Graeco-Egyptian Magick: Everyday Empowerment, by Tony Mierzwicki
Megalithica Books, 1-905713-03-7, 256 pp. (Incl. bibliography, appendixes, and index), 2006

Tony Mierzwicki’s Graeco-Egyptian Magick is an excellent beginner’s guide to the astrological magick found in the Greek Magical Papyri (PGM or Papyri Graecae Magicae as it is referred to in academic circles). It’s clear that this is not the only source text he’s well acquainted with.

Those who practice modernized astrological magick may find this book difficult at first. The astrological sequence of initiatory and practical processes follows the Ptolemaic Order (Luna, Mercury, Venus, Sol, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) because that was the order most prominently used in Antiquity, particularly by the magicians whose works form the basis of the book. He also includes the Homeric hymns for six of the planets, and all of the Orphic hymns for the seven planets. Continue reading »

The Hidden Masters and the Unspeakable Evil, by Jack Barrow
Winged Feet Productions, 9780951532911, 286 pp.

What do magicians really do? Is Blackpool really the centre of evil for the UK? Is there a magical spell to make a car start? These and many other questions are asked and answered in this worthy first novel by Jack Barrow, who has written several magical theory and practice books in the last 20 years or so.  Continue reading »

Aradia, Gospel of the Witches, by Charles Godfrey Leland
The Witches’ Almanac, 9780982432358, 178 pp., 1899, 2010

Charles Godfrey Leland (1824-1903) was an American folklorist who published some twenty books on American and European folklore, Romani traditions, witchcraft, and other subjects. He is chiefly remembered today for his influence on the development of modern Paganism, primarily through the publication of Aradia. Continue reading »

We’ve just sent our first news letter!

A few months ago we quietly added a subscriber box for our newsletter to the right side bar, but haven’t really promoted it until now, and now we’ve just sent our first communication, with updates as to what’s happening with the site, new content, and what we’re looking for in terms of contributors.

You can see the first newsletter archived here, and if it sounds like something you’re interested in, you can subscribe here, or by adding your address to the box on the right.

We won’t send many of these, so you’ll likely only see one e-mail every other month or so. I’d like to start including more industry news in them as well, so if you’ve got a new book or project on the go, let me know, and I’ll see about including it in the next newsletter.

Happy reading!

Please note that as of the end of October, our book and media reviews address will be changing. We will no longer be using the post box.

I’ve e-mailed the new address to the publishers we regularly deal with, but if you’re interested in sending new material, and haven’t received the new address, please contact me.

I request that you please update your records, as we may not be able to receive material at the previous address after that date.

Thanks and best wishes for the fall season.

Sagittarius, by Joanna Martine Woolfolk
Taylor Trade Publishing, 9781589795617, 92pp., 2011

I was a bit surprised when I saw Joanna Martine Woolfolk, author of The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need, had written a book entirely about Sagittarius. After all, she should know better than to pigeon hole people according to their sun signs, our astrological chart and personality is far more complex than that. She addresses that concern in the introduction, and holds to the fact that while there is a lot more to our charts, we are our sun sign first, so giving her that benefit of the doubt, I continued. Continue reading »

I’m sorry to report that Mike Gleason (1951-2012) passed away on 30 August. He was a prolific reviewer of Pagan books and music, and contributed hundreds of reviews to this site (among countless others), and there remain dozens that have yet to be posted.

Selena Fox has written a beautiful obituary on the Circle Sanctuary site, which I invite you to read. He’s been cremated, and will be interred at Circle Cemetery at Circle Sanctuary. The above link also lists a page for those who’d like to make donations in his memory.

Rest well, Mike, and thanks for all you’ve done.

Psychic Self-Defense: The Classic Instruction Manual for Protecting Yourself Against Paranormal Attack, by Dion Fortune
Weiser, 9781578635092, 238pp., 1930, 2001

“This is a warning to the curious: Times, points of view, and fashions change, but never principles.” I doubt Dion Fortune knew how true those words would be eighty years after she wrote Psychic Self-Defense. A lot has changed in the world, both the mundane and magickal landscape are drastically different from her time, so much so that it can be hard to see how relevant this book remains today.

The book is divided into four sections. Part I deals with the types of psychic attack, such as witchcraft, vampirism, and when ceremonial magick goes wrong. It also deals with the signs of the attack and analyzing the nature, figuring out what type of attack it is. Part II deals with differential diagnosis or the other things that could be going on. Part III tackles diagnosing the attack in detail, how they are made, and the motives. Lastly, Part IV is what you’d expect from a book with this title, methods of defence.

Part IV deals with a variety of methods, starting off from simple to more complex. The beginner reading this book can learn how to make Holy Water (provided they are Christian), or using garlic to absorb a negative psychic atmosphere. Getting more complex (but more common in this day) you get the Qabalastic Cross and LBRP, as well as creating magickal circles. Finally she touches upon destroying thought forms, and dealing angels, and the “Occult Police.” Continue reading »

This slight annoyance of being regularly asked by ‘fluffy Pagans’ if we are Satanists probably goes with the territory of being chaos magicians – at the very least we are supposed to eat a baby a week, it seems. The founder of Satanism, the late Anton LaVey, made the very pragmatic point that “stories of unbaptized babies being stolen by Satanists… were not only effective propaganda measures, but also provided a constant source of revenue for the Church, in the form of baptism fees. No Christian mother would, upon hearing of these diabolical kidnappings, refrain from getting her child properly baptized, post haste.” It’s all about the money, honey.

We have also had dealings with several people who would fall under the stereotypical definition of ‘real nutjobs about Satan.’ These include one especially memorable person at an academic conference on alternative religion that we attended a while back. Continue reading »

A Teaching Handbook for Wiccans and Pagans, by Thea Sabin
Llewellyn Worldwide, 978-0-7387-2710-3, 309 pp., 2012

It has been a number of years since I have read any of Thea’s writings. In fact, it had been so long that, when I saw a quote from my review of her previous work, I had to go back and reread that review. As I delved into this latest work, my original opinion seems to have been more than borne out. I was impressed by her practicality at the time, and I am even more impressed by it at this time. If there is one thing sadly lacking in the field of Pagan education (after discounting the lack of uniformity) it is common sense. Thea supplies that in abundance.

This is a collaborative effort. Ms Sabin approached numerous teachers of Pagan topics – those who teach in-person; those who teach online; those who have been teaching for years; and those who are just starting out as teachers – on a variety of approaches, techniques and pitfalls. You know those things which are “needless to say…”, she says them because since everyone knows them, we often forget to include them in our thinking and preparations. You know the kind of disaster I mean – you have all your media on a flash drive, but when you arrive at the location you discover that the files have been corrupted (or even worse, you grabbed the wrong flash drive)…how do you recover? Or you have that one student who seems bound and determined to wrest control of the class away from you…how do you deal with the situation? Continue reading »