following books. Many of these books, their concepts and techniques, and their authors, are mentioned and discussed with regularity. They are listed in categories of the type of magick, and within that category in alphabetical order by author.
Not all beginners will find the books suitable or to their taste. Comments about the books are from the various contributors, and any opinions stated should be taken as exactly that. A recommendation does not imply endorsement of all ideas expressed by the authors. It is helpful when studying magick to read a broad range of literature, keep an open mind, and reserve judgment (or assignment of truth values) of material/concepts for an unnamed and extremely far future date. Much of this reading material is meant to incite thought and reflection, to inspire a search for personal relevance. It's decidedly not to tell the reader what's right or true. Books with practical exercises are easy to assess: do the exercises and if you like the results then you like the results, 'nuff said. Books primarily dealing in ideas are much more difficult to assess, and so are best considered from a hypothetical frame, kept as tentative, or otherwise considered as possibly or partially true rather than swallowed lock, stock, and barrel.
When you're ready to expand, check out the mammoth alt.magick Recommended Books on Magic and the Occult, 1992 - 2005 list. Not all the books are geared towards beginners; many of them are intermediate, advanced, and/or highly specialized. However, all the classics that serious, enduring practitioners should expose themselves to are listed there.
Hermetics/Ceremonial Magick:
'Book 4' by Aleister Crowley.
A good overview of yogic practice in a magickal context, along with a good description of the working tools. Also has that cool (hilarious) chapter on magick in nursery rhymes.
'Magick without Tears' by Aleister Crowley.
A series of letters from Crowley to a student. I think this is a better beginning book than just jumping in with 'Magick in Theory and Practice'. Some of it will be confusing, some of it is (one would hope) obvious Thelemic propaganda. But there are some excellent insights hidden among the dross.
This is arguably Crowley's best and most lucid work. Our Dear Beast wrote with a certain voice of authority throughout his career, but in 'Magick Without Tears', I think it was justified. He really did know what he was talking about in his final days.
'Angels, Demons and Gods of the New Millennium' by Lon Milo DuQuette.
Four good essays on topics such as Goetia, Aeonic magick, initiation and rebirth, etc. Written in DuQuette's usual clear, humorous style. I like this one a lot. Has some useful anecdotes from when he was a young occultist that might "hit home" with some readers.
'The Magick of Thelema' by Lon Milo DuQuette.
About the best intro to the Thelemic current going, again IMHO.
It's a pretty good Thelemic primer, though I think one is better off reading Crowley's material directly.
'The Mystical Qabalah' by Dion Fortune.
A classic, excellent introduction to Hermetic Qabalah.
I still think it's one of the best primers.
'Circles of Power' by John Michael Greer.
A surprisingly complete yet compact examination of Golden Dawn-style magick. Much less dense for the beginner than Regardie's opus, although the author has an annoying habit of throwing in a little "ooga-booga" stuff to keep the reader interested. Still, has all the basics, including the grade signs, telesmatic imagery, most of the major rituals, etc. A good choice for someone interested in this style, IMHO.
'Techniques of High Magic' by Francis King and Stephen Skinner.
Starts out with some good, old-fashioned Geomancy (magickal arts 'n' crafts, anyone?) and goes through much of the standard stuff. Has the rituals you would expect, i.e. LBRP, Middle Pillar, etc. Very helpful beginner material.
'Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts' by Donald Michael Kraig.
This book provides an excellent introduction to occult magick in general, and is a great study guide for the student of Ceremonial High Magick. Over the course of the lessons in the book, Kraig guides the student through all the stages necessary to reach the equivalent of the Golden Dawn's 'Adeptus Minor'. This is the highest level of proficiency in the Outer Orders of most GD styles of magick, and the launching point for the First Crisis -- attaining to the 'Knowledge and Conversation' of the 'Holy Guardian Angel'. In theory, the student should be able to pursue Self-Initiation using this book, and its suggested external references, with as strong a chance at success as the student's talents permit. This is a great starter book.
This book and this author have garnered for themselves the proper attention and distribution to be considered serious introduction to the subject of ceremonial magick, from a particular style. As with any author, his biases and limitations may not suit every reader. 'Modern Magick' should be compared and critically reviewed alongside portions of 'Magick in Theory and Practice' and Regardie in his most lucid moments creating primers.
Adam McLean, author: All the books/translations/prints you can get your hands on, because they are both the most intelligent and beautiful alchemy resources I've found.
'The Art and Practice of Clairvoyance' by Ophiel.
