heh A healthy love-hate relationship.



"Advanced Magick for Beginners", by Alan Chapman. If you'd like a kind of "pre-view", check out the "Camel" and "Three steps to Heaven" e-books on the "Baptist's Head" site he's maintaining together with Duncan Barford.

It's good, because it's compact, fun to read, encyclopedic, and practice-oriented. It's serious because Alan actually did all those exercises and knows what he's writing about.

Cheers,
Florian

Have you looked into any of the Golden Dawn literature? Or stuff by A. E. Waite, Israel Regardie? Dione Fortune? Also, I think that the books by Ophiel are useful, esp his Art and Patrice of Astral Projection. For more modern stuff, I really recommend T. Thoryn Coyl's work. Best of luck

Hey yall.

I come mostly from the Postmodern Magickal scoundrels that Alan writes about in that grenade book, which I'm quite fond of. I think that it's interesting that you're rereading it. I probably ought to myself, but what struck me so deeply is how he said that magick is an experience. The line I've crafted and I finally get to publish write now is

"The difference between performing magick and studying it is sort of like the difference between falling in love with someone and reading their report card."

There. I am proud of myself. Anywho, magick is kind of my lover, and I'd like to share with you some of my favorite report cards.

Carl Jung's intro to the Iching (great for NOT EXPLAINING HOW IT WORKS, but making you think different regardless)

S.S.O.T.B.M.E. by Ramsey Dukes. I feel he's got the greatest definition of what magick actually "is" or can be.

Peter Carrol's stuff is great because he read everything, relays it all as entirely meaningless, uses complicated mathematics to daze you into believing him, and then stamps a pin on you that says "ILLUMINATI". He's kinda the ultimate "That book is evil!!!!!" guy, but there is more under the surface. He doesn't talk about morality much, but he generally seems to assume or suggest that we no better, not through "compassion" as such but through basic intelligence. (morality is unpacked well in SSOTBME)

Phil Hine's great because cute.

Also, Jan Fries rulz.



Thoughts on divination:
Here's some intellectual frameworks that one CAN use, if they really want to;

The reading makes the event happen (enchantment)
the event makes the reading turn out certain way (divination)
The effect is in our way of reading more than the actual cards, stick, etc alotted (this could psychic or psych)
We deep mind it (rorshack, psychological approach)

But even these divisions are half thought. Jung says that in medicine, we use cures before we know how they work. In short, I have no idea how it works! ;)

anyway, I hope this post didn't ruin anyone's lives!