Planetary Magick by world-famous occultists, authors, and magicians Melita Denning and Osborne Phillips, serves three purposes.
First, if you want more magical information about the planets, this book is for you. For each planet the book includes over sixty-five correspondences, including such things as colors, symbols, elements, music, trees, herbs, incenses, deities from several pantheons, and many, many more. You can use this information to enhance any type of magick you do. All you need to know is the planet your magick is associated with ― and you'll even learn how to determine that from this book. You'll even find the appropriate wine for rituals performed with a planetary energy!
Denning and Phillips, heads of the well-regarded magical order, the Aurum Solis, tell you how to prepare to do magick. This includes how to set up the altar, design your symbols, and prepare your body and mind.
Finally, if you're looking for a complete system of magick, this book includes sixty-five rituals for doing planetary magick! Here you will find sets of rituals (one for each of the seven planets associated with the days of the week) for such things as attuning to the planetary energies; summoning planetary spirits into a magick mirror; and using visions to astrally explore the planetary regions themselves.
Planetary magick lies at the root of all astrological, alchemical, and Qabalistic lore. Although the planetary powers of the cosmos are far beyond our intervention, their counterparts in the depths of the psyche are within our reach. This can be done using the special meditative and ritual methods given in this book.
If you are looking for something with more depth, for magick with more power, for ways to contact your deepest essence (where you find the source of your personal power), this book is a must. It covers everything down to the color of the robe you should wear while doing magick. It's all here.
This is a wonderful reference book for anyone interested in planetary workings and I highly recommend it. Contains complete correspondences and solo and group ritual examples that can easily be tailored for your needs. However, best for those with a solid base in Qabala to get the most out of it. Not for the beginner.
“Planetary Magick” is a resource that I will be recommending highly to peers, students, anyone who’ll listen. It contains its own well-developed liturgical/ceremonial system that is easy to understand and practice, or even adapt. A background in the liturgies of other Hermetic orders is not required. The practitioner can focus on (intellectual) learning and (spiritual) practice.
I will especially be recommending this book to solitary practitioners of Wicca and/or Witchcraft who’ve diligently practiced and integrated their elemental work. Planetary work (plus meditation) is where they can take things to “the next level” in their personal and spiritual development.
In this book you’ll find: - a throrough collection of planetary correspondances that introduces the reader to different resources and origins of Planetary Magic - a lesson in calculating appropriate dates and times - descriptions of Gods and Goddesses from multiple pantheons - introduction to hermetic practice methods and tools
A significant conflict I have with this book is its classification of saturnian deities and divine images. It presents the qualities of Saturn as an amalgamation the qualities of the Supernal Triangle of the Tree of Life, made up of the sephiroth Kether + Chokmah + Binah. I must insist that the qualities of “stellar” or “celestial” are distinctly Chokmah. I believe this was done because invoking true saturnian Binah energies, primordial and mysterious, can be quite harsh, disturbing and even dangerous. I appreciate and even agree with the substitution but wish there was a better explanation. The correspondences that are ‘low magick” are saturnian, and “high magick” are more stellar, and I don’t feel they’re quite right together.
Indirectly, for those of us who DO have experience with other hermetic traditions, this book offers excellent ideas of what we could add to, or how to adapt our practice. The rituals described are, in my opinion, are much more ornate than necessary, but they’ll probably excellently stimulate someone newer to planetary work.
Pretty interesting, but I always have to chuckle when I read anything involving non-Jewish "Quabalah" (I'm Jewish). There's the inevitable moment where I put the book down because I realized, "oh THAT'S the word they're trying to transliterate." I'm interested in looking at Jewish sources to back up their correspondences. But oof wading into Kabbalah that's in conversation with other Jewish texts is a little like going from kiddie pool to middle of ocean, no floaties. Maybe someday I'll have the chutzpah. Anyways, interesting book as a jumping off point of interest.
It is quite a dense book and some people may balk at it from that. That is not what I did and I was able to find many excellent ideas for rituals and connecting to planetary energies.