The Practical Art of Divine Magic: Contemporary & Ancient Techniques of Theurgy

by Patrick Dunn

The ancient world of Egypt, Greece, and Rome was home to a set of magical and spiritual technologies, called theurgy, that unite the practice of magic with the aims of religion. Theurgy, or "godwork," is the art of creating a stronger bond between the theurgist and his or her deities. The results of this stronger bond were imminently practical: stronger magic, more meaningful existence, and a better life.  With the fall of Rome, these techniques faded into obscurity, and many of them were lost forever.

This book revives, restores, and reinvents these practices for a contemporary pagan or magical practitioner. A mixture of scholarly research and examination of source texts and daring experimentation and extrapolation leads to a complete and workable system that can inform a variety of practices, all presented in a relaxed, lighthearted, and readable way. 

Whether you practice witchcraft, ceremonial magic, or chaos magic, you can benefit from the practice of theurgy. You will learn techniques to create stronger bonds with divine forces, call up and communicate with spiritual beings, summon a magical assistant, create statues imbued with divine spirit, and master your own mind. The ultimate goal is union with the divine, but theurgy is a practical path, and every step on that path is designed to improve your life.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Magic, Occult, Paganism, Witchcraft, Esoterica

336 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2015

Reviews

[Lora Milton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dunn explains the information in the book as a Postmodernist approach to esoteric ritual practices. It draws from Graeco-Roman historical perceptions and is basically about approaching old gods in a modern way to create divine magic. Theurgy basically means godwork.

I have to admit that I found it rather dry reading. There is an academic flavor to it that might suit another reader better. The chapters go through what divine magic is, what is a god, addresses of the gods ritual and tools, including astrology and planets and offerings, divination, daimonology, self actualization including how to make a talisman and knowing oneself.

Dunn talks about the lessons of Aleister Crowley about the Holy Guardian Angel and similar perceptions of a higher being and how the pronunciation of words can affect magic. Though I can't fault the information, I didn't feel it added to my store of knowledge significantly. I would suggest it perhaps for beginners in ceremonial magic.

[Dani Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I was drawn to after feeling like Theurgy was the next step for me on my spiritual journey, and it was perfect. It combined philosophy, spirituality, magick, and psychology. I found it very uplifting and will be something I refer to again and again. I'll put my favorite quotes below.

"To say that God turns away from the evil is like saying that the sun hides himself from the blind."

"...it's healthy to cultivate a skeptical mind about all magic... To accept unquestionably is to be unthinking. ...the unthinking religion is not worth pursuing."

"There's a light out there, and what we love so much are just shadows of something so much more lovable. That's the Theurgy, the work of the gods: to love."

[Cole Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dunn is a good author, and he presents a lot of helpful material for beginning to approach the Gods. As far as that goes, it's an easy recommendation to make. If you like his previous books, you'll probably like this one.

The handling of philosophy is a very mixed bag, pushing my overall rating for the book much closer to 3-stars, if you're not just starting out in engaging with the Gods. You get the hoary monotheist account of Neoplatonism that is more disappointing in that it doesn't get put to any use within the text. The segments on a One or Nous that transcends the Gods and equating the Gods with Ideas could be completely removed without altering the substantial material. Replacing it with more extensive use of the Phaedrus and Symposium would have made the text more coherent and suitable for polytheists.

[Ivan Lanìa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quando cresci a pane, mitologia greco-romana, filosofia classica e studi di lingua latina e greca, in età adulta diventi o un fascista evoliano o un marxista neopagano, a seconda del tuo grado di queerità e di quanto sei cosciente che la storia umana non si è interrotta nel 476 d.C.; io appartengo alla seconda categoria, The Practical Art of Divine Magic è stato il mio primo manuale di teologia e pratiche di culto (dono graditissimo di un caro amico), ed è stata una lettura bomba.
Questo volume contiene letteralmente tutto quello che serve per imbastire un culto domestico degli dèi olimpici aggiornato al XXI secolo, procedendo gradualmente dal basilare al tecnico: iniziamo con un sunto di metafisica e di etica neoplatonica per come le conosciamo dalle fonti antiche (essenzialmente Plotino e Giamblico), proseguiamo con una panoramica sull'enneade eliopolitana del pantheon egizio, sui dodici Olimpi greco-romani (più i tre dèi liminali Dioniso, Giano ed Ecate) e sul culto ermetico dei corpi celesti (per i passatisti che volessero dare credito alla divinazione astrologica...), trattiamo poi le tipologie di simboli con le quali rivolgersi agli dèi, arriviamo alle vere e proprie ritualità di culto (la "magia divina" o meglio teurgia del titolo) quali meditazione, libagioni, sacrifici, consacrazione di simulacri e tecniche divinatorie (non solo astrologiche); culminiamo con tecniche per onorare gli spiriti minori (i famosi daimones socratici, genii loci, e affini) e per attuare miracoli (ma con la taumaturgia non si scherza, non è esattamene "magia rispettabile") e concludiamo con un riepilogo sul fatto che il politeismo greco-romano non è una fonte di potere a uso e consumo degli ambiziosi (tipo i maghi neri praticanti di goezia...) bensì una teoria e prassi spirituale fondata sulla moderazione e la saggezza – come insegnano le famose massime delfiche. Tutti questi temi sono trattati con un'ammirevole bilanciamento fra esposizione della dottrina antica e opportuni aggiornamenti al presente (esempio banale, viene escluso il sacrificio di sangue) e analogamente la voce autoriale di Patrick Dunn oscilla senza soluzione di continuità fra il didattico autorevole (ma mai cattedratico) e deliziosi aneddoti esemplificativi – la presenza in ogni capitolo di dialoghi platonici fra la maestra Philanike e il suo allievo Euthymios per esemplificare certi ragionamenti, poi, è la ciliegina sulla torta.
Al di là della completezza di trattazione, a livello di struttura non scherzo se dico che questo volume è in generale uno dei migliori manuali pratici che io abbia mai letto, grazie alla presenza diffusa in tutto il testo di esercizi esposti nel giusto dettaglio e di complessità incrementale, e a un atteggiamento complessivo motivante e conciliante che entusiasma il lettore a immergersi nella materia, senza mascherare le difficoltà di percorso ma evidenziando il potenziale dei risultati. Non mi spingo a valutarlo da 5/5 perché alcuni temi pratici vengono lasciati privi di un adeguato esercizio (ad esempio la divinazione tramite sortes librariae, che sembrano semplici ma non lo sono!) e perché il manuale è parco di informazioni "d'inventario", ad esempio una bibliografia di fonti valide per leggere e meditare sui miti antichi, e potrebbe lasciare spaesati i novellini assoluti – per dirne una, io stesso che me ne intendo ho scoperto a mie spese che La biblioteca di Apollodoro è inadatta a tale scopo, perché è sì una summa di materiale sistematizzato ma è stilisticamente aridissima.

