Moloch's Archived Reviews A-D

A nifty little chapbook that goes into the alleged history of the famed New Orleans Voodoo Queen. I say allegedly since there's really no way to verify the authenticity of the material presented in the book.

Raul Canizares is initiated into Santeria, Palo and a Petro branch of Haitian Vodu - and why he like so many feels the need to yet go and study another system is beyond me! - but he travels to Lousiana and ends up meeting Willie Glapion. Willie is allegedly the great-grandson of Marie Laveau and claims to have three yellowed notebooks filled with her charms and secrets.

There are some interesting gris-gris formula in the book For instance, To Drive Someone Mad it says: "Prepare a soup using plenty of fresh vegetables and a rat. Whoever eats this soup will go crazy." It probably should be mentioned that it goes without saying if you serve this soup to someone, leave the rat in the pot! Another recipe is for Drawing Powder which uses: corn meal and confectioners sugar.

There are some talismans in the book that are somewhat like the veves offered in Robert Pelton's Complete Book of Voodoo and IF what Willie Glapion says is true about copying this material from Marie's own books, then Pelton's veves may very well be the work and result of a different non-Haitian influenced veve.

The book also includes a chapter on creating your own gris-gris charms by giving lists of ingredients which are in sympathy with particular desires such as love, lust, money, etc. In fact, there're different saints mentioned to petiton for the various desires listed. One such, To Get A Job is to petition St. Joseph and for Financial Success one should petition Lakshmi - who happens to be from India (I believe).

All in all, I found the book to be filled with much useful information for the practicing Sorcerer. Get a copy of this and include some down-home Voodoo into your workings.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 possible stars.

The Love Spell: An Erotic Memoir of Spiritual Awakening ~ Phyllis Curott

I had a VERY hard time reading this book. Why? It's not a typical 'how-to' Occult book written the straightforward manner many such modern books are. This is written from the storyteller view. Meaning it's written like a story book is or a lengthy diary however with all of the missing pieces filled in. Thus for the sake of clarity, I classify it as a novel. Now why was it such a trudgery for me to slog thru it? I'm not one for novels and when I do, I prefer mine to be high fantasy, not reality of modern life.

According to the biography, the author is a graduate of Brown University and she's also a practicing attorney and a Wiccan priestess of 20 years. Okay she's smart. It takes quite a brain to make it thru an Ivy League school so I'll give her that.

I personally found the book to be slow going. It took forever for it to make it to the spell details. While I realize when you're dealing with people and you're allegedly coming from a storyteller's perspective, the details are important. However personally I feel the book could have been far shorter and hopefully one day there will be an abridged version coming forth.

It seems Gotham spared no expense giving away copies as there are some notable people who's names are staples in the neo-Pagan and New Age community who hail this book such as Janet Farrar, Dorothy Morrison, Ray Buckland, Sirona Knight, & others.

Do I recommend it? Yes. Why? Mainly for those who are constantly trying to win someone's affection with "Love Sorceries", this book will give you an idea of the complexity involved in performing this sort of Sorcerous task. It's not really a "wham bam thank you ma'am" sort of spell as many think it is. However what's even more important is the consequences of the spell you cast - especially of all "love" - is important since you're trying to cleave yourself to someone (hopefully) forever.

The novel is graphic - meaning it is sexually explicit. Phyllis pulls no punches here and some may be prudish to the point of saying that this is softcore porn. Perhaps it is however there is a market for this type of material and the author has an underlying message so it's worthwhile to read it just for that.

$25 for a paperback book - especially a novel - is quite extreme when compared with all of the fiction books out there in paperback selling at under $10. I would say it's worth the price if it were half of the cover but to spend such a chunk of change on a novel - even if it is true which I have no doubt it is - seems to me a bit steep.

Starting on page 337 and ending on page 347, there is a collection of love spells offered by the author. These are Wiccan in nature and perhaps that's why it took so long for the "love spell" to manifest. Had Sorcerous methods & tactics been used the length of time - and subsequently the page count - may have been much shorter.

The brief bibliography offers plenty in the realm of "erotic" type literature. From a magical perspective, she has listed the books by the very same authors who wrote recommendations for it. Hmmm. Though I give her props for recommending Slater's Magical Formulary but there aren't any other Sorcerous texts mentioned, just the typical watered down New Age material.

All in all, I rate this work at 3 our of 5 possible stars.

The Chicken Qabalah ~ Lon Milo DuQuette

QBL or Qabalah, Qabla, Caballah, Cabballah, Kabala, etc., a simple word with multiple spellings, is a Jewish practice that has recently come out of the closet & into the mainstream since people like Madonna, Roseanne & other Hollywood Hypes have publicly announced they�re studying the QBL. Of course what many of these Hype types are studying is traditional QBL which has more to do with reading the Jewish Torah and observing Jewish customs and laws. Oy vay. That�s NOT what this book is about.

This QBL presented in this text is �ESOTERIC� Qabala and has more to do with Occult practices than merely praying to Yahweh�s already overinflated ego. In fact, this Qabala is geared as a foundation for Western Ceremonial practices such as the Golden Dawn, Aurum Solis, Ordo Templi Orientis, Builders Of The Adytum, and other such esoteric grouops work with.

The book is a spoof of a �Rabbi� teaching you the basics of QBL. It reminds me of Carlos Castaneda�s don Juan but even so that the main character is fictional - which DuQuette leaves no doubt - it�s still a fun way of learning something that�s quite complex. Often the good Rabbi is witty and irreverent but that only makes the book appeal to you all the more.

I found it overall to be somewhat insightful but it�s nothing I haven�t heard before. For a beginner or budding Qabalaist, the book would be a welcome addition to learning this dry, Jewish system from a bygone era. Gods know that the Victorian magicians certainly did little to elucidate on this subject other than to further obscure it from open minds.

Consider this work to be a �primer� that you or a student should read several times. Especially the chapter with the �Command-Rants� as they will give you plenty to consider and sow within your own consciousness. The Foreword and chapter on �Who Was Rabbi Ben Clifford?� are a must read purely for the sport of it. DuQuette has a sense of humor that is poignant without the painful thrust which often accompanies such a treatment of a sacred text. (If only Jesus were this funny!)

Overall I give it 3 out of 5 possible stars as there were a couple of things I found lacking. One of which was DuQuette�s holier-than-thou statement where he feels it�s cowardly to use Magick in any sort of revenge situation. How trite & typical. A martial artist is supposed to NEVER use his knowledge to defend themselves in a fight. Ridiculousl. Still the book has many high points and enough that I give it a fair 3 out of 5 stars.

Crystal Balls & Crystal Bowls by Ted Andrews

Boy talk about a tough book to get into. This is New Age boredom at its boring-est. While Ted is a nice guy and all, his books are some of the most boring books I�ve ever tried to read.

I just could not make it past chapter one. While the book�s style is pedantic, Ted tries handling the material in the book with a sense of honesty and with that it�s just too white washed for my taste.

Ted�s best book thus far has been his work on the Simplifed Magic and after that I found his next offering, Imagick to be an excellent primer on the practice of pathworking or what�s more commonly known as �guided meditation�. Crystal Balls just does not have the same panache as the two previously mentioned texts have. In fact, if you�ve read any of Ted�s later works, you�ve read all the rest. They�re that boring.

All in all, I rate this book one star out of a possible five stars because it really is that boring.

Purification by Burning Sage

The first four songs on this CD left me flat. They�re well written songs and the lyrics have good meaning. So what was it that left me hanging? The over-production of the sound. Compression is something that audio engineers ought to keep their fingers off especially when it comes to electric distorted guitar and vocals. Bass and rhythm sections need the compression but to limit the peaks and valleys of guitar and vocals just makes the offering sound flat.

The last four songs, especially Pandora�s Box and No Place Like Home are the best tracks on the CD. They offer the best of what I considered to be a decent alternative rock approach. The last track, Holding On, is a very nice acoustic song that is reminiscent of something Alannis would put out - much like an anthem in the making.

This is an all girl�s band and they are professional to be sure but it�s just not as gritty sounding as I like. The guitar was held back from what could have been a nicely done series of songs. It had that over compressed sound to it that just seems to take away from the overall effectiveness of distortion - like the edges were all polished off. I want to hear it speak to me like a lover with all sorts of inflections and not just some polished monotone voice.

There were times when it sounded as if Lin Sanders (guitarist) wanted to let go and really rip but she was holding back. Personally every band ought to have on song in their repertoire that allows each musician a chance to show off � after all what�s the point if you can�t solo and show off some? I will say her solo on track five, �Pandora�s Box� was the best on the CD. It has that slow, bluesy and ethereal sound to it much like Robin Trower.

The vocals were well done. Lin�s voice is both strong and sweet and her range is fair.

The bass and rhythm section (Lucy Marquez & Sue Balaschak respectively) were professionally tight. They handled time changes well and their instruments were mixed in nicely to give a solid foundation to Lin�s voice.

All in all it is an okay offering. Had the music not been overly compressed and allowed to be a bit more raw, I think it would have come off a bit more edgy and thus give some of us folks who like a more edgy sound something to really chew on. I rate this two stars on a scale of one to five.

Postmodern Magic: The Art of Magic in the Information Age by Patrick Dunn

I liked this book and I have to say I like Patrick Dunn�s writing style. In fact, I hope he does not end up simply publishing a ton of so-so books just to satisfy some contractual agreement with his publisher. Why? Because this guy is good! Dunn�s attitude towards practical Occultism reminds me of Joshua Wetzel�s straightforward approach as outlined in his book The Paradigmal Pirate.

Dunn offers a nice balance of theory and practical exercises geared to help the aspiring practitioner become more proficient. There are places where his logic doesn�t make sense such as how he fails to see the relevant need to differentiate between an amulet and a talisman however in the chapter where he discusses �Spirits�, he dichotomizes between TEN classifications of Spirits. Even so, this minor point doesn�t disparage Dunn�s pragmatic take on his brand of Occultism.

A couple of really terrific aspects of this book is the section where he deals with helping you to understand both the why and how of making a magical language & the section on using Magic in the Street. Both chapters offer some very practical advice that has been well thought out and if given a series of tries, a practitioner could effectively expand their magical repertoire to a considerable degree.

Another good chapter is the one on Spirits. On page 89, Dunn gives an example of an evocation wherein he used Pagan God Names in lieu of the standard Judeo-Solomonic ones listed in the Medieval Grimoires. Finally, I�m glad to see someone else (beside myself) advocate this approach! This shows a desire to expand & try something new instead of simply treating the classic grimoires as some sort of �gospel� that cannot be tampered with.

Other interesting topics covered include how to create and apply glamours in a practical sense; creating & firing �anchors� � a neuro-linguistic programming term meaning �symbolic action/gesture/word that evokes a particular state within a person�. Dunn also tackles remote viewing and gives examples and ideas for its implementation from a Magical point-of-view.

All in all this is a damn fine book. The author clearly demonstrates he is operating from an independent approach that�s not hampered by association with any particular paradigm. I would call this a book of practical �Sorcery�. I rate this book five stars on a five scale.

Telecult Power: The Amazing New Way to Psychic and Occult Wonders by Reese P. Dubin

This is the first installment of book reviews about classic metaphysical texts that I have gotten around to acquiring and reading. Before Llewellyn, Samuel Weiser and other Occult publishing companies became popular in the mainstream, the general public had Parker Publishing and later Reward Books.

For the longest time these books were the standard fare for both their practicality and simplistic design. Well let�s face it, Joe and Mary Sixpack aren�t interested in learning deep theories about the Occult when all they want is �HOW do I do something?�

In this day and age when the modern practitioner is sick and tired of hearing the 101 Lectures over and over again, it is refreshing to find companies like BOTNL, Original Publications, Parker Publishing/Reward Books and Finnbarr offering practical how-to material. Llewellyn and Weiser do not seem to have gotten the point yet either for they continue to use the same old formula for their books: 80% theory, 15% ethics, 5% practical, pretty artwork. Whereas with these other publishers you get 90% to 100% practical and theory only thrown in when needed!

This is an EXCELLENT book loaded with techniques and many tips that the aspiring practitioner can add to their repertoire. The term �telecult� hearkens one to �telepathy� and �occult�. In fact, the author claims that the term literally means �hidden distance power� which will have terrific implications for the modern practitioner.

Like Llewellyn, Weiser, Finnbarr and others, Parker followed a pattern in all their books. They would have an innocuous opening chapter that told you what you could expect to do with the knowledge gained in the book. To my way of thinking, this is an example of �priming the pump� like you had to do in the old days of hand pump water wells. You poured a little water down the well to prime it before you got out the water from the well.

The next thing is the table of contents which outlines all you�ll see. Parker was notorious for being very content specific in their tables of contents and thus they were able to do without having to add the cost of an �index� done by professionals. In fact, even today, Llewellyn & Weiser STILL neglect to put an index in the majority of their books! If they only utilized a table of contents strategy like Parker/Rewrd did!

I found the first two chapters of the book rather dull and uninspiring. The author attempts to use fancy terminology to impress the reader by making him/her believe that what s/he is reading is in fact something very deep and special. The �telecult viewer� is your clairvoyant ability and the �telecult earphone� is your clairaudient ability. It seems that some folks find the new terminology to be more to their liking.

Where the book REALLY takes off begins with chapter three with how to broadcast silent commands or Hypnospells. One of the mistakes that the author points out about why typical mental commands do not work is really simplistic that you�ll slap your forehead when I tell you: Use the word �I� in place of �You� when you broadcast a command to someone! For instance, if you�re trying to get someone interested in you, don�t say, �You like me� but rather �I like you� and frankly this makes perfect sense to me. After all what you�re doing is implanting a suggestion that you want them to believe THEY came up with, right?

