Llewellyn's Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick: A Comprehensive Guide to the Western Mystery Tradition

Llewellyn's Complete Book Series #14

by Lon Milo DuQuette (Contributor), David Shoemaker, Stephen Skinner

This book features the greatest minds of magic assembled in one place! Compiled by two of the leading figures in the magick community, this new hardcover title in Llewellyn's Complete Book series includes more than 650 pages of fascinating insights into the history and contemporary practice of ritual magick. With contributions from dozens of top authors, this book brings the practices, theories, and historical understanding of magick into the 21stcentury, including in-depth chapters on:

Foundations of Western Magick • Qabalah • Demonology & Spirit Evocation • Alchemy • Planetary Magick • Enochian Magick & Mysticism • The Magick of Abra-Melin • The Golden Dawn • Thelema & Aleister Crowley • Polytheistic Ceremonial Magic • Magician's Tables • The Future of Ceremonial Magick

Genres: Magick, Witchcraft, Occult, Spirituality, Reference, Nonfiction, Esoterica

445 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 8, 2020

About the author

Lon Milo DuQuette is an American singer-song writer, author, lecturer, and occultist, best known as an author who applies humor in the field of Western Hermeticism.

Born in Long Beach, California and raised in Columbus, Nebraska, he was an aspiring studio musician and recording artist in the 1970s, releasing two singles and an album, Charley D. and Milo, on the Epic Records label.

He married to his high school sweetheart, Constance Jean Duquette. They live in Costa Mesa, California and have one son, Jean-Paul.

Since 1975 he has been a National and International governing officer of Ordo Templi Orientis, a religious and fraternal organization founded in the early part of the 20th century. Since 1996 he has been the O.T.O.'s United States Deputy Grand Master and one of the most visible members of the Order. He is also an Archbishop of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, the ecclesiastical arm of O.T.O.

Reviews

[Sheena ☆ Book Sheenanigans · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an okay read and the information provided didn't stand out too much for me but then again I'm not a novice or beginner so this would be better for them. Otherwise I enjoyed the fact that many "experts" contributed to the novel by going in-depth with the magick origins and practice. I must say it was informative and detailed, and because of that, I would definitely recommend this read for those who what to get a sense of where the practice originated from and to get a better understanding of of magick.

[Samantha Strong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on the cover and title of this book, I expected Llewellyn's Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick to be a detailed reference manual for all things ceremonial magick related. It reminds me of Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences, an indispensable reference for witches and other magick practitioners. Unfortunately, this book is nothing of the sort.

The authors are clearly knowledgeable. The book doesn't suffer from lack of expertise. The problem is, I think, the organization, or perhaps lack thereof. There are some tables and practical information scattered throughout, but by and large, this is mostly a history book on different aspects of ceremonial magick.

One of my favorite pieces of the book is a non-Catholic, polytheistic alternative to the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. But when I got to the end, I realized: nowhere in this "complete" book does an original version of the LBRP occur. The alternative assumes familiarity with the ritual already, and doesn't lay out the God-names or archangels from the one that's been practiced for over a century.

I've already read books by several of these authors and on several of these subjects, so I was able to follow along. I fear, though, that someone without at least a beginning background wouldn't understand a lot of the topics.

For instance, Chapter 1 is about the Kabbalah, but it glosses over what the sephiroth are; the Tree of Life is a concept that requires more than a few sentences to really understand. (And even after reading Dion Fortune's excellent book The Mystical Qaballah, I feel I've only scratched the surface.) In Marcus Katz's chapter, he talks about his experiences with the Abramelin Operation, which was actually one of the most thorough explanations of an actual ritual in the book, but that left little space for what comes after (was there a word count limit for these authors?). Having read his book After the Angel, specifically on his Abremalin Operation, as well as several others of his books on Western Esotercism, I'm convinced he's quite knowledgeable. And Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero's chapter was mainly a summary of their book The Essential Golden Dawn, with a couple other tidbits thrown in.

I feel uncomfortable giving this book 3 stars because I am impressed by the authors and contributors. I have no doubt at all they are experts in their subjects. But the book itself doesn't come together for me. There's not enough elucidation of hands-on magick, the organization of the sections are wildly different from one another, and even the topics they do cover don't go in as deeply as I feel is required to do them justice.

