Magic - An Occult Primer

by David Conway

In this book, David Conway aims to show that magic really works and that the mysteries and rituals of magic can be successfully learnt if they are studied seriously. Part one examines the theory behind ritual magic while part two looks at the rites and spells of magical practice.
"This book is a veritable treasure chest containing a wealth of information in the theory and practice of the art of magic."-- New Dimensions

Genres: Occult, Nonfiction, Esoterica, Spirituality, Magick, Magic

295 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

David Conway is a children's picture book author who has written for Hodder, Random House, Frances Lincoln and Gullane Children's Books. He has been awarded The Peter Pan Silver Star by the Swedish wing of the IBBY and the Parents' Choice Gold Award in the US for Lila and the Secret of Rain. His first picture book The Most Important Gift of All illustrated by Karin Littlewood, was nominated for The Kate Greenaway Medal in 2006.

David's most recent picture book The Great Nursery Rhyme Disaster was chosen as one of the children's books of the year 2008 by Nicolette Jones of The Sunday Times and has been shortlisted for the 2009 Sheffield Children's Book Award. Shine Moon Shine was chosen as one of the top ten picture books of 2008 by The Bookbag.

David's picture books are published in the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Spain (Catalan and Spanish) Columbia, Korea the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, South Africa and Japan. As well as writing David is a stay-at-home father and brings up his two children Bess and Jude and a cat called Bobby. David's wife works in academic publishing.

Reviews

[Tom Cöle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a joy for anyone who's spent altogether too long struggling to get to grips with the obscure language and deliberate mystification that plagues much of occult literature. Instead, in this book, David Conway has produced a clear and concise work which does much to clarify material that in other sources has been rendered rather obscure.

The occult view of the universe is explained clearly, and Conway is always sure to relate occult theories with the discoveries of physics. Instructions for a couple of all-purpose magic rituals are included in the book, and its tables of correspondences are sure to be useful for the aspiring adept. Alas, I haven't attempted the exercises laid out in the book as a pre-requisite for performing magic (most of which hinge on strengthening both imagination and concentration - to the point of controlled hallucination) but their implications for changing consciousness are fascinating, if not staggering.

If you have never encountered the occult or magic before and are looking for a general introduction to both, this book works well, but I would suggest tackling Colin Wilson's The Occult for a general summary of the scene before moving on to this. The reason for this is that certain sections of the book are liable to alienate readers previously unacquainted with occult ideas - many of which appear strange and unintuitive to those who haven't yet paddled in the shallow end of the esoteric pool. A general grasp of philosophy and physics is also useful before tackling this book, though Conway is careful never to assume too much knowledge on the part of the reader.

There are a couple of names which occur in the book (like JB Rhine) that may cause sceptical readers to wince at their inclusion, but rest assured, we are dealing here with an intelligent and erudite work. Uri Gellar doesn't pop up even the once.

Anyone interested in magic, or just in going beyond the limited scope of physics or academic philosophy, will find much food for thought in this fascinating and very readable book.

[David Corvine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is that which it claims to be. As good a place to start as any. I was initially drawn to this book as it was an influence on the later writing of William S. Burroughs.

[Eric O. Schultz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I openly admit that I came to this book out of ignorance. I was interested in the rise of spiritualism in the late 19th century, and I mistakenly thought spiritualism and the occult were the same. They are not. Indeed, the occult is in many ways the opposite of spiritualism, though they certainly have their overlaps in subject matters such as clairvoyance.

This book is a series of essays- a primer that broaches the many aspects of the magical arts. To deal with skeptics, the book starts with an initial essay that discusses why magic is compatible with science. Magic, apparently, is a force that exists outside the magician and is available to anyone, but it is also bound by rules such as timing and reagents, both of which determine the success rate of any given act of magic. Which means it’s not a psychic force. From there, the book delves into practical topics like astral projection and how to set up a magic ritual or make a magical charm. We learn the various motivations for magic: gaining love, re-gaining youth, and healing (there is also an interest in curses). Practitioners of the occult are also partly adventurers- they conjure demons or project themselves into an astral realm or back in time.

The book is well written on a sentence level, but it is a little un-engaging. I found myself more captivated by second-hand stories of rites and rituals than with the mechanical description of the rituals themselves, mostly because these lack context. One wonders what imagination runs beneath these rituals? This remains occult to the reader. Also frustrating is that David Conway, who himself is an occult practitioner, leaves his own experiences out of the primer.

