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Books About Doing Magic
It's been a long time since I've seriously read a book about magical practice, and I'm interested in starting again.
I know that Evolutionary Witchcraft by T. Thorne Coyle is very good.
Any other suggestions?
I know that Evolutionary Witchcraft by T. Thorne Coyle is very good.
Any other suggestions?
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I ordered Penzack's Inner Temple book today. It looked quite good.
Part of the problem is that I'm not sure what my paradigm is. My roots are in Starhawk and Z Budapest, but my maturity is in The Crafted Cup -- except that I've never been "high church", even as a pagan.
I think what I'm looking for is a way to train my intuition and energy, plus a way of relating to higher powers that I can feel comfortable with -- which is hard, because I'm not sure what I believe right now. I've felt the presence and action of the Divine in my life, but my primary awareness is of Mystery. I do tarot, and I'm pretty good at rituals I make up. I'm torn between hating elaborate rituals and understanding the ritual provides a framework and vessel in which Mystery can work.
I'm also a shaman, albeit not a highly developed one. I've been journeying since adolescence without fully realizing what I was doing.
Part of the reason I'm asking for recommendations is that I'm going to check everything out and look for a system that resonates.
Finally, I'm writing this on Friday evening at 5:56pm after a very long week at work and a certain amount of vodka onboard. . . . But I think the essential information is correct, even if I've had to retype frequently to correct spelling errors. ..
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As far as the shaman thing, I was thinking that might be a good way for you to go. When I was first writing this post, I was wondering if you might have been leaning in the shamanic direction.
Whereupon I would recommend that you keep up with Christopher Penczak's stuff, and also pick up books and tapes by Michael Harner. He's really good. He taught core shamanism for years.
Because, you know, journeying is only the tip of the iceberg. Once you know the spirit world, you can start working with it. Gaining spirit allies and aides, learning how to heal the spirit, doing exorcisms, conjuring nature spirits to change weather or help someone... Shamanism is a big game. And I think you'd do well with it.
Also, you might try getting deeper into the Qabala. If you like the Tarot, try reading Ellen Cannon Reed's "Witches Qabala." She's brilliant.
Don't worry about finding resonance in someone else's system. Chances are, you'll find several systems that resonate with you, and likely a few of them will clash with each other. That's ok.
The point of looking for magic, of seeking it out, is not to find "what's right for me," but to find what's true. Distill things down to their kernel of truth, and remember that truth doesn't feel, or hope, or fear, or believe. It just is.
And if you're anything like what I know about the Queen of Swords, and so far it seems like you are, you have a knack for finding the truth, and cutting through bullshit.
*grins*
Blessed be!
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Ah, you hit the nail on the head here. In the past I've felt highly frustrated because there seemed to be a lot of BS -- or at least dramatic fluff -- in books on magic, and I didn't feel like I had the experience or the intuition to discern the truth behind the dress-up. Now that I've gained some maturity, I feel better qualified to sift the decoration from the essence, and the BS from the truth -- or at least decide when it's going to be worthwhile to work with something for a while to test the results.
I was very surprised when I realized, a year or two ago, that I had shamanic abilities and that they'd been there all along. I'm looking forward to doing more focused work in that area again.