While it would be naive to think I could learn ceremonial magick from one book, I did expect a lot more practical information. It's not a reference book, it's more of an incomplete history book. If you know nothing about ceremonial magick, it might be a good place to start -- but expect to jump off from there to the authors' more complete works. One more thorough book was written by an aforementioned contributor, Marcus Katz. His The Magister Volume 0 is exactly what I expected to get out of this book: history, in-depth explanation, ritual, and exercises to bring the reader into the practice of ceremonial magick.

Please note that I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Lora Milton · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some very familiar names among the authors of this work, though I don't recognise all of them. The work consists of several smaller 'books' written by people knowledgeable about the various subjects covered. It starts out with introductions by Lon Milo DuQuette (a well-known and respected occultist) and David Shoemaker (whom I haven't come across before). This is followed by a section on the history of magic by Sam Webster (a name I've seen before but don't know well) which touches on some key events but makes no attempt to be comprehensive in the short space allotted.

Next is a section on Kabbalah by Anita Kraft and Randall Lee Bowyer. It has an extensive history, but I felt it failed to get the real depth of the subject. Why would an occultist want to learn about this? I know the answer to that, but I didn't feel it was provided for the newbie reader.

This is followed by Planetary Magick by David Rankine. I've been wanting to read something by David Rankine for a while as he's someone I keep hearing about! Planetary Magick is basically astrology re-branded and this gave a history of it, rather than a how-to, which seems to be the theme of the book.

Then we have a chapter on Alchemy, written by Dennis William Hauck. Again, we got a good overview of history. I was pleased to see mention of the Greek occupation of Egypt, though I've yet to find a book that goes into Alchemy among the Ancient Egyptians compared to the Greek interpretation that is known as Hermeticism.

Demonology & Spirit Evocation by Dr Stephen Skinner comes next. This is one of those very familiar names. He explains the history of demonology and how the name 'Demon' got applied to a variety of pre-Christian spirits, both good and malevolent. Apparently he believes all magic comes from spirits, which many magicians might argue.

The Magick of Abra-Melin by Marcus Katz follows. I read the Book of Abra-Melin the Mage when I was in High School and fairly new to occult literature so I was a little surprised to see how steeped in Judeo-Christian religion this book actually is. The ritual to contact your Guardian Angel plays an important role and for that reason would be of interest to Thelemites. As with the other sections, this one gives a history and a general idea of what it's all about.

Enochian Magick and Mystercism by Aaron Leitch is about Angel Magick and provides some interesting history about the Elizabethan era and especially about John Dee. The Golden Dawn by Chic Cicero & Sandra Tabitha Cicero, authors I've heard of for years, follows. This one started out sounding like a recruitment advert for the Golden Dawn, but settled into history after the initial burst. I think this one crammed too much history of Western esotericism into one chapter. If I hadn't already been familiar with half of the history, which covers far more than the role of the Golden Dawn, I would have been lost. Ironically all that history fits into a fifteen year time frame in the Victorian era and emphasises that much of what we know as Western magic(k) is based in 19th century Christian mysticism. They didn't mention that the original GD members believed in celibacy, even between married couples, but it did point out that women were included and even influential in the Order.

Thelema & Aleister Crowley by David Shoemaker was no surprise as Crowley would have to turn up in a book of this nature. He was mentioned briefly in the previous chapter, but there was more focused attention on his magical influence in this one. The only thing that niggled is lack of information about the actual origins of the concept of Thelema, which is written about in Plato and the Bible.

Polytheistic Ceremonial Magic by John Michael Greer I found a little confusing. It started out with a welcome overview of magic(k) preceding the Christianisation of various systems, then suddenly I was reading passages from a couple of other authors. Perhaps some extracts needed introduction. It then goes into the authors own amalgamation of Druidry and Golden Dawn format ritual instruction as well as a couple of well-known rituals like the LBRP.

We wrap up with Magician's Tables by David Allen Hulse, something important to any book about Ceremonial magick, then The Future of Ceremonial Magick by Brandy Williams, which was, shall we say, abstract and more about the future of our world than specifically about where magick is going.

