Occultism Its Theory And Practice

by Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah (Author)

An exhaustively complete and fully documented book on the published and unpublished codices of occult lore. Never before have been gathered into one volume the processes of magic from the Grimoires, Arabic sources, Great and Little Alberts and the Heptameron of Peter de Abano, with the conjuration of spirits according to the occultists and all the quaint and fascinating textual formulae alleged to achieve the materialization and rulership of the princes of the spirit world. Profusely illustrated.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Sue Dounim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shah's book for its size contains hundreds of short excerpts of magic and occult works in English, Arabic, Hindi and European languages. The works and authors cited are from medieval times through about 1900. Some of them are well known now (Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, Barret's Magus, etc.)
It is intended as a popular work, although the footnotes are pretty thorough, and the whole work is incredibly free of errors of attribution and typos.
Shah is serious and sympathetic to his subject, but not a believer himself. On a careful reading you can see an occasional felicitous phrasing or mildly ironic observation that humanizes him.
I recommend it as a wonderful and wide ranging overview of magic and folk beliefs.
Shah is the father of another very well known writer, Idries Shah, more well-known for his works on Sufism and Mulla Nasrudin, but who also wrote works on magic.