Seeking Recommendation Best book on magick for a beginner?

[Xenophon]

That point of view is also mentioned in demons of magick by Gordon winterfield and Henry Archer's book (although they work with angels in those books not just demons) and the only difference is that the author of LHD is more confident about the truth of this theory

Oh. People can be confident re: just about anything. I intellectually hang with some hard-core Satanists. The kind who claim the Goetic demons are friends and allies. None of them puts a particle of credence in utterly selfless demons. (To find those, you have to go to Washington D.C./ the Rio Grande and watch them giving away the country)

 

[Robert Ramsay]

Almost every book on magic has at least some introductory chapter on theory, and everyone has a different opinion - there is no such thing as a Unified Theory of Magic. No two magicians will exactly agree on how it works and everybody comes up with their own opinion once they gained some experience. There is always the danger of becoming so stuck in a morass of theories that one never gets anything done. It's also possible to switch paradigms, for example to consider spirits as objectively existing beings and another time as parts of your own mind (I'm in a middle of a long-term working where my practical understanding would often oscillate between these extremes). All in all, I would try to gain some experience and only then analyse them and see if they fit into some accepted theory. Yes, this book says this and that book says that but there is only one way to find out which is author is right, and that is practicing.

I have a Unified Theory of Magic which is built on much of the current scientific paradigm

It is not complete (what is?) but it is pretty unified.

Book name is in my sig, and on Amazon.

 

[Elementriloquist]

Almost every book on magic has at least some introductory chapter on theory, and everyone has a different opinion - there is no such thing as a Unified Theory of Magic. No two magicians will exactly agree on how it works and everybody comes up with their own opinion once they gained some experience. There is always the danger of becoming so stuck in a morass of theories that one never gets anything done. It's also possible to switch paradigms, for example to consider spirits as objectively existing beings and another time as parts of your own mind (I'm in a middle of a long-term working where my practical understanding would often oscillate between these extremes). All in all, I would try to gain some experience and only then analyse them and see if they fit into some accepted theory. Yes, this book says this and that book says that but there is only one way to find out which is author is right, and that is practicing.

I think you quoted someone else by mistake with the last part, I didn't say this:

I figure it is best to start my journey into Magick by first understanding the theory behind it.

Any recommendations for a good theoretical text?

I would never ask for a theoretical text lol. I only ever want books with practical training, because theory you can't test will just waste your time and more likely place you on the path of becoming an armchair magician.

I think theory is pointless without capability so practice and testing needs to be a part of theory. I find that people best understand something by experiencing it and/or doing it. Just reading about something leaves too much room for imagination & doubt. Someone can learn all the theory of aerodynamics and piloting that they want. Until they actually fly a plane they won't be a pilot, and they won't really understand how flying a plane works.

Theory needs to be incrementally paired up with practical training, and you have to actually succeed at the practical training to truly make sense of the theory. A theoretical text could try to explain a feeling of a specific energy you feel when you do a specific kind of meditation, but literally anybody can placebo themselves into thinking that they are feeling what is described and that they did the meditation right, especially if the description is vague and they are desperate for success. So there must be a practical way to test whether or not you actually did the meditation right, and it must be a method that accounts for your cognitive biases.

Theory without practice is just fiction. Until you successfully put it into practice, those writings are no more valid than any random theory you conceive of yourself. It's like Schrodinger's Cat, the theory is both fictional and factual at the same time, until you test the theory and find out for yourself which one it is.

 

[DiLoco_DelEted]

Perhaps start with advanced books, find your interest, and go with more fundamental books from there?
My first three books were The Magus, The Golden Dawn by Regardie, and Three Books of Occult Pilosophy. From there I explored Wicca, Satanism, Luciferian, Tarot and others. You'll find your true path at some point.

 

[bgshawn499]

Hey all:

I am new to the forum and to magick generally.

So far in my journey I've been reading academic works on western esotericism. I'd like to start venturing deeper into magick and I want to ask for your guy's advice on where to start.

Can any recommend their top books for beginners on magick specifically?

Thanks everyone

- S33k3r

Hey S33k3r,
First of all, welcome to WF. I believe this is the first time I've had the pleasure of interacting with you. I have two suggestions that we're helpful to me early on. "Strategic Sorcery," By Jason Miller is a 52 week bootcamp that is basically a Magick 101. It's a course that has been around now for a few years. It's a Magick Course that is geared towards the layman. If you can commit yourself to completing one lesson, every week for a year. I can guarantee that you'll come away with a well-rounded, basic knowledge of Magick A-Z. If you contact me, I can send you the lesson. I also believe it may be available right here in the library. My second recommendation is to get yourself a copy of "Sorcerer's Secrets" By Jason Miller as well.
I know for a fact that it's available here in the library. Sorcerer's Secrets is another book that is written for the beginning Magician. It also goes hand in hand with Jason's Strategic Sorcery course.
One more suggestion I'll make, just because it was so helpful to me. Start yourself a daily meditation routine. You'll find that proper meditation will help you tremendously as you start to learn different magical rituals.

Two other tools that have been large assets as I've journeyed down the Magickal rabbit hole is "Foolish Fish," and "Glitch Bottle." Both of whom you can find on YouTube. Between the two of them, they're videos will answer almost any questions that you may have.
LOVE&RESPECT,
SHAWN S

 

[Xenophon]

I have a Unified Theory of Magic which is built on much of the current scientific paradigm

It is not complete (what is?) but it is pretty unified.

Book name is in my sig, and on Amazon.

Didn't Goedel drive himself nigh to distraction chasing both completeness and consistency?

 

[Robert Ramsay]

Didn't Goedel drive himself nigh to distraction chasing both completeness and consistency?

Goedel had other problems... but in his work, he actually proved that no formal system can be both consistent and complete. I think it's more accurate to say that he drove David Hilbert to distraction

But to be clear, when I said 'complete' I was not referring to mathematical completeness of that sort.

 

[Xenophon]

Goedel had other problems... but in his work, he actually proved that no formal system can be both consistent and complete. I think it's more accurate to say that he drove David Hilbert to distraction

But to be clear, when I said 'complete' I was not referring to mathematical completeness of that sort.

Good. In grad school, we had to wade through an hellacious long "completeness" proof of the prof's brand of logical system. THEN later he smuggled in some shamefaced demonstration of coherence, but admitted that the two proofs couldn't dwell happily together. Which is what everyone had whinged about at semester's beginning. I guess ol' Prof. Ignacio figgered it wasn't enough to evoke Goedel, we had to invoke him and BE Goedel for a season. I guess...Mebbe...or could be the whole long episode was like Zen training. The sound of both hands wanking or some such.

Post automatically merged: Nov 22, 2023

I've been thinking about curricula recently. It's been a while since I was in any kind of tutorship and, when I was, that was within something of a tradition (i.e.; "my teacher taught/teaches me this, so I shall teach it to you"). Outside of all that, most of the beginners books I've seen promoted in recent years are based on the Golden Dawn (which, if you're going to do it, is best done by Lyam Thomas Christopher's book).

Liber Null is quite a good book to get the mechanics of magic without a symbolic system. It teaches something that can be used straight-away and it can be adapted to any symbolic system that later catches the eye. So I'd go with that first and do all of the exercises. Have a good physical exercise routine alongside this.

While working through that, I'd cast a pretty wide net and read (only read for now) about as many culture-specific magical systems as possible. If something is alluring make a note of it, put it out of mind and come back to that note in a few months. Is it still alluring or was it a passing fancy? If the former, it might be a key for you. If there's confusion, consider getting one of those ancestral DNA tests and research the tradition that corresponds to your strongest ancestral pool.

I'd also read David Shoemaker's Living Thelema and P. D. Ouspensky's In Search of the Miraculous. They'll give you an outline of various things but remember that the map is not the territory. I'd further read Manly Palmer Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Ages for an older overview of the occult and something like Colin Wilson's The Occult for something (slightly) more up to date.

That should all account for the first eighteen months or so.

Genetics is destiny. (And, no. I'm not a blondie haired Aryan superman.) My own gene-pool is rather embarassing. Let's call the land Elbonia. Google "famous Elbonians" and among the tiny number of hits you get is an 18th century highwayman, hanged at age 25. THAT is the national hero. (Though a few quiet die-hards do remember General Turanec too.)