The book has a ton more practical advice much of which isn�t found in the more modern Occult texts unless you want to wade thru tons of utter nonsense to get to the meat. Other useful chapters include making a magic money bag to bring you riches and the chants found in the chapter on the Magic Brotherhood. Then there are the techniques found out about working with the Invisible spirits and how they can help you.

All in all the book is extremely dated however put that aside and realize that the content is worth the time and effort needed to get a copy of this classic metaphysical text. The instructions are easy to read and understand and the illustrations are to-the-point and convey the message precisely. On a scale of one to five, I rate this book a solid three stars.

Please click on the CD title to see more information

Primal Rhythm 1 by Sue Balaschak

Sue Balaschak is a terrific percussionist. She�s got talent, style, rhythm and soul. I chance met her at a Bealtaine festival I attended down in the hills of southern Ohio in the heart of Amish country. (Boy those Amish don�t know what they missed!)

I came over to the table where Sue�s CD�s were and then noticed the drums she had brought. Having brought my own dumbek to jam with whomever, we struck up a quick conversation. Unfortunately aside from pleasantries, someone else standing nearby took the initiative to interrupt us and my conversation was at an end. *sigh* I had only a short time to attend and then had to leave. Such are the happenstances that occur at pagan events. Yeah I could have told her I wanted to interview her but I�ve found when I do that, people don�t act like themselves. They get all cautious and guarded on everything they say. So I threw out the idea of an interview and left the event.

And even though I didn�t get to interview Sue, I did enjoy listening to her CD one the way home. Later I popped her CD into my home stereo and upon twisting up the volume, I grabbed my djembe and jammed along with her in spirit.

The first three tracks are more geared towards beginner percussionists and drummers. She gives you different timing speeds with the first track being 115 beats per minute and then track 2 is 120 bpm and then track 3 is 120 bpm. The next track is Spirit of the Ashika with her pounding out a terrific simplistic rhythm pattern on her Ashika. Next is Agogo Song and then Four Legged Rhythm which is one of my favorites. Fire Dance is really a get up and dance rhythm and if you like to dance around a bon fire, this is a rhythm for you.

Mother Speaks is the last rhythm and it�s a doosie. There�s a lot of heart and soul in Sue�s hands. She�s very mellow in person but you can tell she pours her heart out in her playing. Even if you play rattles, claves, bells, cymbals, deer antlers, or just thump your hands on a table top, you�ll enjoy her offering here. If you just like drumming music as background Muzak for ritual, then by all means, get a copy. At only ten dollars for the CD, it�s a steal. I have to give her a solid five out of five stars for this fun and lively CD.

Contact her at www.burningsage.net for more information on how to get it.

Please click on the book title to see more information

Wicca For One by Raymond Buckland

After reading this totally redundant offering, you have to ask yourself, �Is Ray Buckland, one of the most celebrated Wiccan authors, hurting for money?� This book really had a hard time keeping my interest. It�s got a pretty cover and that�s about it as far as I�m concerned.

This is just a shortened form of his classic big blue covered �Compleat Book of Witchcraft� adopted for a singular individual. Whoopee. Definitely NOT worth the price of fourteen dollars and ninety-five cents in my opinion.

The chapterson Magic were culled from his previous works such as �Practical Color Magic� and his candle magic book. Gods Ray, with all your years of practice and your lifetime of study, can�t you offer something more to bite on than this pathetic piece???

This shows me that even big name authors lack the balls to delve deeper into the mysteries OR are too damn stingy to share anything deeper than surface knowledge that can be found anywhere else. For instance both Marian Green and Scotty Cunningham both wrote excellent books on the solitary path years ago. Fine time for Mr.Ray to jump on the bandwagon long after the fact.

All in all, I rate this book 1 star out of a possible 5 and I�m being MORE than fair here. If I didn�t respect Mr. Buckland so much, I�d be calling for him to be drawn and quartered. Save your money and spend it elsewhere. If you already bought this book, give it away to some newbie.

Please click on the book title to see more information

Polarity Magic: The Secret History of Western Religion by Wendy Berg & Mike Harris

Ye Gods! What a hard road the first half of this book was to get thru! Why is it every British Occultist of the "Western Mystery Tradition" has to bore us with their lineage whether it's back to Crowley, A.O.Spare, S. L. McGregor Mathers or as in this case, Dion Fortune? What should have tipped me off from the get-go was the fact their students of that pompous windbag Gareth Knight.

