Phillip Cooper

Title:	Basic Sigil Magic
Author:	Phillip Cooper
Publisher:	Weiser
ISBN:	1578632072
Copyright:	2001
Reviewer:	Psyche
Contact Information:	psyche at spiralnature dot com
Category:	Chaos Magick, Magick
Review:	I picked this book up by accident, I'd ordered Practical Sigil Magic by Frater U.D., but this one had come in instead. I thought, what the hell, and bought it anyway. I now wish I hadn't. The book is broken up into two parts 'The Psybermancer' and 'The Psybernomicon', it's unclear why. It's also unclear why the author spells magick with a 'c' in the title, then switches to 'ck' throughout the rest of the book. I'm not particularly bothered by which spelling is used, only that it be consistent. After throwing out the mind - without giving a decent explaination as to why (pg. 15) and denying the power of emotions and their useful place in your life (pg. 16-17), Cooper then decides to do away with karma as well (pg. 17). Before you can master the effects of your mind, you need to understand it, and in doing so, yourself. Take the example of emotions given (pg. 17) he suggests that 'each time you find that you are being negative, stop, remind yourself that your thinking will effect the outcome.' Denying how you think and feel will only surpress these thoughts and emotions until you burst, which can far more disasterous. He offers no real solutions to fears or doubts, just suggests you push it down a little deeper. He does away with karma, denouncing it as a useless concept, but doesn't seem to have a firm grasp of what it means, then decides to fabricate his own debt-system, calling it 'The Great Law of Tenfold Return'. Copper's preference of Spare over Crowley seems not to have any real foundation, a common thread throughout this book. While I don't necessarily disagree, I would like to see an explaination given. The only quote by Crowley cited is secondhand, coming from a book by another author - it looks as though he's not even bothered to read Crowley before forming this opinion. There is no mention of Crowley in the Bibliography. The concepts presented in this book are barely even a rehashing of everything that's already been established much more effectively by other authors, and in more depth. The only new concepts he presents are baseless and useless. I found this book to be a useless load of rubbish. Perhaps this ridiculous magickal philosophy is explained futher in his other works, but I found this one such a waste of time that I'm not inclined to persue them.
Review submitted:	29 October 2002