The author information, placing them both in the Caliphate OTO, explains the lack of mention of Kenneth Grant or of Austin Spare and the rise of Chaos Magick from the 1970s. Despite that, for someone completely new to magic(k) of any kind, the book does provide a lot of interesting history and context for a lot of practices still prevalent today. It would make a good companion book to go with the old texts mentioned throughout the book.

[Maria (Ri) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3 stars

I wish that this book was an actual master class in a university setting because there is A LOT of information here from authors that seem to have a plethora of knowledge to pull from. I was in awe of the amount of information in this book. I loved all the history that was included in this book and how each of these experts gave an analysis of the various texts terms associated with magic. It was very well done.

Again, I seriously wished that there was a class that I could take or someplace that I could meet these individuals in person and just pick their brains. Anything metaphysical always intrigues me because there is something fascinating in the unknown. Even with evidence and, sometimes lack of evidence, that it makes it intriguing of the "how" and "why" something is. There is power in discovering the things that are tangible and the things that cannot be explained. I think that if I was around these amazing experts that I might just become even more of a believer than I already am.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A selection of different information by a few authors. Nice collection of topics and people. Over 300 pages to get a lot of information.

[Amber Blackwell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this book was difficult.. its basically a quote of information with cited sources.. I didn't enjoy this boring and painful read...

[Tzu · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading this book I'm still not sure what Magick means or entails, without it being Ceremonial. But, I've learned quite a lot as is. It was a most interesting read and I, generally, love to learn all about the history of Mysticism.

Notes for publisher:
What disappointed me were; all the tables and figures that were scrambled into a mess (Kindle format); plenty of typos like Tuture instead of Future and at one point 33,000 BCE when I think they meant 3,300 BCE as mentioned before, also "serious" somewhere should actually be "series", there was also "skrying", when it should be "scrying" like the next author spells it (correctly); some sentences need a copyeditor as well (to keep it professional); and more mistakes with the format like the tables and figures I mentioned, but also footnotes that on Kindle end up mid-screen and random "v"'s that separate the paragraphs.

I had expected a bigger framework, and an even more in-depth study of all the magical workers over the world. If one is not already well-versed in the world of magic, mysticism or esoterica, I do not advice starting off with this book, though this sum-up was quite interesting nonetheless.
I'm most grateful for all the references to the original books and authors. That's what stuck with me the most, and in that sense it was indeed a complete book.

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick features the work of many well-known and learned magicians. Each author writes on their own area of expertise within the interrelated domains of Hermeticism ceremonial magic, ritual, and western occult traditions as a whole.

With authors such as Aaron Leitch and Dr. David Shoemaker, I knew that I wanted to read this book from the moment I first heard about it. I myself spent roughly five years working with the ceremonial magical tradition of Thelema before ultimately deciding it was not the path for me.

After that, I returned to practicing witchcraft in lieu of Thelemic ritual. Yet, I’d be lying if I said that my ceremonial years taught me nothing, and, in particular, the astrological/celestial knowledge I gained during that period stuck with me.

So, despite being a witch, I approached reading Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick with enthusiasm. I have a great amount of respect for the writers of this book, many of whom I recognize as leaders in their particular magical specialties.

Since the mid-2010s, magic as a whole seems to be experiencing a renaissance. With this has come a great degree of new scholarship, new voices, and new perspectives in all areas.

I’m of the opinion that it’s high time for this resurgence to include the greater syncretization of “high” ceremonial practices and the so-called “low magic” of witchcraft. In this direction, I believe it’s beneficial for most witches to have some familiarity with ceremonial magic and its history.

I think this book is an especially timely avenue in that direction. Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick should have a place on many witches’ shelves, and provides much-needed historical context for the concepts it describes.

It’s unfortunate, but “complete” will always be a misnomer when we’re discussing topics like this. Still, this book does the best job at providing a “complete” look at ceremonial traditions that I’ve seen so far. Any number of the chapters in this book could easily expand to fill an entire volume all on its own.

Indeed, most of the authors featured have written their own separate books on their areas of expertise. These would make for excellent further reading for a student following the introduction provided by Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick.

Do not expect much practical instruction from this book, however. Almost all of the separate works it includes (by different authors) focus on contextualizing ceremonial magic from an historical perspective.