Frankly I had hoped the book would be better than what I found it to be and that's an over-rated, pompous b-o-r-i-n-g! I hate trashing another author's book but damnit why do so many make it so easy too? Do we need yet another book that has to take a huge portion of the book to discuss Egyptian pantheons, myths, religions, etc.? Pages 29 thru 57 was somewhat tolerable but when you hit pages 59 and read thru 134 about Qabala, Judaism, Yahweh, the Torah, Menorahs, Tabernacles, you get the edgy deja vu feeling of "been here, read that".

Even the section on the Celtic myths was way to anal-yzed for my taste. Why is it Western Esoteric Magicians seem to have to over-anal-yze every myth, symbol and detail? Perhaps they're frustrated psychologists who couldn't hack it in the university environment? I dunno but it's irritating to spend hard earned money for more of this "Magic-is-all-psychology-and-here's-our-take-on-the-subject" crapola. Nothing new here in that respect, folks.

The book's premise is the "creative use of Myths coupled with the Polarity aspect of priesthood and sexuality". Wow. That's no secret tradition I know of. Sexuality is a large part and parcel of every religion, philosophy and creed out there since the day people became aware that procreation caused pregnancies not Spirits.

The practical section starts off with the discussion of sexual partners working thru the myths and rites together. It's quite factual and gives you some things to consider. What the authors are trying to do with much verbosity is blend the Hermetic and Orphic pillars of the Qabalistic Tree of Life. The left hand pillar (path) is the Hermetic and that is one of study and disciplined ritual whereas the right hand pillar (path) is the Orphic and is where creative drama and ecstasy is found. Either side can take you to Kether but the authors seem to want to blend both sides together while delving into rites based on myths.

There's a complete index and full bibliography with the token names in Occultism listed. The endnotes really didn't help me much (but in all fairness I fought boredom to finish the book!) The asking price is typical Llewellyn fare at nineteen dollars and ninety-five cents. I rate it two out of five stars. Look elsewhere folks.

Evolutionary Witchcraft by T. Thorn Coyle

This is a work by the author on her experiences in the Faery Tradition which was founded by the late Witch, Victor Anderson. The book is nicely laid out and by a publisher that isn't trying to white-wash anything to the public. A reasonably priced hardcover with color dust cover is a rarity these days.

Unfortunately I had a helluva time getting thru the first few chapters. It was downright tedious to force myself to read it. For some reason, her personal history just didn't sync with me and I found it quite boring. This is unusual for me as I reall am interested in how folks get started into any aspect of the Occult.

Another thing that bothered me was all the name dropping about "Victor" - meaning her teacher, Victor Anderson the founder of the "Faery" tradition of Withcraft. To me, name dropping is in very poor taste and I realize that many folks name drop to give the reader a sense of lineage and worthiness to read, but if your work cannot stand on its own merits, then it really shouldn't be published at all.

What else was odd for me to understand is how Coyle's version of Faery Witchcraft relies on so much mudra. There are parts where the book has the pictures of her in postures of the various exercises she advocates to tap into power. Often I was contrasting her poses to the Yoga and Tai Chi postures I've seen. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you, rather I do not recall seeing much original mudra since Mabry's work in the Armenic Runic system.

There are specific spiritual exercises in this book that Coyle offers to the practitioner that would be beneficial to anyone's spiritual path. I enjoyed her section on the Warrior Ethic and how she explains that we should not coddle weakness. Well said! Unfortunately in her discussion, she advocates non-violence. This does not fit in with the paganistic backgrounds of our Indo-European ancestors where warfare was a very common way of life. One was trained to be aware of their surroundings as well as defend oneself, not lay prone allowing the antagonizer to murder you! Far too many neo-Pagans today are too pacifistic that if we as a collective whole were ever rounded up and put into concentration camps, they would go to slaughter as sheep!

I also highly recommend rereading page 236 about Engaging Your Fears. This is something that's rarely talked about in neo-Pagan texts. Learning to conquer one's fears is extremely useful in and of itself however it goes hand-in-hand with learning new things that may have been anathema to you in the past.

I tried the Sticky One exercises on pp. 49-55 including the Devotional Dance. I have to tell you at first I felt silly but as I continued the movement, I allowed my subconscious to create the Wish Bird and mine came forth as a falcon. The energy was intense to say the least and the fetch was sent on an errand to find something I had previously lost. A friend called a couple of days later telling me she had found my necklace in her car and that I must've dropped it when we went out to lunch!

The only other bone of contention I have with this book is like so many of the "Faery" tradition works, it's very feminist oriented and has almost an "exclusionary to males" tone to it. Even if that weren't Ms. Coyle's intention, it came across that way to me. Having seen this sort of thing before from Starhawk, I had hoped Ms. Coyle's version of Faery Witchcraft was not so politically feminist in scope.