Per concludere, un testo confortevole e accogliente, dotto e aperto, l'ingresso ottimale nell'ambiente del politeismo postmoderno.

[Rosemary Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Patrick Dunn distills the profound wisdom writings of Neoplatonist philosopher Iamblichus into a practical spirituality for modern time. Theurgy, as articulated by the ancients, is the physical approach to reestablishing the bonds between human and divine life, with an understanding that the corporeal is neither inferior nor antithetical to spiritual experience. Its goal, henosis, is achieved through ritual and ceremony – an art that has been both neglected and denigrated through the ages with the rise of religious authoritarianism. Mr. Dunn guides the student through the steps of restoring this great tradition, without advocating any one religious theme or path.
The philosophical roots of modern magic deserve more books of this caliber; this is an excellent reference and teaching text.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really excellent, well-sourced book on... well, basically, a modern understanding and orientation toward Hermetic, Hellenic and Neoplatonic practice in a modern pagan context.

I have to give huge credit for Dunn for three things:

1. Actually well sourced and documented research on Hellenic and Hermetic practice, and I know enough about these primary sources that I'm at the point where I could tell if he was bullshitting
2. Avoiding the traps of ancient through rennaissance writers of "matter bad, spirit good"
3. Making a good faith effort to create fidelity to ancient worship in a context that makes any kind of sense at all for modern practitioners

As always, I have a couple of quibbles. While I don't have any qualms with its technical merits, I think he gives a bit of a rough landing at the end of the book when trying to describe nondualism. That said, I think he does a better job than many actual chapters of the Corpus Hermeticum that tend to eschew matter in favor of spirit, so ultimately I can't complain.

I think for me personally some of the thaumaturgic and theurgic practices still veer a little close to reconstructionism. I don't actually think that's a bad thing per se because I think it provides a really good foundation, but I just can't imagine myself chanting in foreign languages or doing khernips, in part because my 3rd floor "no open flame" apartment is not exactly friendly to this practice. But there was a lot of stuff in here that I think is adaptable and useful for constructing similar practices in a more modern context, and I appreciate that Dunn explains How To Do The Thing.

Even if you're not a hellenic pagan (or a pagan at all) I actually think this is a great resource on explaining NeoPlatonic and Hermetic philosophy and Hellenic theology. Some people have complained this book was "too academic" but no, that's exactly what I want from a book like this. I would be much more skeptical and frustrated if this book wasn't interested in explaining the historical context and sourcing of these philosophies and rituals, and less likely to heed any of what it had to say.

[Roberts Smitins · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Practical Art of Divine Magic: Contemporary & Ancient Techniques of Theurgy” contains a lot of useful information.

Patrick Dunn describes not only various traditions and practices from all around the world, but you will also find many interesting ideas coming from the realms of philosophy and psychology here as well.

This is a very well-written work. The author uses simple and clear means of expression even when speaking about rather difficult topics.

The book is a great combination of theory and practical knowledge. I really enjoyed reading this work!

[Paul Bard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unusually grounded and practical expert insight into ancient Roman and Greek magic

[Arbak · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s the whisper that tells us there’s something outside of our cave. There’s a light out there, and what we love so much are just shadows of something so much more lovable.

[MarcellusFairleyIII · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesomeness

How could the practice of divine magick not be anything but total awesomeness. I wish I could be a GOD at least for a day.....

[Mitchell Stern · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative and well-written book.

[Jenni Schell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book. It had a lot of information that I was expecting. Great job.

[Analouise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book by Patrick Dunn. I appreciate Dunn's thoughtful approach to magic. Highly recommended.