You will not find the plethora of exercises most have come to expect from occult texts. This doesn’t detract from the overall value of the book, though. As I see it, there are plenty of “how-to” manuals out there for both ceremonial magic and general occult practices. With so few texts really exploring the history and culture of these beliefs, this book fills a much-needed vacuum.

Several chapters are likely to be of particular interest to witches. The first one (written by Sam Webster) which focuses on historical precursors to the Western ceremonial tradition, will interest pagans due to its focus on pre-Christian magical traditions.

There’s even a chapter, by John Michael Greer, exclusively focused on ceremonial magic in polytheistic traditions today! While I tend towards a more animist than polytheistic perspective, I know many witches will love this part, and find it inspiring.

David Rankine’s chapter on Planetary Magic leaves little to be desired and functions as an excellent introduction to the proactive side of astrology. My own practice, albeit witchcraft-centric, draws heavily from astrology and the celestial spheres, so anything about that will naturally interest me.

Stephen Skinner’s chapter on spirit evocation will prove useful for anyone preparing to dip into the Goetia, but doesn’t discuss other spirits terribly much. While Goetic techniques will always be near and dear to my heart, after reading Skinner’s chapter, I couldn’t help but want his perspective on other spirits, too.

I give this book four out of five stars. It’s a great contextualization of ceremonial magic and will no doubt be wonderful for beginners. Witches who’ve little knowledge of ceremonial magic can easily pick up this book to gain much-needed historical, cultural, and conceptual information about the phenomenon.

I need to admit, though, that little in this book was new to me, and I don’t think it’ll be terribly helpful for those already knee-deep in ceremonial magic. Great as an overview, though, and plenty of supplemental texts exist to read next!

[Rebecca Elson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review originally appeared on The Magical Buffet's website on 02/11/2020.

Llewellyn just dropped an EPIC book, “Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick: A Comprehensive Guide to the Western Mystery Tradition,” edited by Lon Milo DuQuette and David Shoemaker. DuQuette is a well-known author and public speaker on the topics of Aleister Crowley and Qabalah. He’s the United States Deputy Grand Master General for Crowley’s magical order Ordo Templi Orientis. Shoemaker is a clinical psychologist, the Chancellor and Prolocutor of the Temple of the Silver Star, and a senior initiate of Ordo Templi Orientis and AA. What I’m getting at is, I feel the task of vetting and compiling this book was put in the right hands. They found 11 authors to write basically 11 books and then Llewellyn put it all together into a massive 528-page book (available in trade paperback or hardcover).

So, what “books” does this book have?
Book One: Foundations of Western Magic by Sam Webster
Book Two: Qabalah by Anita Kraft and Randall Bowyer
Book Three: Planetary Magic by David Rankine
Book Four: Alchemy by Dennis William Hauck
Book Five: Demonology & Spirit Evocation by Dr. Stephen Skinner
Book Six: The Magick of Abra-Melin by Marcus Katz
Book Seven: Enochian Magick & Mysticism by Aaron Leitch
Book Eight: The Golden Dawn by Chic & Tabatha Ciecero
Book Nine: Thelema & Aleister Crowley by David Shoemaker
Book Ten: Polytheistic Ceremonial Magic by John Michael Greer
Book Eleven: Magician’s Tables by David Allen Hulse
Epilogue: The Future of Ceremonial Magick by Brandy Williams

For the purposes of context and disclosure I should tell you that the advanced readers copy I got only had the first part of each of the books. With that said, I found the quality of writing to be excellent. The spread of topics is fantastic. I couldn’t think of anything that needed to be added. This is certain to be a great reference for those interested in ceremonial magic. Overall, it’s a pretty sexy hunk of book.

[Sarah Washington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received a free, advance copy of this text from Llewellyn Publications through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

Ceremonial magick is an area of the occult of which I have little experience. I typically lean more towards folk magic and what many label as “low” magic, so I selected this book to expand my knowledge on the topic. The list of contributors is extensive, and include many names that are well-known in the occult community, including Lon Milo DuQuette.