In summary it has a good index which can help you find just about anything you have read in the book and the bibliography does offer some interesting resources that you typically do not see in your standard "Wicca" manuals. All in all I have to give this book a solid three out of five stars.

Creating Magickal Entities by David Michael Cunningham with contributions from Taylor Ellwood & Amanda R. Wagener

I received my copy of this work when I purchased it in conjunction with another text on Evocational Magic. It's an easy read and frankly way too basic for my taste however I'll give you my standard Pros & Cons.

First off the cover is interesting. I like it. A Spirit is emerging thru a sigil and thus gives you an idea of what to expect inside. However don't judge a book by its cover. In typical New Age fasion, the three authors offer up a cook-book styled manual on the creation of thought-forms. The book is not easy to follow along as I would have liked it to be.

In the Disclaimer, the authors state: "It is not the purpose of this book to reprint all the information that is otheriwse available to readers but to compliment, amplify and supplement other texts." They go on to recommend the listings in the bibliography which include your standard New Age texts by Konstantinos, Kraig, LaVey, the Pajeons, etc., and throw in some Phil Hine and Stephen Mace for Chaos Magic and Voila! you have the gist of their text.

So why do I label this yet another "New Age" work? Pages 27 thru 31 is all about Karma, Cause and Effect, yadda-yadda-yadda. Oy vay can we give it a rest all ready? Hunh?

Most of the book was boring to me. Why? The writing failed to hold my interest and the depth of the subject matter just did not meet my requirements. The authors seem to cover the basics as found in the other texts they so try to not do. I had hoped in the chapter entitled "Feeding Time" that they'd have offered up some new and unique ideas on how to feed your entities. Alas my hopes were dashed. Then the chapter on Housing for the entity had a couple of ideas I thought were good but nothing really mind jolting. So what's the most interesting part of the book? In the appendices where the case studies are to be found.

In all fairness, if you're truly new to the Occult scene and know Diddly-Squat about creating entities such as this, then this book would be an acceptable primer though there are many other resources out there that go into much greater depth than here.

Finally the book includes a nice index and how to contact the authors themselves. The publishing company is based out of Perrysburg, Ohio and I find it ironic that I've lived here for since 1991 and haven't heard of this publisher prior to this book.

I obtained it at sixteen dollars & ninety-five cents and since I ordered it by mail thru Amazon, shame on me if I feel the book is highly over-priced. It really could sell better for nine dollars and ninety-five cents but this new publishing house obviously wants to cash in on the current trend to sell mildly entertaining esoteric works for far more than they are worth to the intermediate or experienced practitioners ignorant enough to pay their asking price. Wait til you find it in the close-out bins at B&N or some other discount bookstore.

I rate it two out of five stars. If you're experienced in this form of Magic, then skip this book entirely.

The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Spells and Magic by The Diagram Group

A little gem is what this book is. However before I just ogle the book itself for its compactness and quality, there are some serious mistakes within the book itself.

For instance, on pp. 126-127, the invoking Pentagram of Earth showing the direction in which to draw your arm is 2/5 wrong. They show the first three lines correctly on p. 126 but the last two on p. 127 are incorrect as they show for Air. Then on pp. 178-179 for the "Kabbalistic Symbols For Planets", they give the correct designs for the planets on page 178 as Planet, Spirit, & Demon. Aside from the fact that most Ritual Magicians refer to them as "Planet, Intelligence and Spirit" is beside the point here, rather on page 179 for Mars, Jupiter & Saturn they have inadvertently flipped them showing them reversed. This may have been merely a printing error as could be the same for the Earth Invoking Pentagram, however it shows poor editing for the publisher.

Aside from those two glaring errors, I've not read thru each page to find any others. What I have done is leafed thru the book because it does cover some heavier aspects of Magic and Witchcraft. First off, it gives directions for casting the Circle from a Medieval Magician's standpoint and lists all of the 72 Spirits of the Goetia including line ink drawings of the Spirits themselves in their manifested forms! That's quite rare to see in such a book! Then later in the book, the seals for the 72 Goetia Spirits are shown from their original appearance out of the Lemegeton and not the cleaned up Mathers-Crowley edition.

Another interesting detail of the book, are the Arabic names & spellings in Arabic (since I'm not familiar with Arabic script, I have no way of checking the accuracy of these characters and thus must defer to another practitioner who may be more informed). Then on page 286, I find a list of Arabic Jinns with their names and offices, English names, & perfumes.

