I have to confess - I haven’t read the original book “High Magic”, but I hear that its 422 pages covers nearly everything an aspiring occultist and ceremonial magician would want to know about the Magical Arts. So what could be better than that? Well, an advanced guide of course! This time Frater U. D. has given us another 464 pages on subjects such as Practical Mirror Magic, Sigils, Combat Magic, and Demonic Evocations.
This companion volume concludes a detailed exploration of Western and Eastern magical systems. In his section on yoga postures, mudras, and the chakras, he rightly suggests that many New Agers (and Pagans) only have an understanding of these topics from a Western perspective (derived from Theosophy) and they are totally unfamiliar with alternative systems. In this book he rectifies this thinking and explores the origins and practical applications of these areas.
Unlike many books on the Kabbalah, which only offer a philosophical viewpoint to this subject, Frater U...D... has written many chapters on the uses of the Kabbalah tradition in magical practices. These chapters detail the use of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life as a “supermatrix” and as a “cosmic structural scheme that both magicians and mystics alike can use to define and control every aspect of their lives.”
Another interesting chapter promotes Shamanism as “the mother of all magic”. It details shamanism from an historical context; it looks at life from a shamanistic point of view; and it examines the way shamans manipulate energies and spirits.
A strange but interesting inclusion in this book is the information on Magical Orders. The author traces the spurious history and evolution of organisations such as The Rosicrucians and The Golden Dawn. As the author points out, “It’s one of the typical characteristics of dogmatic magic that great value is placed on legitimacy through an old tradition that can be proved in one way or another. Many dogmatists still believe that old is the same as true.” The author suggests though, that despite reconstructing and inventing much of their magical practices, various magical orders also provided a significant contribution to the world of the Magical Arts. I guess these chapters help to eliminate any unsubstantiated and glorified views of occultists and their organisations, and they provide more of an incentive to the individual to concentrate on developing power from their own personal experiences.
Even if you are not into the Kabbalah or Demonology, there are still many chapters to intrigue and excite the everyday reader of esoteric literature. The sections on The Magic of Ancient Egypt and the Late Classical Hellenistic Period describes these eras as the “original sources of all Western invocational magic,” and Frater U...D... gives examples of the many modern magical terms that derive from these ancient times.
Initiation is another area that is explored in this book. I like the author’s ideas concerning “how to recognise an initiate” and the difference between active initiation, and initiation through revelation. His explanation of the dependence that can result from the latter is also fascinating. But if you want to know all about that, then you’ll have to buy the book!
This book is worth buying, even if you have not previously explored Ceremonial Magic. Don’t be put off by the title, there are plenty of useful exercises and examples that will give you a taste of what High Magic all about. And even then, if you feel that this sort of magic is not your style, you’ll still find lots of techniques and experiments that will be of benefit to your own magical practices, regardless of the path that you follow.
Author: Frater U. D.
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
ISBN: 978-0-7387-1063-1
This companion volume concludes a detailed exploration of Western and Eastern magical systems. In his section on yoga postures, mudras, and the chakras, he rightly suggests that many New Agers (and Pagans) only have an understanding of these topics from a Western perspective (derived from Theosophy) and they are totally unfamiliar with alternative systems. In this book he rectifies this thinking and explores the origins and practical applications of these areas.
Unlike many books on the Kabbalah, which only offer a philosophical viewpoint to this subject, Frater U...D... has written many chapters on the uses of the Kabbalah tradition in magical practices. These chapters detail the use of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life as a “supermatrix” and as a “cosmic structural scheme that both magicians and mystics alike can use to define and control every aspect of their lives.”
Another interesting chapter promotes Shamanism as “the mother of all magic”. It details shamanism from an historical context; it looks at life from a shamanistic point of view; and it examines the way shamans manipulate energies and spirits.
A strange but interesting inclusion in this book is the information on Magical Orders. The author traces the spurious history and evolution of organisations such as The Rosicrucians and The Golden Dawn. As the author points out, “It’s one of the typical characteristics of dogmatic magic that great value is placed on legitimacy through an old tradition that can be proved in one way or another. Many dogmatists still believe that old is the same as true.” The author suggests though, that despite reconstructing and inventing much of their magical practices, various magical orders also provided a significant contribution to the world of the Magical Arts. I guess these chapters help to eliminate any unsubstantiated and glorified views of occultists and their organisations, and they provide more of an incentive to the individual to concentrate on developing power from their own personal experiences.
Even if you are not into the Kabbalah or Demonology, there are still many chapters to intrigue and excite the everyday reader of esoteric literature. The sections on The Magic of Ancient Egypt and the Late Classical Hellenistic Period describes these eras as the “original sources of all Western invocational magic,” and Frater U...D... gives examples of the many modern magical terms that derive from these ancient times.
Initiation is another area that is explored in this book. I like the author’s ideas concerning “how to recognise an initiate” and the difference between active initiation, and initiation through revelation. His explanation of the dependence that can result from the latter is also fascinating. But if you want to know all about that, then you’ll have to buy the book!
This book is worth buying, even if you have not previously explored Ceremonial Magic. Don’t be put off by the title, there are plenty of useful exercises and examples that will give you a taste of what High Magic all about. And even then, if you feel that this sort of magic is not your style, you’ll still find lots of techniques and experiments that will be of benefit to your own magical practices, regardless of the path that you follow.
Author: Frater U. D.
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
ISBN: 978-0-7387-1063-1
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