Magic By Design: How to Create Your Own Practical Magic Workings That Get Results

How Magic Works #5

by Taylor Ellwood

Do you want magical workings that get consistent results?

In Magic by Design, I teach you how to create your own magical workings, instead relying on magick spell books that aren’t providing you the results you want.

I’ll show you how simplify or enhance an existing magical spell to get better results.

I’ll walk you through how to apply the principles of magical design to create your own unique workings that get consistent results.

I’ll share multiple case studies where I show you how the principles of magical design were applied to create original magical workings that got results and explain why they got results.

And as a bonus you’ll also learn how to create long term magical workings and how to design your own magical systems.

This is a practical magic book that shows you how to create your own magical workings and get better results with your magical workings.

115 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 7, 2020

About the author

I'm Taylor Ellwood.

I've been writing since I was a teenager. I published my first book in 2003 and since then have continued writing and publishing books regularly on a number of topics.

I originally started out in the traditional publishing world, but I have since become a self-publisher. I love being an indie author and write both fiction and non-fiction.

Check out at my zombie apocalypse fiction reader group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/imagi...

Check out my occult reader group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Magic...

I write in the following genres:

1. Occult/esoteric books - I share my experiences and experiment with magic and the occult. I write cutting edge books that explore what could magic can be and how it can evolve. Here are links to just a few of the books I've written in the occult genre

The Process of Magic: A Guide to How Magic Works

Inner Alchemy: Energy Work and the Magic of the Body

Walking with Magical Entities: How to Create and Work with Servitors, Egregores, and Thought Forms to Get Consistent Results

Pop Culture Magick: A How to Guide to Practical Pop Culture Magick

Space/Time Magic: A Guide to Practical Probability Magic

2. Fiction books - I write fiction books, currently in the superhero fiction and zombie apocalypse fiction genres, but there will be other genres as well. Here are links to a few of the Fiction books I've written:

The Zombie Apocalypse Call Center

Learning How to Fly

Reviews

[Erwin Blonde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic By Design by Taylor Ellwood
Is a book that shows a magician how to walk their own path. The essence of the book is this: Magic should ot be boring, but give a sense of joy to our lives!
Taylor Ellwood wants to help you to become a better magician and make magic your own by 1. Developing your own magical workings 2.Modify the workings of others and get beter results.
Ellwood states that if magic wants to continue as a discipline we must do more than blindly repeat. In that way lies the path of becoming a true magician.
The book tells us or better advices us ow to modify magical workings. Taylor advices simplification since he works with minimalist magic. If I may quote the author :"a lot of magical workings are weighed down by unnecessary requirements...". Simplification is not about short cuts but to improve the understanding of magic and to get rid of needless complexity and how to enhance your own magical workings.
The part about evocation portals is very interesting and a great example of magical simplification. A part of the book goes also about long term magical workings versus short term m.w's. The last part of the book goes about the creation of your own magical system around your own work. (purpose, tools, non-occult principles, chants,...) And finally about 'experimental embodiment ' if you want to know what that is, you have to read the book yourself.
Note: the book was given to me free of charge for evaluation purposes.

[Valkyr Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic by design is a simple how to book on modifying and creating spells. This is something I come by instinctually and haven't really thought out the process before. It is interesting to see patterning behind it and find many things I do naturally fit into this.

The analytical framework appears really helpful. The book has a fun spirit that encourages experimentation. Many beginners have a hard time and think if they change one element in a spell it will blow up. This book takes on that myth with kindness.

It is a nice open work encouraging the magician to grow and experience self discovery. Like art one has to know the rules before breaking them.

This is a nice quick read which should be quite helpful to a newcomer. As a more experienced magician I still found it helpful. Sometimes I forget to analyze what I'm doing. This book is a good reminder to keep studying your own design and others.

I was happy to receive this review copy. I just wish there was more.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for review.

Anyone who has been following and enjoying the previous editions of the How Magic Works series, this will be a welcome addition. Continuing to build upon the philosophy of magic outlined in the other works, this book offers additional insight and examples that I found quite illuminating.

Readers of the series' other books will also be familiar with the author's general style, which emphasizes thought-provoking questions for the reader to ponder. There is no direct instruction and little authoritative advice. It's clear that this is an intentional choice, albeit one that makes the book ill-suited for a beginner.

I would highly recommend this book for any of Taylor's fans, as well as for people with some magical experience who want to get an alternate perspective on their practice.

[Bill Duvendack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic by Design, the fifth book in Taylor's series "How Magic Works," delivers not only what it pledges in the title, but what also fills a niche in neopagan and occult books today. Once the beginner becomes advanced, it becomes time to move on to self-creation rather than mimicking what others have done before, yet there is very little quality published material out there on the subject. With this 0ne volume, Taylor singlehandedly fills that gaping hole with what appears to be little to no effort, yet with high-quality content. An excellent addition to the true working magicians' library!

[E. Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever read a magical working that someone else wrote and thought, "I could do better than this"? Have you ever felt belittled by "all-knowing occultists" who dare you to defy their instructions or rework their magic? Have you ever wondered if you were "good enough", "smart enough" or "experienced enough" to create your own working, or even an entire magical system?

If you've answered "yes" or even "maybe a little" to any of these questions, this book may be written precisely for you.

