Standing and Not Falling: A Sorcerous Primer in Thirteen Moons

by Lee Morgan

The Otherworld is ready for you, but are you ready for the Otherworld? What would you tell your own less-experienced self about magic if you could go back in time and make a better start? That is the question this book seeks to address. What might you need to slough off, how far might you need to walk from the comfortable and familiar to truly embrace a magical life? Covering a period of thirteen moons, Standing and Not Falling is a workbook that allows the reader to clear the way before embarking, or to conduct a spiritual detox on themselves before stepping up their practice, or engaging a new beginning. Suitable for practitioners of any type of sorcerous activity from witchcraft to ceremonial magic and beyond. This book takes steady, direct aim at the main causes of disfunction and difficulty that arise for practitioners of the art magical, both individually and in relation to others, and at times also at the key maladies of our age.

Genres: Witchcraft, Occult, Magic, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Religion

248 pages, Paperback

Published February 5, 2019

About the author

Lee Morgan lives on a communal homestead on kunanyi/Mt Wellington in nipaluna/Hobart, where he creates sanctuary for other weirdos, raises books, people, and ideas from the grave. He has had novels and non-fiction published by Moon Books, Three Hands Press, The Witches Almanac and Rebel Satori. Having survived an enormous tumour, Lee currently is busy filling the room in his skull with new brains, writing Folk Horror, and queering the world one step at a time.

Reviews

[Narkitsa Orada · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this, and in some ways I did: I don't think there was a single chapter that didn't have something I found thought-provoking. So why the low rating?
1. Morgan's prose. Apparently I'm in the minority of reviewers here, but I found his writing style difficult to slog through. It felt like a series of (rambling) blog posts more than a book. It was frustrating how many times Morgan would introduce a fascinating topic, then go off on a series of random tangents without ever getting to the main point. At times, his tangents felt more like rants about something he really needed to get off his chest. There's something to be said for an editor.
2. Standing and Not Falling is a very timely book -- not necessarily in a good way. Morgan's assumptions about his readers' needs and attitudes are so profoundly 2010s that I can't help but feel it won't age well. That seems like an odd quality for a book that is, after all, by a traditional witch.
3. The exercises felt random, and at times inappropriate for beginners. (Why are you supposed to begin your approach to magic by recalling all of your past successes with magic?) This is probably the only beginner book I've ever read that doesn't begin with a basic meditation exercise, but does have an exercise where you pee on the boundaries of your property.
4. I struggle with this as a book for beginners -- and as a book that's meant to be aimed at people on any occult path -- because assumptions clearly drawn from Morgan's own tradition are everywhere, and are left mostly unexplained. Imagine a beginner book on mysticism that kept referencing the Wiccan Goddess but never actually explained who she is!

It's frustrating because Morgan is quite insightful, and I think there's the kernel of a really good work in here. But the form needed a lot more work.

[Plateresca · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Standing and not falling' is a quote from Agrippa, and it does make for an intriguing title, doesn't it?

The author views this 'sorcerous primer' as 'detox for the soul'.

Here are some quotes that I find interesting and/or representative:

'<...> to 'believe-believe' in magic in a modern, educated, post-industrial context is to be at war. It is to hold fast to your vision against a hundred voices, many of them authoritative and clever-sounding...'

'Before you can feel how the dead are feeding you in this very moment you will not be able to truly get everything you possibly could from the Art.'

'When faeries decide they are not on good terms with you few things will blossom or flourish around you for long.'

'The modern ego is pretty much composed of what we support and oppose, a startling amount of what we hold opinions on have nothing at all to do with us... yet we will fight for our right to tell everyone about them nonetheless.'

This is very true. One of the main ideas of the book is that humans should be more respectful of everything and everybody else and less domineering. This is certainly a valid and worthy message, only I'm afraid that the people who need it most will not listen to it.

Also, the style of writing is rather idiosyncratic, and I was not always sure if the author really wanted us to understand him or was just writing down his impressions as a form of artistic self-expression; and typos don't help to understand the convoluted sentences. I've found some imagery off-putting, like snakes having sex - mind you, I'm not criticizing the metaphor, I'm just sharing my initial reaction.

'Every act of sorcery is a revolution; it is an anomaly, a breaking of the general rule.'

'The power in the hag figure of the witch cannot be overstated.'

