A Magical Education: Talks on Magic and Occultism

by John Michael Greer

In these talks, written and presented to a variety of audiences between 2001 and 2010, John Michael Greer explores the forgotten history of occultism and its unexpected possibilities in our time. From practical methods of occult training to the politics and metapolitics of magic, from the shadowy world of Victorian sex magic to the alchemy of initiatory ritual, from the complex origins of modern Neopaganism to the approaching twilight of Neopagan pop culture and what comes next, the talks collected in this book seek to inspire curiosity and reflection, not to set out an ironclad case for this or that point of view. This book is an extraordinary insight into the life and work of a working magician and occultist.

Genres: Occult

216 pages, ebook

Published March 11, 2019

About the author

John Michael Greer is an author of over thirty books and the blogger behind The Archdruid Report. He served as Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America. His work addresses a range of subjects, including climate change, peak oil, the future of industrial society, and the occult. He also writes science fiction and fantasy. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife.

Reviews

[Jabberwocky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

Very interesting book. Addressed issues of authenticity in magic, and what the world will look like in the future. I’m not a fan of his ecological rants, and they do take up quite a bit of his work - but I know it’s important to him, and he views it as part of his magical system. So I’ll live with it.

[Ganesh Ubuntu · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the name states, this book offers ideas on different facets of magical education. It is composed as a set of articles that were given as talks by the author in 2000s. Compared to other books by John Michael Greer, there is no particular structure to this one - each article has its own feel and revolves around a different set of ideas. Still, it is a gem. In a usual John's manner, the topics that are difficult to understand are presented in a lucid and accessible style with a good deal of depth to it. There is something new to be discovered on each consecutive read. On each attempt, as new details emerge, the journey becomes quite far from being predictable and it ends with something else each time.

The most captivating aspect of the way John talks about magic is that he cuts sharply through the nonsense surrounding the field. He is pragmatic, he focuses on what works, and he discards the rest with humour. He doesn't make promises of magic enabling people to shoot fire and lightning and he doesn't rely on made up stories of ancient origins to prop the validity of what he has to say. Instead, magic and occult is presented as an ongoing pursuit of a small minority of people who, through various and often rather elaborate means, poke their noses outside of the material reality, learn something new, and develop a way of sharing their findings. A pursuit that is available to anyone who is interested enough to put years of work into learning a multitude of disciplines required for a well rounded magical education.