Within this concise volume is the permission you seek, along with some basic guidelines, for modifying and creating rituals that have meaning for you. There's no guarantee that your rituals will work, yet neither are there dire warnings that your rituals won't work.

It's really up to you, according to Taylor Ellwood, an author who encourages you to be yourself instead of dutifully copying something that may not entirely resonate with you. You'll find a number of topics, along with some honest examples from Taylor's sometimes very personal experiences, as well as exercises that may provide some impetus for deeper thought.

Aside from a few grammatical mishaps here and there, this book is very well written and easy to understand. I received a copy of the book in return for this review.

[Gebo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise, but intriguing book on magickal philosophy. Definitely worth reading and considering.

The real question of the book is what is essential to magick and what makes it work? Each chapter assumes that you want to create workings either from scratch or to modify those of other authors. As usual, the author stresses magickal minimalism and considering other ways to approach ritual workings.

The one thing I think this book is missing is more content. I enjoyed the book, but wanted more content and discussion on the theory of magick and how to practically apply it. Particularly, discussion on how to figure out correspondences or think through them. The author offers some examples of adjusted or created works, but doesn't really offer ideas on how to figure out correspondences yourself because he assumes a readership who is conversant with other approaches. It makes it a nice read for those who are, but this makes the book difficult to follow for those who aren't experimenting with magick (though they're not really reading a book like this) and people who aren't somewhat deep into their practice and know several approaches.

If you can actively work with his ideas, this book is a very intriguing addition to your library. I just wish it were longer.

I received a copy of this book for review.

[Lolan Ah Sine]

Magic by Design: How to create your own practical magic workings that get results by Taylor Ellwood

In his fifth book in the How Magic Works series; Pop Culture Magick Guru Taylor Ellwood furnishes an alternate viewpoint on the malleability of magickal ritual. Both in its initial design
by personifying ones correspondences with ones own power symbols and by owning a Spell by re-crafting it as your own working. It really puts the magician in the drivers seat rather than just following along unthinkingly with a heard mentality. And he does it with his own real life personal examples that are totally relatable to the novice or adept magician.

This books workbook approach with end of chapter questions/exercises really takes the notion of an ancient magical "Grimoire" to a modern age college textbook format. But I loved reading it. It feels real to me and not just the standard mythic supernatural fare in other guides but rather it challenges what my notion of magic really is - in its concise 100 pages. A great read.and most practical reference guide for designing future magickal workings.

The author presented me with a free copy of his book for my review.

[Maysun · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have ever read any of Taylor's other books, then you already know, but they aren't 101 material. His Magic by Design book is no exception, but I still wish it had been around when I was new on this path. What he offers in these pages are not recipes for success, but the knowledge that anyone can cook, if you'll pardon my metaphor. His suggestions can sometimes be a little vague for my taste (sometimes more of an invitation to start another avenue of research, than an explanation of his own methods). What this book, and in fact of of his others that I've read thus far, are so very good at is making me curious. Even if I cannot apply every bit of every book to my own path and practice, Taylor's works just make me want to do more magic.

[Wu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given a copy of this book for review

I think this is probably one a lot of people need to read because magic works best when you make it your own. I’ve been making my own rituals for a while now but I still see this being a helpful reference if I’m having trouble coming up with one or just need a different perspective. I would personally prefer better editing but am more than happy with the content.

[Taylor Ellwood]

An excerpt from Magic by Design

I’ve been designing original magical workings and modifying other peoples’ magical workings from almost the beginning of my magical practice. It’s not a skill someone taught me, but rather something I developed on my own, informed in large part by my insatiable curiosity and tendency to ask lots of questions and then go seeking answers. Not everyone has that same curiosity however, and this book is written with that in mind. I can teach you the skills for designing your own original workings and/or modifying other people’s magical workings so you can get better results. You may wonder whether you truly can develop an original working, or if you should dare to modify an existing one, so let me address those concerns first before we get into the practical work.

I think anyone can develop an original magical working or modify an existing one, provided a few factors are considered. Do you have the foundational knowledge and experience with magic to create an original magical working or modify an existing one? If you don’t have that foundational knowledge and experience then it will be hard, if not downright impossible, to create an original magical working or modify an existing one. The reason is you won’t have an understanding of the principles and process of magic and how magic ought to work, which necessarily will inform how you create an original magical working or modify someone else’s working . You really only get that understanding from doing the actual work and having experiences that shape and temper your understanding of magic and how it ought to work.

A second factor to consider is what your overall experiences and knowledge are, and how they can be applied to inspire your magical work. What this means is that ideally you have a variety of interests and background to draw upon that can help inspire your magical work. For example, I have interests in a variety of topics that aren’t considered occult, but nonetheless inspire my magical workings significantly. I find that sometimes a person may have an in-depth knowledge and experience of the occult, but not really have knowledge or experience of anything else, which leads to tunnel vision when it comes to magic because you’re so indoctrinated to what can ultimately be considered limited perspectives on life and your magical practice. There’s a myth that occultists and magicians are open-minded, but I haven’t really found that to be the case. If anything, your average occultist is much like any other person, albeit interested in magic. There’s nothing wrong with that, per se, but if you really want to broaden your horizons you’ll necessarily need to step outside of what you already know in order to discover what you can learn. In turn, what you learn can be applied to what you know and produce interesting outcomes in your life, your magical practice, and anything else which is of interest to you.