The volume includes a down-and-dirty set of practical attributions for the Tree of Life that's most helpful when working toward "real-world" ends.
'Ceremonial Magic' by Israel Regardie.
A great how-to guide for mining the Golden Dawn stuff and rolling your own rituals therefrom.
'The Golden Dawn' by Israel Regardie.
Contains the entire Golden Dawn system up to Theoricus Adeptus Minor grade. Enough material in this book for a lifetime's work. Provides a very clear, graduated, and comprehensive system to adeptship. Big and relatively dense, but well worth it.
'The Middle Pillar' by Israel Regardie.
An invaluable introduction to *practical* ceremonial magick. Gives in-depth instructions on the Qabalistic Cross, the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, and the vibratory formula of the Middle Pillar. The entire Golden Dawn ceremonial work is built upon the foundations of these three practices, and the visualization skills, concentration, awakening of internal power, and the "bringing down of the divine light" that persistent application to these exercises will develop, and the book emphasizes the utmost importance of pending a lot of time building up this foundation. The book concludes by linking in the results of these three practices to the greater body of Golden Dawn ceremonial work.
I cannot overstate the value of this little book. It provides the best *practical*, no bullshit introduction into the G.'.D.'. system that I've ever seen. One of the few books that gives the beginner a clear, direct, and unambiguous sequence of practices, which should continue to act as the foundation for any ceremonial magician's career.
'The One Year Manual: Formerly Twelve Steps to Spiritual Enlightenment' by Israel Regardie.
One of the books I wish I'd studied and practiced more when I first found it, as it lays some very important groundwork, whatever direction you're headed.
'The Tree of Life' by Israel Regardie.
A pretty decent intro to the Western "system".
'What You Should Know About The Golden Dawn' by Israel Regardie.
A history and discussion of the Golden Dawn and the events that destroyed it, a conceptual exposition of the Golden Dawn system of magick, and a variety of other interesting documents. A good companion to the practical instructions in the above two books.
'New Millennium Magic' by Donald Tyson.
A much better book, and a revised edition of 'The New Magus'. Has some good insights into the symbols used in modern magickal practice although there's a lot of Tyson's personal philosophy to wade through.
'Ritual Magic: What It is and How to Do It' by Donald Tyson.
This isn't by any means a superlative work, but it does have a fairly good overview of magickal philosophies, i.e. Wiccan vs. Hermetic vs. New Aeon, etc. Admittedly, this is the first work on the subject I picked up. Not too much practical work involved, but one really good visualization exercise. A tentative step, but may be what some are looking for. Good reading list.
'Qabalistic Tarot' by Robert Wang.
It is one of the best resources on both Tarot and Qabalah that I've ever used.
'The Magician's Companion' by Bill Whitcomb.
An encyclopedic reference book on both Western and Eastern symbology. Also lays out suggestions for a study program and creating your own rituals and tools.
All the charts, tables and other info you'll probably ever need, with an emphasis on crafting your own system. One of my favorite reference works.
'Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition' by Frances Yates.
Her book beautifully weaves together threads of western magic during the renaissance and has the scholarly references to boot.
Chaos Magick:
'Liber Null & Psychonaut' by Peter J. Carroll.
A clearly written, practical guide.
'Practical Sigil Magick' by Frater U.'.D.'.
Out of print but available used (most often for insane prices: low price from Amazon.com today is $175). It's really not worth that much money unless you're a collector and have money to burn, but if an affordable copy (like $50) is ever found I say grab it. Aside from providing a fairly clear and simple procedure for one type of practical magick, the author provides a brief, understandable summary of Spare's envisioned cosmo-psychology, to which every student of magick should at least be exposed.
'Visual Magic: A Manual of Freestyle Shamanism' by Jan Fries.
Hip technoshamanism.
'An Introduction to Chaos Magick' by Adrian Savage.
Recommended because of its humor and brevity.
'The Theatre of Magick' by Ray Sherwin.
Recommended because of its clarity and complexity.
'The Book of Pleasure (Self-Love)' by Austin Osman Spare.
Among other things, contains explanation of Spare's highly influential sigil method.
Paganism:
'Drawing Down the Moon' by Margot Adler.
The most comprehensive overview of various neo-Pagan religions, with an emphasis on their histories and communities.
'Real Magic' by Isaac Bonewits.
Recommended for its completeness and edification.
'Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner' by Scott Cunningham.