And my favourite one:

'Do not account there to be any such thing as magical failure, only delays in the fruition of your plans.'

There certainly is useful material, but it's not at all an easy read.

[Nightshade · Rating 5 out of 5]

The work of this book is some of the most difficult work I have seen in any occult text, at least for me, particularly with regards to how much one must slough off, how many preconceptions one truly holds, how much of ones self one needs to unravel and sacrifice. I have done the work of some of the moons already and have to do many of the others still, but I am glad I have read ahead because I feel each chapter should be read more than once to fully understand and grapple with what lesson and exercises lie within.

In many ways this is a text of sorcerous shadow work, and perhaps for some will hold little power and meaning, but for me, at this point in my path, in my life it holds some deep and sometimes quite difficult wisdom. It is at the right time that I came upon this text and what it can mean, even if I am still struggling with some of the perpectives, om amcestors and friendships, and community.

[Anie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn't for everyone (given the mystical/magical background). For anyone who's interested in magical perspectives, though, I think it's a great read. It's in many ways a self-help book -- a book about getting into right relations with the people and world around you -- and it's a good, deep progression through that. Would these tactics work for everyone? no. But it's nonetheless a good read.

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really loved the idea of this book, but the reality is it’s much like most religious texts I’ve read: a few worthy gems in the midst of a lot of words put together to sound somewhat coherent. The author starts the book with a bit on how Christianity has set us up to fail, then proceeds with a (nearly word for word from a Christian sermon) rant on spiritual attacks and warfare. Much like modern Christianity, the author spends a lot of the first chapter arguing about how the ideas of ‘reason and psychology’ threaten and attack any sense of “belief-belief”. I always found witchcraft to be extremely reasonable and grounded in both reason and belief. It’s what drew me out of churches and into witchcraft. I also found it odd how the author brags about their heritage as Welsh (apparently they can use DNA to trace their family line back to the last ice age??? I’m not sure how, but that’s their claim!) but uses “otherworld” and “underworld” interchangeably. Those two words come from very different beliefs and are extremely different places. Another thing I took issue with is the discussion of putting your own relics in the ground, etc., and using that as a way to assert yourself and connect with the spirits of the land. I live in America where all of us live on stolen land. I have a pretty strong feeling that would bring down the wrath of the spirits of this land on me in a way I don’t care to test! I don’t recommend asserting yourself over spirits on land that doesn’t belong to you. I don’t recommend even trying to work with the spirits of the land here without doing some SERIOUS studying and groundwork, first!!! Other reviewers said it seemed like a bunch of blog posts put together into a book and I think it’s an apt description for what we have here. I agree with other reviewers that this is NOT for beginners.

[Raven Wells · Rating 2 out of 5]

Warning, I gave up at page 148 but I truly doubt it got better. The author rambles endlessly without explaining much. I’m not even sure who the intended audience would be. Definitely not for beginners, but perhaps those who are interested in his rather strange tradition? There are a number of concepts I recognized, but most I’ve yet to come across. Overall, this felt like the author was slightly drunk or high rambling about how he thinks the universe works. Grammar is hard to follow at times (an entire paragraph of a sentence without a single comma? Come on, where was the editor?). Skip this one. There are plenty of other good books to read.

[Stephanie Solis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m giving 5 stars to the experience of this book and to the progress I’ve made working through it over 12 moons (my book club combined the last two). However, a large part of that is due to an amazing book club I was part of that worked through the book together. If you’re not going to do the exercises hands on and work through this as designed, don’t bother. There are definitely sections that read more like blog posts or some weird insider stories that lack context, but the exercises absolutely contributed to my craft.

[Silen Wellington · Rating 5 out of 5]

The magic in this book is endless and such a good way to deepen into folkloric magic. It really helped my practice and to think differently about what I believe magic is capable of. I find myself telling folks about the Belief-Belief chapter SO OFTEN, and years after I read the book. Really helped me shift my understanding of witchcraft in my life.

[Brendan Howlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice idea, well written in good prose, that guides the reader through the process of becoming ready to embark on a magical path. The idea of 13 chapters each a separate moon is a great idea. After reading this you will know, will, dare and keep silent.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

An in-depth examination into.the.inner workings of relationship and devotion in forming covens and community in witchcraft.