Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts

Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK HAS SOME UNETHICAL ERRORS
Review: This is one of the most recommended books for beginners in the art of magick. It isn't really about general magick training as much as it is about Golden Dawn magick for beginners. This is why this book has been recommended by many Golden Dawn magicians. Fair enough, except the author manages to insert unethical errors on purpose that he calls blinds. Since this book is geared for beginners, he knows that most likely only 1 in 10 will spot them. Therefore, when you use this book you risk being at the [...] end of a bad trick played on you during your spiritual quest. Here is one glaring and obvious error that should be enough to warn you against using this book blindly: in the ritual for consecrating the water chalice the book states, "Thy holy and divine name El, where, too, Thou art known in this quarter by the secret name MEARAB, I beseech Thee." Mearab is a Hebrew word that means west, nothing more. It isn't a secret name for anything. It is a common word folks like up, down, chair, road, and so on. Kraig knows it because he says in the beginning of the book that he is of Jewish heritage. Do you really want to use a book in which the author is having a laugh at your spiritual expense? No thanks....

Rating:
Summary: The only reasonable intro to Hermeticism, and it fails
Review: Donald Michael Kraig's Modern Magick is, hands down, the single most recommended beginner's text on high magick. Alas, it's not so much worthy of its status as it is simply the sole publication to target novitiates to high magick. The Hermetic tradition sorely needs such a work, but Kraig doesn't do the job.

In terms of content, Modern Magick adds nothing new to the field. It follows the elemental initiatory pattern of the outer order of the Golden Dawn, albeit in a much reduced time frame. For better or worse, it also prescribes a great deal of work that was traditionally reserved for experienced magicians (e.g. the hexagram ritual, the supreme invoking pentagram, construction of amulets, invocation and evocation, etc.). Its graduated schedule of ritual practice is its sole strength, because it makes clear, where no other teaching has, the details of just how much work is required to be successful in this pursuit.

Those concerned with theoretical as much as practical issues will be disappointed. Kraig's discussion of the wherefores and mechanisms of magick is as credulous as most other material in the field. One would expect more from someone with a degree in philosophy, but the hand-waving and pat explanations win out. Magick is so rife with looney theories, and even loonier practitioners, that it really deserves a critical discussion of the subject in light of relevant, up-to-date scholarship in history, philosophy, experimental psychology, and the anthropology and sociology of new religious movements; unfortunately, Kraig offers no such discussion. His academic forays are superficial at best, and his passing admonitions to "question authority," and to "think for yourself," are bound to be ignored by the overenthusiastic youngsters most likely to read this book. And yet they are the ones who would benefit the most from the advice.

Given the marketing of Modern Magick as a textbook, there should have been more attention to usability, after the style of conventional academic texts: chapter summaries, properly formatted table of contents, list of figures, hierarchy of heads and subheads, sidebars, lists of key terms, bold and italicized terminology, pull quotes, critical thinking exercises, etc.

If magick is ever to enjoy greater cultural currency, students need to be given the best tools for the job. Unfortunately, Modern Magick remains the best entree to the arena, and it is not fit for such a high task. In the absence of anything better, independent-minded students shouldn't neglect Kraig's overall plan for practical work, but they'll have to look elsewhere for critical thought.

Rating:
Summary: A rather mediocre course in magick
Review: This book does contain some good information. The section with several techniques of separating the astral body from the physical is useful. Also there are good exercises for gradually building up elemental forces within one's psyche and subtle body. Some of the rituals, however, are watered down and inexcusably streamlined; the best example is with the Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram, in which Kraig leaves out the signs/gestures of each element (these signs are aids in asserting and maintaining authority over the elemental spirits and energies); likewise his SIRP involves no deisol (or widdershins) circumambulation. Another example of streamlining is how Kraig replaces the standard enochian tablets in favor of tablets bearing only the simple elemental sigils (composed of upright and inverted triangles); this replacement reduces the amount of elemental energy that one can invoke at the outset: The very presence of the legitimate enochian tablets aids in charging the elemental pentegrams (through the vibration of the secret names of god themselves contained on the tablets); regarding the charging of the weapons, the tablets are essential in invoking the angels whose names are derived from these tablets. Likewise, Kraig does not include any Greater Invoking Rituals for the individual elements; these rituals can be important tools for building up energy, as one progresses from one element to the next. I suspect that watering down some key aspects of the GD system could lead to potential problems, down the road, when it comes the evocation exercises in Lesson 9. Another unfortunate feature of this book is a notable use of Stella Matutina methods and correspondences: in the rituals to charge the weapons, Kraig uses Enochian Kerubic Archangel names derived from the double-lettered tablets of the Stella Matutina, and these names differ from those derived using Dee's tablets. (In Cicero's Secrets of A Golden Dawn Temple, the ritual for charging the weapons employs the original Kerubic Archangel names). Instead of buying Modern Magick, I recommend investing in David Griffin's Ritual Magic Manual. Franz Bardon's Initiation Into Hermetics is another comprehensive resource.


Rating:
Summary: Good beginning, but be careful
Review: So effective I thought it might be a good idea to post a warning here. For instance, the exercise in which you create and empower an astral entity to take on the attributes of one of your own shortcomings could be extremely dangerous; it has been my experience that it is much more difficult to banish energy than it is to form it. The trouble with many magicians is that they are working with forces they cannot see. This is a distinct disadvantage if these forces decide to take advantage of you. I suggest the magical student practice protection and intuitive techniques before performing any entity creating or invoking exercises- and the more accomplished the magician, the more protection he or she will need.

Also recommended: Hands of Light, by Barbara Brennan; The Way of the Shaman, by Michael Harner. Both are excellent for beginning to perceive and work with subtle energies- shamanic work is the root of all magical practices.


Rating:
Summary: Excellent for a Beginnner
Review: I just finished this one and I must admit that it was excellent if you are starting out in the Craft. Good guidelines, well written, worth the money. But when you want to get into the advanced stuff I would recommend checking out Kirk Packwood's 'Memetic Magic' or maybe one of Peter Carroll's books. Overall good stuff though, buy this one.

Rating:
Summary: very good book
Review: i will say that if you are beginning into the high magical arts and you need a sorce to begin with, i recommend this book. the author goes into detail (quite in depth) on alot of things that is vital to beginning your path.
and if you are not sure about which path to take but your interested in high magick but don't know where to begin, well begin by purchasing this book. by reading the book, you will begin to know if this is something for you.
well worth the money, hope my review helps, and good luck.