This book is highly recommend for those who want to learn a little bit more about Wicca, without necessarily a desire to practice it (like for curious friends and acquaintances). It's also a good book to read and practice from, in conjunction with more in-depth books like Raymond Buckland's 'Complete Book of Witchcraft', the Farrars, Gardner, and Valiente.
'Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion: An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural' by Arthur Lehman.
This is a good compliment to 'From Ritual to Romance', moving further back in time and looking at the issues from a different perspective.
'An ABC of Witchcraft' by Doreen Valiente.
A reference book with entries on many occult topics, written from a Gardnerian Wiccan perspective.
'From Ritual to Romance' by Jessie L. Weston.
This is a good, scholarly work tracing European Medieval themes to their preceding oral traditions.
'World Mythology' by Roy Willis.
A nice big comprehensive book on mythologies and religious practices all over the world. Reading the mythologies of other countries and lands helped me to decide my path. Once I found something that interested me, I would go back to the library and look up that certain religious practice. It is rather large and touches on quite a bit. It doesn't go too deeply into any one subject; otherwise, it would be quite large. It gives the reader an insight into another culture. Enough to know if you are interested.
A minimal library would also include 'The Golden Bough' (James George Frazer), 'The White Goddess' (Robert Graves), the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda (various editions available), and Bullfinch's 'Mythology'. I would also include 'The Golden Ass' (any edition) for those with a Gardnerian Wiccan bent. I also recommend the Norton Critical Edition of T.S. Elliot's 'Wasteland', and any good collection of W.B. Yeats poems and correspondences.
General Magick:
'Finite and Infinite Games' by James P. Carse.
Recommended for the same reasons as 'Prometheus Rising' (see below).
'Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience' by E. Bruce Goldstein.
A lot of the literature of empirical cognitive psychology is about how we can be fooled into thinking things are different from how they really are. Increasing understanding of when and how that happens is among the most worthy work an aspiring magician can do. This textbook is marketed for survey-type college courses, so it's fairly accessible to a general audience, and includes ample citations to primary sources articles (which I recommend students delve into by their 5th year of committed effort).
'Hypnosis for Beginners' by William H. Hewitt.
Hewitt's techniques are rather old-school, and might be frowned upon by NLP practitioners, mostly because they don't seem to work well for everyone who tries them, but they worked well enough for me. Some of Hewitt's ideas are a little screwy in my opinion, but I've used the techniques for many years with great results.
Max Freedom Long, author: His works are a nice historical curio, helpful in understanding the introduction of certain aspects of new age philosophy and thinking to Western culture. Long is perhaps the most influential but least cited author on the topic. It's a safe bet that Jane Roberts and Carlos Castaneda knew this literature.
'Prometheus Rising' by Robert Anton Wilson.
It is practical, humorous, interesting and can be used in conjunction with most magickal paths and belief systems.
'The Art of Memory' by Frances Yates.
It's very fundamental basic magick. Preliminary imagination work before one sets out to tackle the more difficult task of magickal techniques.
Folk Magick:
'The Evil Eye: An Account of This Ancient and Widespread Superstition' by Frederick Thomas Elworthy.
This fascinating 19th century text remains the definitive study on the belief in, and remedies against, the Eye of Envy or Mal Occhio. A basic cornerstone of folk magic that may have originated in ancient Sumer; the Invidious Eye is certainly old enough to be mentioned in the Bible, and is so widespread that it is still a core component of the magical belief systems of Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Hindu cultures.
'The Master Book of Candle Burning' by Henri Gamache.
The classic text on hoodoo candle burning in the pre-Santeria era; covers everything you need to know about color symbolism, figural candles, dressing candles, altar layouts, etc. The author was beyond doubt the best early 20th century writer on hoodoo.
'Pow-Wows: Long Lost Friend, a Collection of Mysteries and Invaluable Arts and Remedies' by John Hohman.
The best known, but by no means the only collection of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) folk magic. Contains material copied from The Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus, plus much else. Perhaps the first grimoire published in the USA.
'Mules and Men' by Zora Neale Hurston.
Best known for her novels, this African-American author was also a folklorist, and in this book she examines hoodoo as it was practiced in New Orleans and Florida during the 1920s and 30s. The first half of the book contains folktales; the second half is filled with rituals, spells, and formulas, plus personal accounts of root doctors like The Frizzly Rooster and Kitty Brown, from whom she learned her work.
'Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic' by Catherine Yronwode.
Scholarly and complete. Check out the extensive bibliography for more recommended books that deal with African American, Pennsylvania Dutch (German), and Native American folk magic.