 

[Jsinclair]

Hey all:

I am new to the forum and to magick generally.

So far in my journey I've been reading academic works on western esotericism. I'd like to start venturing deeper into magick and I want to ask for your guy's advice on where to start.

Can any recommend their top books for beginners on magick specifically?

Thanks everyone

- S33k3r

Download the Collection "Foundations" in the Book Shares. The contents listed will give you an engaging overview and inspiration for further study/practice.

 

[magick&psionics]

Kybalion by the three initiates

 

[neilwilkes]

Hey all:

I am new to the forum and to magick generally.

So far in my journey I've been reading academic works on western esotericism. I'd like to start venturing deeper into magick and I want to ask for your guy's advice on where to start.

Can any recommend their top books for beginners on magick specifically?

Based on the above you need to sart at the very beginning.
I can recommend Crowley's Book 4 - not for his views on anything, but for the following 'Libers' (as he called them) that are included:
1 - Liber O vel Manus et Sagittae
This is to learn some of the basics and to get information on what you need to learn first. Valuable for the Lesser Pentagram/Hexagram rituals.
2 - Liber E vel Exercitiorum
Learn control of your breathing, posture & thought amongst other things - extremely important, because you must learn visualization techniques or else you will fail in all. You need to be master of your body, mind, senses & consciousness at all times. Physical clairvoyance is good to learn, but not vital like the others (or so I believe).
3 - Book 4 Pt 3 - Magick in Theory and Practice (the recent Skinner edition - Liber Aba - is preferred)
Has both of the above and so much more included.

The intent is not to make you (or even try to make you) a Thelemite. I am not a thelemite but I can still recommend the books above with no hesitation whatsoever because they are superbly written in the main. Be careful as Crowley has left various 'gotcha' moments in Book 4.
You already said you've been reading works on Western Esotericism - good for you! - but you should also read works written in other systems as well. When you find the system that suits you best you will know it instantly.

 

[Fausto]

Lovercraft's books.

 

[Wintruz]

Lovercraft's books.

Useful for inspiration and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward does emphasise that power comes from complex, long term magical transformations but... the first book someone should read to get a grasp of magic? Erm, no.

I wrote a reply to the initial question about eighteen-months ago recommending Liber Null which is a good place to start with non-lens specific training. I'd add to that: Crowley's Magick Without Tears. Crowley wrote it late in his life and much of his need for sensation had dissolved by then. He still uses thirty words where ten would do and his references are dense and unnecessary ("The Law is for All but I'll still mock you for not having a classical education like I did! Hahaha, die peasants!") but it is lucid and a careful reader would come away from it with a good understanding of the deeper mechanics.

 

[Xenophon]

Useful for inspiration and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward does emphasise that power comes from complex, long term magical transformations but... the first book someone should read to get a grasp of magic? Erm, no.

I wrote a reply to the initial question about eighteen-months ago recommending Liber Null which is a good place to start with non-lens specific training. I'd add to that: Crowley's Magick Without Tears. Crowley wrote it late in his life and much of his need for sensation had dissolved by then. He still uses thirty words where ten would do and his references are dense and unnecessary ("The Law is for All but I'll still mock you for not having a classical education like I did! Hahaha, die peasants!") but it is lucid and a careful reader would come away from it with a good understanding of the deeper mechanics.

Good choices both. I'd pick Liber Null mostly because chasing Crowley's references quickly gets maddening. His idea of "relevance" is...Let's just say that if SkullTraill goes to Hell, he will spend eternity moderating a forum with 10,000 Crowleys.

Liber Null is also of interest because it is a highly accessible system that is NOT based on the Qabalah. An unhealthy high proportion of beginning texts just kind of assume Qabalah is the only game in town. The TINA spirit: There is No Alternative.

Mockery can be a good teaching tool. I went to a podunk U.S. public school. It was snotty Brit shites of Crowley's background and epoch who stung me enough to actually start seriously reading. So the masochist in me benefits a bit from Crowley's contempt.