Pages 158 thru 160 will be of particular interest to Neo-Pagans as it lists not only lore about the Cauldron but also its uses in Magic and how to consecrate one as a Nganga in the African tradition of Palo. Sadly the authors (researchers Jane Johnson & editor Nancy Bailey) they incorrectly label the uses of these Ngangas as black witches in Santeria. Technically it's Palo Monte or Palo Myombe, called Mayomberos, who use the Nganga and they practice it as a religion. There is a cauldron or pot used in some sects of Santeria called a Prenda but again these items are very difficult to make properly and should only be done so under the close supervision of a Palero/Palera or Santera/Santero. Page 37 also has some inaccurate information.

All in all, the book isn't bad. It's a great attempt to put a TON of useful stuff under one cover. What's sad is there is the index is pretty slim and pathetic. It could've been a lot better. However the table of contents are well laid out and you can find what you're looking for in there. There is also a Glossary of Spirits and again I have not yet taken the time to read thru it thoroughly. I can't give this book much more than 2 stars but if you want to get a copy for your collection, remember it's less than $10.

A Wiccan Formulary And Herbal by A. J. Drew

Wow. Yet another herbal reference manual. At a stiff price of nineteen dollars and ninety-nine cents, I found this book a so-so read. Again if you NEED an herbal and this is the only one on the shelf, grab it. If you already have one by either M. Grieve, Paul Beryl or Scott Cunningham, save your money and buy something else.

My hat is off to Mr. Drew though in some parts of the book especially pages 11-13 where he discusses knowing what sorts of allergies you may have before diving into working with herbs.

Chapter 1 is seriously redundant. Do the authors and publishers of these books really believe that their book will be the ONLY one that a newbie will pickup and have read? I find this to be an arrogant assumption on their part really as well as unnecessary filler that can help promote the appearance of �more for your money� and keep the price inflated as high as it is. In other words, how many damn primer chapters do you have to put into such a book?

I found chapter 5 �Herbal Recipes and Remedies� to be quite dangerous because it treads very close to the border of prescription remedies again which only a qualified medical physician has the training and legal authority to prescribe. I forewarn you now that if you contemplate taking any of the herbal remedies in this book, please make absolutely certain you know what are you are doing, you know your own body�s allergies AND you�ve shared what you plan to do with your medical physician.

The foods outlined in Chapter 6 were somewhat interesting but hardly anything new. I believe Cunningham covered the �Magic of Food� in one of his cliched offerings. The classifications were nothing that you couldn�t dig up in any other reference manual.

Chapter 7�s recipes for �Making Magick� sounded a lot like they were patterned after the Cunningham & Tarostar school of Kitchen Witchery and a quick look in the Bibliography shows that indeed they�re on the reading list.

Part of the problem I have with a series of recipes like this comes from my own training in Root-Conjure Sorcery where I was taught that these recipes are �generalized� and their application may or may not work. The idea is that the practitioner will need to truly learn the recipe by studying how each ingredient in the recipe works as well as how it interacts with the other ingredients as they are applied to the situation for which they were blended. Plus given the fact that problems generally arise from people (ourselves AND others) and our interpersonal interactions with one another, thus a practitioner should custom make each recipe after knowing the given set of circumstances and all parties involved. This way you will know if you need to add more or less of any one or more ingredients to help treat the situation correctly.

Finally the last part focuses on the plants themselves. Drew follows the basic outline of both Grieve and Cunningham (minus a couple of things) to try and make a cohesive list of herbs, their folk names, Magical uses Astrological data and medical uses. The pictures of the plants really doesn�t help someone like me who does not go out into the wild and grow or harvest all that many plants. I have a few things I go in the woods for but for the most part, I buy my herbs and roots from reputable dealers online.

All in all, it�s a so-so book to me. His anecdotes didn�t really didn�t click with me but that is purely an individual taste sort of thing. Again if you don�t have an herbal reference, and can�t find one of the others I mentioned, this isn�t a bad book to get. I think the price would be justified IF the publisher opted for more graphic representations of the herbs in the wild & dropped the redundant chapters on the basics. I rate this 2 stars out of 5 for unoriginality and redundancy.

Angels, Demons & Gods of the New Millenium: Musings on Modern Magick by Lon Milo DuQuette

DuQuette has offered both a theoretical and pragmatic view of the Thelemic worldview for the would be Occultist. He begins with a brief explanation of his own Thelemic ideal in chapter one appropriately entitled "Confession" and as he progresses thru the book, each chapter subsequently offers his own opinion on how he has assimilated these theories into a workable and reliable form of personal Occultism.

