The Book of Ceremonial Magic

by Arthur Edward Waite, Mark Oxford

Noted occult historian A. E. Waite created this meticulously researched survey in order to unite and interpret the scattered and often-inaccessible details of magical traditions. Part I contains essential passages from prominent magical texts dating from the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries; Part II analyzes these texts from a modern perspective.
A century after its debut, Waite's work remains among the best sources of information on occult subjects related to the study of the supernatural. Although the author does not condone the practice of black magic, he defends occult practitioners and praises the disciplines of astrology and alchemy. Modern readers will find this book an extraordinarily complete tour of the history of magic, replete with details of casting spells, conjuring spirits, and other occult practices.

Genres: Occult, Magick, Nonfiction, Magic, Esoterica, Religion, Reference

376 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1911

About the author

Arthur Edward Waite was a scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. As his biographer, R.A. Gilbert described him, "Waite's name has survived because he was the first to attempt a systematic study of the history of western occultism viewed as a spiritual tradition rather than as aspects of proto-science or as the pathology of religion."

Reviews

[Zee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note: I gave up on page 100, after skipping ahead to part 2 and realizing the whole book, to me, is a waste of words.

I don't know what I expected this book to be about when I bought it. Maybe I thought it would be about how to perform ceremonial magic. Maybe I thought it'd be insightful. Maybe I should have questioned why "Jehovah," and "Emmanuel" were on the cover of the book. Maybe I will finally learn my lesson to read the inside cover to see what the book is about before I fork over $7.50 for it.

But enough of that. You know when you had to write research papers in college and you were forced to find academic sources, so you type your query into your college's database and end up getting something with the most perfect title ever, only to click on it and find it's a book review instead of the information you need?

That's this book. Literally. The book is basically just a bunch of book reviews of grimoires from the medieval era with some prayers stuck here and there and maybe Charlemagne's name thrown in to spice things up.

Maybe that's useful to someone else, but for a novice looking for information into the occult who thought this would be a great reference, oh my god I just wanted to throw this book against the wall. Repeatedly. It's as dry as my mom's infamous pork chops and as far as I can tell all 337 pages were not worth cutting down a tree for. I even skipped ahesd to part two, which is supposed to be about how to do ceremonial magic. It just keeps going on and on about what different texts from the medieval era think. And then what he thinks about it. And then he throws in a bunch of prayers.

Jesus don't want your ceremonial occultism nonsense any more than I want to read it.

And I mean, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Maybe I'm just annoyed, but really it's because I'm uneducated about practicing magick and when I learn a thing I'll be super ashamed of this judgement and I'll come back and shout praise for Waite from the mountain tops. But for right now, quite honestly, I'd rather have some trees than this book.

[Logan Albright · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is essentially a compilation and distillation of various medieval grimoires, with snarky commentary by Waite, the ubiquitous wet blanket of occultism. While his scholarship is impressive and the historical context of these writings instructive, Waite's obvious contempt for his subject matter puts a somewhat of a damper on things. Additionally, he has made deliberate alterations or omissions from most of the included rituals with the aim of making them unusable (a puzzling practice, since he steadfastly claims not to believe in any of them.)

In its day, this must have been quite a valuable resource, but since most of these grimoires are now readily available in English translation, it has become somewhat redundant. Still, it's a handy reference work, although by no means essential.

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anybody who is 35 years or older and got into the occult early on probably has read this book, considering it was one of the few books you could actually find with somewhat ease. Considering the time it was a good book to have as an introduction but A.E. Waite was notorious for leaving critical stuff out of what he put into his books. So nowadays be happy we have so many original source material so readily available and don't have to rely upon this. I give it three stars mainly for the nostalgia.

[Edric Unsane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may be an Occult classic, but it has become a bit outdated in terms of modern research. The Book of Ceremonial Magic is still worth reading, but I would advise that the Reader move on to current author's like Owen Davies and Jake Stratton-Kent if you are interested in more accurate, and better annotated, pieces of literature which are similar to this work by A.E. Waite.

[Katrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

what an interesting book! this book combines several works from the middle ages, all of them based around spells, invocations, experiments, black and white magic. what makes this book so interesting is the commentary from Waite. He is very critical and in my opinion thus ahead of his time. he first of all shows how the distinction between black and white magic is often stretched.. calling on a demon to do a good deed is still black magic? calling on an angel to do some mischief is still white magic? also Waite seems to not believe in any of the invocations and compiled them out of historical interest and interest in the occult. this book thus is exactly what i'd like to read, with more modern commentary, also thoughts on the origin and how most books are younger than what clerics tried to sell them for. there must have been a lot foul play in it, too. i was most amused by some spells in the grimoire, when there is an exact copy of the reply the demon will make. yeah, right, whatever demon i call upon will answer in the same fashion :D there is a lot ridiculous stuff, but then again it's from the middle ages. quite the good read, all in all, i enjoyed it.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thurough and thoughtful...

I had recently come across a series of particular manuscripts in languages that I don't speak (common in my interests), and upon inquiring about one particular manuscript that I was hoping to find a pdf of in its original language and illustrations, I was directed to this book as it included the translation thereof.

As a practitioner of necromancy, I found the section on composite rituals to be of most interest. Though I did find it hard to tell when I was reading the translators commentary or the translation itself, the way it was structured, I feel that this matters less to a practitioner, though would be quite important to a scholar.

Ultimately, I would love to have a copy of this on my shelf, and I suspect it would be a great addition to any practitioner, and most scholars of the English speaking persuasion.

[Xavier · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's extremely funny how much Waite wants to convince the reader he's a good, dutiful Christian and that all of the rituals he's giving in excruciating detail are never to be practiced or used by anyone... except maybe, just maybe, the most righteous, well-studied, and just, like himself. As a tome it's mostly useful for its collating and reprinting of older grimoires and providing a sort of bibliography, but the actual commentary is mostly poor and not particularly interesting, which is a disappointment from someone so well-regarded.

[Raphael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am sure that when this book was published, it was a good contribution to the general public`s knowledge about magic. It felt a bit dated and shallow, but at its time, it was probably a good introduction to ceremonial magic. As for today, many excellent books far surpass this one.

[Royce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summary of the most important medieval grimoires. Occasionally Waite's own religious beliefs intrude on his commentary, but I feel like they don't distract from what he has presented.

[Shubham Gune · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi I m SHUBHAM

[Alla · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice

[Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is essentially an abridged collection of older grimoires. This makes it repetitive if you’ve read any of them but it is still a valuable resource.

[Arthur B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Waite did tend to waffle on interminably, and he had his biases, but this is nonetheless a nice and (in its Wordsworth edition) modestly-priced summary of a wide range of magical texts.

[Jean-marie Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not even sure why I finished this. Possibly interesting if you believe in biblical figures

[Lilith Sussy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lengthy diatribe precedes the works included in this book, in which Waite thoroughly expresses his stance on any form of magical practise which occurs outside his solidly Catholic views. Beyond that, this book contains an analysis of several well-known books on occult subjects, ranging from the works attributed to Solomon to grimoires said to have been penned by folks in the Vatican. The literature is well sourced and cross-referenced, and he provides detailed support for his doubts on the publishing dates of several books as well as the identities of the alleged authors. A E Waite interjects with his views repeatedly, and at times edits or drops material from referenced grimoires in an effort to foil the recreation of the material he's quoted. A good historical reference by an eruditic man; be wary of preaching.

[Äsruþr Cyneaþsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An often erroneous work, Waite has however produced a well compiled work. There are translation errors and the occasional mislabelled sigil, yet the work remains valuable at the core. For anyone interested in goetic magic, then Waite's work is a good primer. The best use is however as a reference from which to identify the core texts, thus allowing the procurement of clearer and corrected works from which to work.

[Ed Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book when I was in 4th grade, and visiting Thailand. It was the only English language book at my cousin's place. It scared the shit out of me and probably affected me in deep and weird ways.

[Peter J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good information as always by Waite yet very slow and dry reading. I got bored and quit at maybe 50%. I love how Waite gloats that he manipulated all of the goetic ceremonies at critical points to "protect fools from their folly."

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to annoy infernal spirits

[Rosa Jamali · Rating 5 out of 5]

It gives an artist some recurrent motifs
that stick to the mind to preserve patterns of cosmology.

[Hyperion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed and lengthy. A bit dense in some parts.

[Heyitsosiel · Rating 1 out of 5]

How can i even read it?