This book contains multiple essays on various ceremonial topics including Planetary Magick, Kabbalah, Alchemy, Enochian Magick, Demonology, Thelema, and more. The essays were highly informative and filled with helpful, high-quality citations for further research. These essays function more as a general introduction and summary of these practices both historically and in modern day, rather than a “how-to” guide. If you’re looking for step by step instruction on these topics, you will need to do more outside research.

Something that disappointed me about this text was its limited acknowledgement for cultural appropriation and how it impacts living practices. Kabbalah in particular is heavily appropriated by non-Jewish practitioners, and I wish there had been more discussion on both that and appropriation in the ceremonial magick community in general. It’s possible that my ARC of this text was incomplete, so there may be more discussion of these topics in the published version.

Overall, I would recommend this book to someone curious about ceremonial magick, but I would not call it “complete” because it is mostly theory rather than tech.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆/5

[Even Tømte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is based on a Netgalley preview, which includes a sizable chunk of the book but not all of it.

The Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick gives a broad overview of the Western Mystery Tradition, the development and the practice of various forms of ritual magic. There are chapters on the foundation of Western magic, Quabalah, planetary magic, alchemy, demonology and spirit evocation, Abra-Melin, Enochian magick, the Golden Dawn, Thelema, polytheistic magic and correspondences, all written by various contributors with particular insight in the subject they are writing about. Thus there is not one single voice being heard throughout the book, and the style can vary slightly from one chapter to another.

I have little or no experience of my own with most of these subjects covered in this book, but by reading these chapters I can recognize how strands of their DNA can be found in my own spiritual practice. I get a better sense of where my own tradition comes from, and a sense of order to what used to feel like a jumbled mass of terms and nuggets of information. I believe this book can be useful both from the perspective of a practitioner and for those interested in the history of ideas.

With such a broad range of subjects being discussed, the perspective is that of a sweeping overview rather than a detailed examination. Note that the chapters are cut short in the preview version, so the full book will probably feel more meaty.

[Vivienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thanks to Llewelyn Worldwide Publications for a galley proof via NetGalley of ‘Llewelyn’s Complete Book of Ceremonial Magic’ edited by Lon Milo DuQuette and David Shoemaker in exchange for an honest review.

It’s subtitle is ‘A Comprehensive Guide to the Western Mystery Tradition’. This galley contained partial sections from each of the eleven books contained within this volume. Each book focuses on a different aspect of ceremonial magic and is written by a different author, considered an expert in their respective fields.

The sections included mainly focused on historical and theoretical perspectives though the summary does mention that practices are covered in the full text.

Overall, I expect that this will be a useful reference book for a newcomer or novice practitioner seeking an overview. The material appeared sound, even if not especially innovative.

I will note that as Llewellyn is based in the USA, that the focus is quite USA-centric. While referencing the contributions made by late 19th Century-early 20th Century magicians it gives the impression that ceremonial magic hasn’t evolved since then. The Epilogue about the future of ceremonial magic felt rather vague.

The extract did include footnotes though not a bibliography, though I would expect that this would be found in the completed text. Still I can only review what I am presented with. Llewellyn has a good track record with these kind of compilations.

[Wendy Matta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Wow, from Atheist to Ceremonial Magick... Amazing how Magick is inspiring so many... I’ve heard the term “you’re not born a Priest” but I believed are all born into Magick of Birth & Rebirth... and Finding a Magickal Path can be inherited... I knew I was different, from childhood to now... Found so much in this book... I have read so much after finding my passion... Someone got distract while studying psychology n said “believes they have magical powers” she stopped reading... There are many with Psychological Challenges... like myself... I was looking for healing myself... oh boy I found it, so many sources like this book... it’s easing & I feel more control over my life... Magick is Healing me... with no resistance by thy self... no doubts... no negativity... many more days than before, being happy & content versus, hate, anger, well any negative emotion...
Aloha & Blessed Be... Wenz Matta

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays covering the origins, history, and uses of ceremonial magick. Each chapter acts as a snapshot of a particular moment in the development of ceremonial magickal practices. These chapters serve as an excellent starting off point for learning the history of these practices. They cover Qabalah, alchemy, the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley among many other things.

I found the collection incredibly fascinating and a useful resource regarding the foundations of ceremonial magick. I also enjoyed that it was more of a historical context rather than a how-to manual, although a few rituals are discussed.