When we arrive in chapter two - "Qabalah, Zen of the West" - we shown that one can indeed feel not only comfortable with using but also with applying the Qabala to our daily lives by one who is as Western as it gets. What will help the neophyte is how DuQuette explains the complex arts of Gematria & Notariqon & Temura. These are Occult techniques whereby the student can take a word and translate it into a number and by doing so, see how it is related to other words that add up to the same number. Notariqon has to do with generating words from the beginning letters of a passage of scripture and Temura has to do with substituting one letter for another. While I have read the methodology from other authors, DuQuette does a fine job of explaining in simplified terms.

One of my favorite chapters is the third one wherein DuQuette discourses on the nature of the Holy Guardian Angel that each one of us allegedly has. Interestingly enough, the author shares his thoughts on how some non-Occultists have apparently achieved success without any Occult rites or practices. In fact, DuQuette gives his own theory as to how the individual can make the necessary contact with his/her own HGA purely thru constant thought and desire. His logic is well founded and workable.

Finally the last chapter I truly enjoyed was "Demons Are Our Friends"! Here again this from a man who has DONE the requisite work and experienced first hand accounting of the Spirits. He is not a sit-by type of armchair theorist whose only pretending knowledge of the Goetia Spirits is purely speculative. And he confirms my own belief that "the whole technique of summoning and evocation is purely a matter of artistic taste." One can venture into the realm of needing pentacles of protection, robes, wands, etc., and vocalizing all of the conjurations by rote memory because they're romantically enflamed by that mindset OR the practitioner can use Occam's Razor to cut to the quick of the matter and use only what is absolutely necessary to call for such Spirits.

All in all, this book is excellent and well worth the investment. I give it five stars as it does include a nice bibliography and an index.

Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot by Lon Milo DuQuette

This book would better be entitled "An Accurate and Complete Book on the Thoth Tarot Deck" or "A Method of Spiritual Attainment Using the Thoth Tarot" because this is precisely what Lon DuQuette has done in this offering.

Rarely since either Papus' or Mouni Sadhu's works on tarot have I seen a book that is this much in depth in knowledge and scope as what DuQuette has presented in this book. Also knowing the complexity of the Thelemic system and the resulting madness which is rightfully Aleister Crowley's, the Thoth deck is not something to which many are capable of grasping more than straws.

I have owned a Thoth deck from the first year I got involved in the Occult and that's been 17 years as of this writing and still there is so much offered in the Thoth deck that I find something new about it each time I unwrap my cards and gaze at them! How many other Tarot decks can make this simple claim?

Originally I bought Crowley's accompanying book on the Thoth deck & after my first reading, I was more perplexed than before I started! Thus I did not use the deck for little more than contemplation and as a method to help induce altered states and astral travel experiences. Lon has offered me much more now that I've read his book and have a deeper understanding of the complexities of the Thoth deck and to that I am grateful.

Chapters Zero and One should be read a few times prior to reading the rest of the book so you are prepped for what is to come and why it's coming. Take my advice and do not overlook this step. You'll glean a LOT more from doing this simple thing than reading the rest of the book more than once.

Chapters Two thru Seven are the obligatory history of Uncle Al and why he was who he was. Frankly this material is not necessary in my opinion as there are plenty of other sources Lon could have referenced just as easily instead of adding this filler to the book. But there are some who have this attitude that if you like their book they have to include as much history or ethical platitudes as possible to make it a "complete" work.

Chapter Eight is very helpful if you happen to be into the Rosicrucian oriented framework as it covers the all important Rosy Cross. Now even if you're NOT into this aspect, it helps to further understand the Qabalistic designs of Uncle Al's Thoth deck. Why? Because this aspect of Thelema is patterened after the Golden Dawn's Rose Cross symbol and is central to Thelema as well.

I could go on and on touching on each chapter and would end up spoiling the fun of working thru this manual before you read it. So I won't however I will say you should have your Thoth deck out and at hand as you read thru each subsequent chapter on the various cards. Take your time and read each section carefully then let that information flow thru your mind and let it drift away THEN gaze and contemplate the card in your hand. If you don't gain some sort of insights by the time you're done contemplating the card, then go back and re-read that section on that card. You'll gain SOMETHING worthwhile!

I rate this book five stars for the breadth of the subject matter. The book is complete and tight in its offering. There are some useful insights offered by DuQuette as you work your way thru the book and he even offers some quips and personal anecdotes as well. I recommend this book to those who have a strong desire to master the Thoth deck. This is not to say that by reading this book you'll have mastered the deck itself but rather will gain a useful starting point from which to begin and material to help fill in the gaps of understanding which are most surely to plague you when trying to use this deck for more than mere divination.