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Of Myth and Magick
A comparison of religion, philosophy and magick throughout history. Are all religions basically the same? What are the similarities between the New Age, Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Mormonism and the Jehovah’s Witnesses? What do paganism and Gnostic Christianity have in common? Is secular humanism really superior to “mere religion” or just another means to the same end? Is there any truly original supernatural philosophy? What sets it apart from current religious practice? Is there a way to find Truth and contentment?
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First published July 8, 2011
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About the author
M.E. Brines
47 books23 followersM.E. Brines spent the Cold War assembling atomic artillery shells and preparing to unleash the Apocalypse (and has a medal to prove it.) But when peace broke out, he turned his fevered, paranoid imagination to other pursuits. Designer of more than twenty sci-fi wargames and the Fantasy Nations play-by-e-mail game (all available below) he spends his spare time scribbling yet another steampunk romance occult adventure novel, which despite certain rumors absolutely DOES NOT involve time-traveling Nazi vampires! (Not this time, anyway.)
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 15, 2015
Short and not very informative
Not a lot of content. More opinion than factual. Not what I expected or was looking for. Maybe break down into sections and expand with more facts. Still not sure where magic came in.
Not a lot of content. More opinion than factual. Not what I expected or was looking for. Maybe break down into sections and expand with more facts. Still not sure where magic came in.
June 10, 2017
I'm going to be charitable here and say that the book failed to address the title. It offered nothing but a dribble of a complaint against the Christian church. And that was done poorly.
Here is a less charitable review. This was a load of shit. Its only saving grace is that I read it in a few minutes and I'm pissed that the author stole a small part of my life. The author deserves to apologize to the world for sending out such crap as this.
No. I'm not a Christian. I do not feel compelled to defend a religion that I do not agree with. I am offended at the lack of thought, absence of clarity, and the pushing out of more stupidity into a world already teeming with idiocy.
Here is a less charitable review. This was a load of shit. Its only saving grace is that I read it in a few minutes and I'm pissed that the author stole a small part of my life. The author deserves to apologize to the world for sending out such crap as this.
No. I'm not a Christian. I do not feel compelled to defend a religion that I do not agree with. I am offended at the lack of thought, absence of clarity, and the pushing out of more stupidity into a world already teeming with idiocy.
September 16, 2021
I'm not sure where this came from. It was on my Kindle so I probably found it online for free. First off, it's not a book. At best it's a short essay. Second, it's almost entirely wrong about every single point made. It reads like a high schoolers angry generalization of religion and science without any depth of understanding of either. It draws nonsensical conclusions from nowhere and runs down lines of conjecture that begin on false premises and get flimsier from there. Don't waste your time.
December 10, 2016
WTF?! 1. Title has nothing to do with content. 2. This is all opinion not fact. 3. If an author chooses to write a book bashing religion they should do research first. The things he stated as being Judaism are not. Don't waste your time trying to read this.
July 27, 2017
Not Informative
I wish I had known ahead of time that this tome was a basic one-sided rant. I was hoping for an informative intellectual comparison of philosophy, spirituality and religion.
I wish I had known ahead of time that this tome was a basic one-sided rant. I was hoping for an informative intellectual comparison of philosophy, spirituality and religion.
May 3, 2020
Very basic and not providing any information outside of author's opinion.
September 3, 2016
A very short essay by Brines on a subject which should have required discussion at length. Instead, the title of the chapter suggests that the author wants to talk about it more - What is the Purpose of Life?
Brines thought that mankind through fear of the unknown or lust for power sought the secrets of power, influence and control over nature. Philosophers have been seeking the answers but they value logic above faith and require evidence. By contrasting that with the religious, nothing causes itslef; the cause of anything lies outside. Whatever caused this world to be, whatever might explain our purpose, must lie outside it; logically any answer must lie beyond the realm of the supernatural. Other observations and discussion on the science on material world and the religious study on harmonizing with God's will are engaging and absorbingly thoughtful.
Brines' proposition brings about a shocking but fundamental viewpoint: both science and religion pursue the same goal only by different route - they are selfish attempt to bend the rulers of the univese to mankind's will and through them to gain control of the universe. A practitioner of magic proclaims that the gods do have power that comes through knowledge denied to ordinary mortals. Mankind should not to attempt to influence those who hold that power but to learn their secrets and wrest that power from their hands. In his own word, "I would not worship the gods; I would be one." Thus begins the "New Thoughts Movement".
The essay does not dwell further and deeper from that point on, however. It comes to a sudden closing, which is a bit off, by talking about the only way to achieve true peace is to just let go, vaguely suggesting the religious control over mind of the mankind and that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not inherently magical but that the eater could break a rule the Creator had made. A slight attack on the Christianity, Brines did not explain further about it nor the "alternatives" in this little book. Rather, one should see this as an introduction to what the author's propositions in more details contained in other works.
Brines thought that mankind through fear of the unknown or lust for power sought the secrets of power, influence and control over nature. Philosophers have been seeking the answers but they value logic above faith and require evidence. By contrasting that with the religious, nothing causes itslef; the cause of anything lies outside. Whatever caused this world to be, whatever might explain our purpose, must lie outside it; logically any answer must lie beyond the realm of the supernatural. Other observations and discussion on the science on material world and the religious study on harmonizing with God's will are engaging and absorbingly thoughtful.
Brines' proposition brings about a shocking but fundamental viewpoint: both science and religion pursue the same goal only by different route - they are selfish attempt to bend the rulers of the univese to mankind's will and through them to gain control of the universe. A practitioner of magic proclaims that the gods do have power that comes through knowledge denied to ordinary mortals. Mankind should not to attempt to influence those who hold that power but to learn their secrets and wrest that power from their hands. In his own word, "I would not worship the gods; I would be one." Thus begins the "New Thoughts Movement".
The essay does not dwell further and deeper from that point on, however. It comes to a sudden closing, which is a bit off, by talking about the only way to achieve true peace is to just let go, vaguely suggesting the religious control over mind of the mankind and that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not inherently magical but that the eater could break a rule the Creator had made. A slight attack on the Christianity, Brines did not explain further about it nor the "alternatives" in this little book. Rather, one should see this as an introduction to what the author's propositions in more details contained in other works.
July 18, 2013
The author makes some good points regarding Christ's teachings vs. those of Christianity. No there's not a smidget of myth or magick in this book. He mentions religion and the occult in something that looks like a thesis statement but then doesn't discuss either. I'm not sure what the point of this book is since the title Doesn't match the content and the ending cuts off seemingly in mid-discussion. Most readers of myth and magick will want to pass on this one.
May 25, 2015
ME Brines is an angry, angry man. I'm giving this 2 stars instead of the 1 it deserves just because it is SO absurd, it's fcking hilarious. I don't know what was the best part: was it imagining him stabbing scarecrows (#strawman defense)? Was it laughing when he called women the 'dregs of society'? Was it thinking 'source? source? do we have aaaaany sources here? No? Okay' with every inane statement he put forth? I don't know, but I enjoyed it all.
September 21, 2015
Power every one wants it
Be open minded,there are some things better left alone I agree it is great open,s your mind to higher knowledge you are believing you have it all and you do But later on you fall off the cliff
And then you are left with nothing!!
Be open minded,there are some things better left alone I agree it is great open,s your mind to higher knowledge you are believing you have it all and you do But later on you fall off the cliff
And then you are left with nothing!!
December 28, 2015
I don't know why this book is named "Of Myth and Magic." There was only a couple paragraphs that mentioned myths or magic. The comparisons were ..."ok," but the last half of the book seemed more of a conversion rather than comparison.
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March 1, 2012I wrote it.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews