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The Magical Knowledge Trilogy
The Magical Knowledge Trilogy is a collection of work by Josephine McCarthy written between 2009 and 2011, originally presented in three paperback volumes as Magical Knowledge I - Foundations, Magical Knowledge II - The Initiate, and Magical Knowledge III - Contacts of the Adepts. It is now presented as a complete hardback collection for the first time. The three individual volumes are still available in their second edition paperback form published by TaDehent Books.
The Magical Knowledge Trilogy is a series that takes the reader through the twists and turns of serious magical study and practice. Written by Josephine McCarthy, one of the world's leading magical adepts, The Magical Knowledge Trilogy covers the necessary skills, contacts, and practices for lone magical practitioners studying and working within Western magic.
It is a sampling of the teaching and magical work undertaken by the author over a twenty-year period, reaching from the early stages of magical practice right up to the adept level of work, and is designed for the lone practitioner. The writing of this collection signalled a turning point in McCarthy's work, as it began to develop more towards the in-depth training of magicians, which eventually manifested in the form of Quareia: an open source magical training course of unparalleled depth and scope.
The trilogy covers magical advice, techniques for ritual, visionary work, utterance, divination, and sigil-making, and includes essays on the history of magic and a look at the mythic storytelling tradition.
Josephine McCarthy is a Western magical adept living in the Southwest of England. An esoteric practitioner, teacher, and author, she has written over thirty books on magical theory and practice, including The Exorcist's Handbook, Magic of the North Gate, The Book of Gates - a Magical Translation, and Tarot Skills for the 21st Century. Josephine has taught extensively in the USA and UK since the early 1990s, and has lectured at various occult, esoteric, and hermetic conferences in the UK and USA. She is the designer and book author for the LXXXI Quareia Magician's Deck (2014 Quareia Publishing UK), produced with artists Stuart Littlejohn and Cassandra Beanland.
McCarthy is also the author of Quareia, an extensive, in-depth, open source online training course in the theory, practice, and history of Western magic, which seeks to move Western magical practice into a deeper, more cooperative relationship with nature and the environment.
The Magical Knowledge Trilogy is a series that takes the reader through the twists and turns of serious magical study and practice. Written by Josephine McCarthy, one of the world's leading magical adepts, The Magical Knowledge Trilogy covers the necessary skills, contacts, and practices for lone magical practitioners studying and working within Western magic.
It is a sampling of the teaching and magical work undertaken by the author over a twenty-year period, reaching from the early stages of magical practice right up to the adept level of work, and is designed for the lone practitioner. The writing of this collection signalled a turning point in McCarthy's work, as it began to develop more towards the in-depth training of magicians, which eventually manifested in the form of Quareia: an open source magical training course of unparalleled depth and scope.
The trilogy covers magical advice, techniques for ritual, visionary work, utterance, divination, and sigil-making, and includes essays on the history of magic and a look at the mythic storytelling tradition.
Josephine McCarthy is a Western magical adept living in the Southwest of England. An esoteric practitioner, teacher, and author, she has written over thirty books on magical theory and practice, including The Exorcist's Handbook, Magic of the North Gate, The Book of Gates - a Magical Translation, and Tarot Skills for the 21st Century. Josephine has taught extensively in the USA and UK since the early 1990s, and has lectured at various occult, esoteric, and hermetic conferences in the UK and USA. She is the designer and book author for the LXXXI Quareia Magician's Deck (2014 Quareia Publishing UK), produced with artists Stuart Littlejohn and Cassandra Beanland.
McCarthy is also the author of Quareia, an extensive, in-depth, open source online training course in the theory, practice, and history of Western magic, which seeks to move Western magical practice into a deeper, more cooperative relationship with nature and the environment.
- GenresMagickMagicNonfiction
784 pages, Hardcover
Published July 9, 2020
37 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Josephine McCarthy
47 books103 followersJosephine McCarthy is an internationally renowned author, practitioner and teacher of western magic with forty years' experience as a practitioner and adept, and over twenty-five years of experience as a teacher in Europe and the USA. She has authored twenty-eight books on magic and is the creator and director of the Quareia magical school.
She has produced many original articles and essays on technical, historical and practical aspects of magical subject matter, and is known for her ground-breaking innovation in magical training and thought.
