Creating Magical Tools: The Magician's Craft

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Summary: If I was a carpenter --- but I am a lady
Review: I cannot begin to express my disappointment in this book. First it is very difficult to find, extremely expensive, and not worth the price. When one becomes interested in magic, more precisely Golden Dawn magic, one of the earlier things that one must do is to create working tools. These tools are not easy to create, and finding clear instructions and helpful hints for their creation is very difficult. This book might be helpful to someone who is quite advanced, but not to a beginner or even someone who has some knowledge of the system but needs more information to move forward. The book is touted and promoted as one that will assist anyone in creating magical tools. Here, maybe if you are a carpenter or a welder. How many ordinary people do you know who work with wood saws and metal cutting implements? There must be easier ways of creating these tools, or at least more user-friendly instructions. The instructions make some steps appear more complicated that they need to be. I have seen people like Donald Michael Kraig give simpler instructions on creating some of these tools. My point is that if you are going to write a book about creating tools that is aimed at a general audience, as opposed to welders and carpenters, then try for more simplicity. For example, I made an altar by having the sections cut by the local Home Depot, and then putting them together. I personally did not have to work with a table saw or circular saw, nor a jigsaw or coping saw (whatever those are). This book was not helpful to me, so I would like to give it no stars at all or minus stars. I encourage you to purchase it anyway, if you have the skills of a carpenter, or you know how to effectively cut metal.

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Summary: Another necessity
Review: If you're working Cicero's self-initiation, buy this book. It's clear, accessible, and gives you ideas that you can put into practice, while reminding you that your own ideas will work too.

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Summary: Pablum for the Magickal Masses
Review: This is typical Llewllyn pablum.
Having read through the book, I quickly realized why the sense of deja vu - I'd read this all before, in other books, where the publisher was not trying to set his own agenda of what is -and what isn't - acceptable use of magick.

Cicero does indeed have a good writing style, and attempts to be as clear as possible as to the consecration and uses of ritual tools. What is most noteworthy, however, is not what was written, but what was missing.

I can't help but wonder whether the results are simply the product of the author, or the product of the whitelight fluffbunnies at Llewellyn.