Book-It 'o9! Book #48
More of the Fifty Books Challenge! This was one I'd owned but never read.
Title: Magick Made Easy: Charms, Spells, Potions and Power by Patricia Telesco
Details: Copyright 1999, HarperCollins Books
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "You can work magick! Conjure up love, energy, creativity, harmony-- whatever you need or desire-- with Magick Made Easy. This fun and informative guide give you everything you need to ignite your magickal powers.
Master the Bewitching Art of Magick!
No need to worry about dragging out the cauldron or finding eye of newt! Comprehensive, user-friendly, and endlessly entertaining, Magick Made Easy includes an essential discussion of the inner workings of magick, tips on creating a personal spell book, folklore and history, and a handy quick-reference index. It's magick at your fingertips!
* Cast a powerful love spell that inspires passion and romance.
* Learn tried-and-true methods for enhancing psychic awareness.
* Learn how to grow rich and prosperous"
Why I Wanted to Read It: I remember getting this years ago since it was discounted at my local metaphysical store. Once home (and therefore unreturnable), I saw the index (and nothing else) and dismissed it as useful as a "dream dictionary". Shuffling through my Pagan books early this month, I stumbled upon this and realized it had a whole section I'd never actually read.
How I Liked It: The obnoxious marketing of the outer cover aside, Patricia Telesco can be counted on for her pragmatism and relatively down-to-earth (and no, I don't mean folksy)tone. The book manages to stay out of the insufferably folksy territory so many like it can fall into, but the "Oz" theme (however light) gets old as does Telesco's little poems (limericks?) at the beginning of each section.
The book skips on some visualization and discussion of power raising and release (in its connection to spellwork, anyway), but that might be attributed to Telesco's strict keeping of the book to folk magic (rather than any of the greater influences of what could be deemed as ceremonial magic).
The "components" section is more useful than I initially gave it credit for. The traditional components (ex. honey, feather, egg, drum) offers their connections in mythology, folklore, and other correspondences as well as suggestions for spells connected with them. The modern components section I was extra leery of, but Telesco offers a fairly workable use for such entries as the telephone, scissors, concrete, and rubber bands (communication, severing, stability, and elasticity, respectively).
All in all, probably the best of a rather junk genre of books which grows more cluttered by the year.
Notable: Telesco makes mention of Paganism (and related religion)a bit, but she manages to keep it fairly generic. She refers to divinity as "Spirit" for the majority of the book, save for one instance where she declares
"The only real tool you need for folk magick is you. Everything else is just icing on the mystical cake you're creating. Honestly, I suspect that the god/dess isn't impressed by our clever use of symbolism." (pg 41)
It could be argued that Telesco is purposely trying to avoid naming too specific belief systems to keep the book focused on the topic at hand (my opinion) or she is buying into what many feel is the "homogenization" of deity that can take place too often in Paganism. Those who worship a Lord and Lady have been questioned before of whether or not they are accepting a pre-fab "Barbie and Ken" deity set, complete with having to never actually learn about the Gods (I use this term interchangeably regardless of gender) by name or distinction. It'd be interesting to get Telesco's take on her choice of words.
Title: Magick Made Easy: Charms, Spells, Potions and Power by Patricia Telesco
Details: Copyright 1999, HarperCollins Books
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "You can work magick! Conjure up love, energy, creativity, harmony-- whatever you need or desire-- with Magick Made Easy. This fun and informative guide give you everything you need to ignite your magickal powers.
Master the Bewitching Art of Magick!
No need to worry about dragging out the cauldron or finding eye of newt! Comprehensive, user-friendly, and endlessly entertaining, Magick Made Easy includes an essential discussion of the inner workings of magick, tips on creating a personal spell book, folklore and history, and a handy quick-reference index. It's magick at your fingertips!
* Cast a powerful love spell that inspires passion and romance.
* Learn tried-and-true methods for enhancing psychic awareness.
* Learn how to grow rich and prosperous"
Why I Wanted to Read It: I remember getting this years ago since it was discounted at my local metaphysical store. Once home (and therefore unreturnable), I saw the index (and nothing else) and dismissed it as useful as a "dream dictionary". Shuffling through my Pagan books early this month, I stumbled upon this and realized it had a whole section I'd never actually read.
How I Liked It: The obnoxious marketing of the outer cover aside, Patricia Telesco can be counted on for her pragmatism and relatively down-to-earth (and no, I don't mean folksy)tone. The book manages to stay out of the insufferably folksy territory so many like it can fall into, but the "Oz" theme (however light) gets old as does Telesco's little poems (limericks?) at the beginning of each section.
The book skips on some visualization and discussion of power raising and release (in its connection to spellwork, anyway), but that might be attributed to Telesco's strict keeping of the book to folk magic (rather than any of the greater influences of what could be deemed as ceremonial magic).
The "components" section is more useful than I initially gave it credit for. The traditional components (ex. honey, feather, egg, drum) offers their connections in mythology, folklore, and other correspondences as well as suggestions for spells connected with them. The modern components section I was extra leery of, but Telesco offers a fairly workable use for such entries as the telephone, scissors, concrete, and rubber bands (communication, severing, stability, and elasticity, respectively).
All in all, probably the best of a rather junk genre of books which grows more cluttered by the year.
Notable: Telesco makes mention of Paganism (and related religion)a bit, but she manages to keep it fairly generic. She refers to divinity as "Spirit" for the majority of the book, save for one instance where she declares
"The only real tool you need for folk magick is you. Everything else is just icing on the mystical cake you're creating. Honestly, I suspect that the god/dess isn't impressed by our clever use of symbolism." (pg 41)
It could be argued that Telesco is purposely trying to avoid naming too specific belief systems to keep the book focused on the topic at hand (my opinion) or she is buying into what many feel is the "homogenization" of deity that can take place too often in Paganism. Those who worship a Lord and Lady have been questioned before of whether or not they are accepting a pre-fab "Barbie and Ken" deity set, complete with having to never actually learn about the Gods (I use this term interchangeably regardless of gender) by name or distinction. It'd be interesting to get Telesco's take on her choice of words.