Today she spends her time assisting the students of Quareia, and producing articles and books for the Quareia school website, where they are made available to the public, free of charge.
www.quareia.com
She has produced many original articles and essays on technical, historical and practical aspects of magical subject matter, and is known for her ground-breaking innovation in magical training and thought.
Today she spends her time assisting the students of Quareia, and producing articles and books for the Quareia school website, where they are made available to the public, free of charge.
www.quareia.com
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 17, 2026
I felt like I should say something about this book. I was just going to leave it at a five star rating and say nothing, but something called me back. So here it goes.
This woman is blunt and honest!
That may not come as a compliment, but on the topic of ceremonial magic, it most certainly is. We need so many more teachers like her who are prepared to say what needs to be said about magical lodges to the new wave of self-initiates. She had my respect as soon as she started being critical of western ceremonial magic. I have the same criticisms. She seems to recognize that while these schools may have had some real contacts at some point in time, they’re gone now. Luckily, she seems to understand how these contacts work and seems in a position to teach others how to open those lines of contact with the inner planes themselves. I hope it works! I don’t know of any initiates from her line. Maybe there’s some reading this review. Hello! Tell me about it. Does it work? I sincerely hope her system does. I’m a big proponent of teaching students to do for themselves in magic — teach a man to fish sort of thing. The kinds of codependency that form in teacher-students relationships and in lodges with hierarchies of officers works completely counter to the magical current flowing through the real initiates out there, and those initiates have recognized this and abandoned the children to play with their pretend power. The real power has always rested with those in contact with the inner planes regardless of their outer form. It is NOT in titles, memberships, magical tools, or rituals. A conversation with special someone over a cheap coffee at the street corner can put you in touch with those inner planes much more effectively than any temple ceremony I’ve seen. Josephine McCarthy seems to get this point.
Having said all that, and with total respect to her line, our personal styles couldn’t be more different, and I didn’t personally take a lot from this book. I don’t even think there’s much here in the way of magical ability. It’s more about the way she is that you have to absorb from reading her book. You take a little bit of the aura of a real initiate-adept with you after absorbing her thoughts in this tome. That is more than enough. The student can develop the technique elsewhere (as they should).
Contact is really simple, and it can undoubtedly happen through a book. This is one such book.
Read it, don’t take it literally, and pay attention to the changes that occur in you as you do.
This woman is blunt and honest!
That may not come as a compliment, but on the topic of ceremonial magic, it most certainly is. We need so many more teachers like her who are prepared to say what needs to be said about magical lodges to the new wave of self-initiates. She had my respect as soon as she started being critical of western ceremonial magic. I have the same criticisms. She seems to recognize that while these schools may have had some real contacts at some point in time, they’re gone now. Luckily, she seems to understand how these contacts work and seems in a position to teach others how to open those lines of contact with the inner planes themselves. I hope it works! I don’t know of any initiates from her line. Maybe there’s some reading this review. Hello! Tell me about it. Does it work? I sincerely hope her system does. I’m a big proponent of teaching students to do for themselves in magic — teach a man to fish sort of thing. The kinds of codependency that form in teacher-students relationships and in lodges with hierarchies of officers works completely counter to the magical current flowing through the real initiates out there, and those initiates have recognized this and abandoned the children to play with their pretend power. The real power has always rested with those in contact with the inner planes regardless of their outer form. It is NOT in titles, memberships, magical tools, or rituals. A conversation with special someone over a cheap coffee at the street corner can put you in touch with those inner planes much more effectively than any temple ceremony I’ve seen. Josephine McCarthy seems to get this point.
Having said all that, and with total respect to her line, our personal styles couldn’t be more different, and I didn’t personally take a lot from this book. I don’t even think there’s much here in the way of magical ability. It’s more about the way she is that you have to absorb from reading her book. You take a little bit of the aura of a real initiate-adept with you after absorbing her thoughts in this tome. That is more than enough. The student can develop the technique elsewhere (as they should).
Contact is really simple, and it can undoubtedly happen through a book. This is one such book.
Read it, don’t take it literally, and pay attention to the changes that occur in you as you do.
Displaying 1 of 1 review