I do with more time would have been lent to other styles of practice. I recognize that both editors are members of the O.T.O. but seeing another section delving further into polytheistic ceremonies would have been nice.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick gives a broad overview of the history, development and the practice of ceremonial magic. It covers the evolution of ritual magic staring in ancient times and forward to modern days and the work of Aleister Crowley. Some topics include the Hermetic principles, the Quabalah, demonology and spirit evocation, Enochian magick, the Golden Dawn, Thelema, Greer and magical correspondences.

This is a great book if you want a quick overview of how the practice of "magic" has evolved and changed of centuries. Yet, if your looking for a comprehensive overview this will only wet you appetite. It was relatively easy to follow, but I didn't find it overly compelling. That said this was a preview copy so the finished copy could be more in depth.

All in all, I would recommend it as a starting off point for magical evolution.

[Brandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a interesting reference source. I love that there are different authors on the separate topics. Each topic is explained in detail with footnotes and charts. There are sections in each part that highlight the key figures or situations needed to explain the topic at hand. I love that this book tracks back through the history of magic. It explains the origins, and how it was, and still is, tied into daily life. This covers a wide range of topics. I would be curious to see the rest when it comes out, especially the art work that was not in the arc.

(This arc was requested on Netgalley in return for an honest review.)

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book if full of amazing information for a beginner witch. It’s a huge book (similar to the others in the series) and written by several different authors. I found the different writing styles to be a bit jarring at times but overall thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

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[Angel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very quick impressions: It comes across mainly as a pretty dry textbook, heavy on history and theory and light (if at all) on the practical. The advanced people probably know the content, and it may be better for beginners to take notes of sources the book mentions and look for those instead.

(Link to my full review on my blog: https://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.c...)

[Destiny Bridwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed reading this an seeing magick and theories from several different points of view. There were a lot things that I needed to get clear in my mind and that book helped with some of that. There are parts that I might have go back and read again. It is designed for continual use. I will be adding some of this to my personal practice. I know that we add and take away things we doing on our spiritual journeys all the time. 

[Annalisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this introduction to ceremonial magick to be delightful.The various authors did a great job of explaining the workings of the different magicks. I have a basic knowledge of the different magicks and I gained alittle more insight into the various levels and rites. I even learned a few things. All in all this book was a light and very enjoyable introduction to magick.

[CR · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing collection of things from multiple authors about Ceremonial Magick. I enjoyed reading about all of the different topics. Each one gives a pretty well done complete ideal of each one. I think that they did an amazing job and practitioners will enjoy this one both new and advanced.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Llewellyn's Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick" includes the writings of so many amazing authors. Each chapter gives the author's perspective on the history of Magick. It was fascinating learning the lore behind all of the many different rituals passed down through the centuries.

This is a valuable book to have, if you want to explore the history of magickal rituals.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much information! It always amazes me how intricate and involved magick can get! It's a fascinating read that discusses so many different practices in the Wiccan community! I think anyone interested in the arts will enjoy reading this book.
I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

[Andrea Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was very surprised to find this book written like a text book with footnotes, graphs, images, and highlighted sections. Anyone really interested in the history of magic would enjoy this book, otherwise it is a bit dry to just sit and read.

[Witch-at-Heart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really fascinating and is a great reference source for the history of magical workings. It covers topics from several other authors and I really enjoyed this book. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent books, well written and informative.
I learned a lot about cerimonial magick and I think that all the authors write very well.
Strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

[L.A. Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn't even get past the first chapter. I'm sure it's helpful to some, but this was too heavy for me to read for pleasure. Will probably go back to it when I don't have the TBR pile up to the ceiling.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating overview of a branch of magic I didn’t know much about. Some topics definitely went over my head and I skimmed a few sections, but I found the writings on the Golden Dawn, Thelema, and Abra-Melin to be intriguing and warranting further reading.

[Dodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do think that this book gives a good overview about ceremonial magic. Each chapter focused on a topic. It a place to start to find what you are drawn to so you can start researching and explore on your own.

[Istoria Lit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great reference book. I'm sure that I'll always be looking through it for little bits of information to help explain elements of magick and witchcraft. Fantastic.