The Tower of Alchemy: An Advanced Guide to the Great Work

Rating:
Summary: Tower of Alchemy
Review: A strange book in that it is only about alchemy in the widest sense. It is the sort of sense touted by BOTA when they talk about alchemy NOT being about test tubes etc and real alchemists only performing exercises in the their minds. This is not entirely true as alchemy does form into two camps -- speculative and practical. Both have good claims to being valid spiritual paths.
Tower of Alchemy, which belongs to the speculative school of Alchemy, is also the course material of SOL of which the Author was a supervisor. As such it reads like a supervisor's notes of that course. Fortunately David was a good supervisor and some of his realisations on the course have appeared in this book. Unfortunately it does not attribute anything to SOL or the course's writer WE Butler (other than a thanks in the acknowlegements). Anyone who has done the course knows the amount of effort Butler put into it and what a good magican he was. Such people will know that specific symbols from it, names of characters, shapes of the castle, certain symbols etc which should have been copyrite have found themselves into Goddard's Tower. For example the name of one of the guides is Oros a name which appears in the course and Tower and nowhere else.
At the end of the tower exercise you are 'crowned'and replace a regent. This was not part of the original course but a later addition by WE Butler's successor Dolores Ashcroft Nowicki. However it too appears (unacknowledged) as part of the Tower.
I have to question the ethics of someone who rewrites other people's course material and then presents it as their own. Goddard has done this with Tower of Alchemy and his earlier Sacred Magic of the Angels where he also lifted Madeline Montalbon's magical system and presented it as his own.
However I do not believe, like other reviewers, that this book was written for the money, but more to establish his presence as a teacher from which he can run his courses.
That being the case the material is very useful as a practical meditation system which works in a similar way to the middle pillar. That it worked within the framework of the SOL course is debatable and I would have thought that it would be easier for a student to perform the middle pillar regularly to get as much from this book.
The other objection I have is that the material mixes Eastern and Western systems far too much. There is a hint that the writer seems to have been typical of many who upon reading a few books has thought they have found Western paralels within the East systems. Yet anyone who has experimented with both systems knows that you are not really comparing like with like. The West has taken far too much Eastern termology into its Mystery Tradition as it is.
The style is in my view a little pompous and imperious and a little inaccessible. Which is strange because David's lectures are extremely accessible.
My biggest gype with the book is it is lack of originality and the fact it is so clearly a rip off of the SOL course material. I would hope that the author's next book will not just be a lift of material that has been given to him as part of a school he has joined.
Certainly buying this book would be a short cut to having to joining that school and as such I still recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A highly informed approach to illuminating Alchemical keys
Review: David Goddard's most recent contribution to the spiritual development of genuine seekers is a welcome addition to the vast tracts of alchemical scholarship. Unlike many modern authors, he fully understands the topic and his writing clearly communicates exactly how others can effectively introduce alchemy into their lives.

Students who have mired in the confusing metaphors of older alchemical doctrine will be relieved to discover the veil is lifted in this book. David Goddard's explanations of the imagery, metaphors and mysticism surrounding alchemy are clear and consise. In fact, the entire book is fully supported by adept scholarship and practical expertise.

Readers of this book are encouraged to fully participate in the process by doing the practical exercises and contemplations that are included throughout the book. The exercises are safe and easy to do, and gradually will enable the student to gain an encompassing personal understanding of alchemy.

The Tower of Alchemy is subtitled "An Advanced Guide to the Great Work." I would suggest that readers who fail to understand the depth of knowledge, scholarship, and contribution to the magickal/spiritual community made manifest in this book go back to basic magickal primers until they are ready for the Great Work. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in Alchemy, the Qabalah, and the conjunction between Western Mystery Traditions and the Eastern Wisdom.

Rating:
Summary: Not what I would have thought of as alchemy, but.....
Review: I was expecting something more directly related to alchemy, but even though it wasn't what I expected, it does seem decent as a pathworking/active imagination technique. Maybe that's his interpretation of a practical application of alchemy - and I guess that's okay if it works for you. Of course, as with all similar techniques, you should use your judgement as to when you're ready for parts of it. The only other thing I want to point out is some problems I had with with his comments introducing the exercises. Though comparative philosophy is an interesting subject, it's a little broad for where he's trying to apply it. So, he ends up lumping together a lot of ideas from different philosophies without making it clear when he's doing that. But, overall I would say this is worth reading.