As for me, I don’t believe in magic. I came to the subject interested in the imagination of the occult. I pieced some of it together- mainly, that magic relies heavily on visualization (an unbeliever might say cultivated hallucinations). Also, I did come away with the notion that much of it is based in Kabala, a Jewish mystical practice, and perhaps, at least for me, that would have been a better place to start.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended introduction into traditional western magic. David Conway has a fine and educated voice stilistically and does a pretty good job in treating core-topics like ritual, prophecy or talismans; always with a pleasant dose of theory and contextualization, always from an "ontological" standpoint, meaning: no, it's NOT just "in your head". You can skip the rather unnecessary introduction by Colin Wilson which only deepens the wound of so much New Age/ esoteric pseudo "scientific" reasoning. Unfortunatley a thing to occur in Conways own writing fromt ime to time, too. He counterbalances it with a, I'm tempted to say, "trustworthy" handling of his sources, meaning, actually telling us where his thoughts come from and where else you can find them. This is so important for the occult book-market: actually research your stuff and make it explicit. In this case we defenitely need a more academic approach to writing. The book is topped by the usefull charts in the book and the appendices giving you i.a. a kickoff with basic herbal-alchemical operations and a little who-is-who of the occult.

[Dalton Mortimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

supremely rational and technical ( if occasionally reductionist and dismissive of complexities) its an excellent primer on the Magicks very well sourced and precise and mostly free of "woo" and "self-help-ish" BS, but given to theorizing far too much and philosophizing far too little. a good 4th or 5th book for beginners but I wouldn't recommend it as a 1st

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

ISBN 0 85030 714 7

[Oliver Ho · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting overview with a sense of humour I appreciated. I’m not a believer in anything, but I wanted a basic primer on western occultism. Some parts were a bit of a slog to get through.

[Dan Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best primer ever made, easy to use

I bought this book when it first came out, and followed its instructions to begin with Tarot to get a feel for magic. (People constantly asked me to do readings over the years.)
Months later, I used the Kabbalah ritual for healing. The girl I used it for was in the hospital, and a doctor I knew well had visited her. He told me she could die soon, and he was very worried. I did the ritual that afternoon, and later learned she had immediately recovered at the same time I did it. That got my attention!I
Since then, I've studied source documents and Kabbalah in detail. I found this book was much more clear about what to do, what order to use and how to prepare. Even if you want the original materials, read this first. It will make it more understandable.
I'm so glad it's on Kindle now. I still have my worn copy, much used, but it's nice to have it on my devices, too.

[Luminary Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

After meandering around an assortment of esoteric texts trying to piece together an overview of the system, this book appears and sheds light on it all. Concise, comprehensive and oddly gripping - you'll leave with a healthy dose of both satisfaction and curiosity. I imagine this book is distributed to every freshman student of magic!

[Nik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting if you want to understand more about the true beliefs and ideas which underpin the Western Esoteric Tradition, and its offshoots (such as Freemasonry). Should go without saying, but don't actually try this stuff out.

[Edric Unsane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and interesting. If you are looking for a good primer on things Occult, this is a good place to begin.

[KINGJELF]

it was great

[ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent as an introduction to general occult magic, but generic, somewhat detached from context, and poorly written. Mediocre in every way.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, useful and no nonsense. I really enjoyed this book, it is both practical and informative without the ego of modern writers on the craft, the author states the facts as he sees them, he applies historic fact and gives responsible warning and guidelines whilst supplying the adept with much information to apply to their craft. Not Wicca and I imagine the practices would be frowned upon by Wiccan practitioners.

[Lesley Arrowsmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this book at a very impressionable age, and it fascinated me! I liked the sensible tone (believe it or not!) where the author says not to worry that what you're visualising is a bit silly - you don't have to take it all literally!
It introduced me to a lot of magical concepts that I'd never come across before, and encouraged me to look further.

[Shaun McNamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as an interested observer rather than a practitioner, so that will have to be taken into account. I found this book to be a very interesting way to dip a toe into the occult realm. One or two people i know who are more fully initiated, shall we say, pointed me in the direction of Conway’s writing on the subject.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best. A veritable bible. mine dropped to bits to I had it rebound in leather. if any book deserved that, its this one.