Book-It 'o9! Book #32
More of the Fifty Books Challenge! This was a library request.
Title: Pure Magic: A Complete Course in Spellcasting by Judika Illes
Details: Copyright 2007, Weiser Books
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover: "Pure Magic is a practical comprehensive course for anyone who's ever wanted to make their dreams come true. Judika Illes shares jargon-free information usually handed down from teacher to student. Pure Magic teaches to become aware of the natural rhythms, energies, powers, and patterns of the Earth and her diverse inhabitants. It is a book that beginners will follow rigorously and advanced spellcasters will refer to again and again.
Juidka Illes offers a plethora of spells for everyday life, complete advice on how and where to practice magic, to rightly use words of power, and to cleanse, protect, and enhance your magic self. Work your way through the book's easy-to-follow, step-by-step plan, and all will become clear."
Why I Wanted to Read It: Whilst flipping through new Pagan offerings suggested to me on Amazon Dot Com, I spotted a new Illes book that looked interesting and a library search also yielded this which I decided to give a try.
How I Liked It: This book in no way lives up to the back cover, nor, shockingly, the blurbs on the back from "big name" Pagans such as Raymond Buckland and Oberon Zell-Ravenheart. Buckland is easy to dismiss (although one wonders why he'd choose this book to blurb) but Zell-Ravenheart actually has a fairly respectable reputation in the community, not just fame.
The book is basic spellcraft 101, no different from the masses of books littering the shelves as it is, their only real difference their cover art. Illes I was curious about, as her most famous book (which I've read) The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells is far more a collection for historic and cultural interest rather than a working model, particularly not for the Rule of Three nearly every serious practitioner heeds. Not only is it nothing special, it also offers some rather spotty info in the 101. Most books offer the usual correspondence tables, the better ones will offer a deeper explanation as to why these correspondences came to exist and continue to exist, and the best ones will urge that the practitioner heed his or her own instincts and reactions to colors, days, herbs, et cetera (an example: blue is the color most often cited in healing spells, however if the practitioner associates green as a healing color, then by all means, green should be used instead of blue). Save for the separations as to when one is invoking the direct aid of a particular God (such as a love working on a Friday, the day sacred to Venus and Freya, Goddesses of love and pleasure) which seem to fall by the wayside in the 101 books, the lattermost school of correspondence is widely acknowledged as the one that works the best, and books purporting to be "information handed down from teacher to student" understand the pragmatic method.
There's also no real evidence of a "clear course" here. Illes takes the reader through each kind of magic, but there's really no "interaction" with the reader as some books offer, such as meditations, questions, and other "homework" at the end of each chapter. Dubious as to what constitutes an actual course, yes, but far more authentic than this particular book.
I'd greatly recommend Doreen Valiente's Natural Magic and Janet and Stewart Farrar's Spells and How They Work (both woefully out of print: why on earth don't publishers understand you don't need to publish the unnecessary simply because it's new when you could republish the old and better?) over this. Not only as far better books, but those two in particular are classics that belong on the shelf of any practitioner.
Notable: In the resource guide in the back of the book, Illes lists various businesses (brick and mortar, online, mail order) from various cities, including New Orleans. She explains her choice:
Don't get caught in the tourist traps! True, authentic materials and products associated with the Crescent City style of magic are available, even post-Katrina. And just as in the days of Marie Laveau, America's southern capital of magic seems to nourish and cultivate a community of wise and powerful female practitioners. (pg 272)
The toll Katrina has taken on so many communities, on so much of America cannot be measured. Katrina is an even closer touchstone for practitioners of Magic, and many see its loss as an irreparable hole in our collective community. Many poignant essays on the subject can be found at The Witch's Voice.
Title: Pure Magic: A Complete Course in Spellcasting by Judika Illes
Details: Copyright 2007, Weiser Books
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover: "Pure Magic is a practical comprehensive course for anyone who's ever wanted to make their dreams come true. Judika Illes shares jargon-free information usually handed down from teacher to student. Pure Magic teaches to become aware of the natural rhythms, energies, powers, and patterns of the Earth and her diverse inhabitants. It is a book that beginners will follow rigorously and advanced spellcasters will refer to again and again.
Juidka Illes offers a plethora of spells for everyday life, complete advice on how and where to practice magic, to rightly use words of power, and to cleanse, protect, and enhance your magic self. Work your way through the book's easy-to-follow, step-by-step plan, and all will become clear."
Why I Wanted to Read It: Whilst flipping through new Pagan offerings suggested to me on Amazon Dot Com, I spotted a new Illes book that looked interesting and a library search also yielded this which I decided to give a try.
How I Liked It: This book in no way lives up to the back cover, nor, shockingly, the blurbs on the back from "big name" Pagans such as Raymond Buckland and Oberon Zell-Ravenheart. Buckland is easy to dismiss (although one wonders why he'd choose this book to blurb) but Zell-Ravenheart actually has a fairly respectable reputation in the community, not just fame.
The book is basic spellcraft 101, no different from the masses of books littering the shelves as it is, their only real difference their cover art. Illes I was curious about, as her most famous book (which I've read) The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells is far more a collection for historic and cultural interest rather than a working model, particularly not for the Rule of Three nearly every serious practitioner heeds. Not only is it nothing special, it also offers some rather spotty info in the 101. Most books offer the usual correspondence tables, the better ones will offer a deeper explanation as to why these correspondences came to exist and continue to exist, and the best ones will urge that the practitioner heed his or her own instincts and reactions to colors, days, herbs, et cetera (an example: blue is the color most often cited in healing spells, however if the practitioner associates green as a healing color, then by all means, green should be used instead of blue). Save for the separations as to when one is invoking the direct aid of a particular God (such as a love working on a Friday, the day sacred to Venus and Freya, Goddesses of love and pleasure) which seem to fall by the wayside in the 101 books, the lattermost school of correspondence is widely acknowledged as the one that works the best, and books purporting to be "information handed down from teacher to student" understand the pragmatic method.
There's also no real evidence of a "clear course" here. Illes takes the reader through each kind of magic, but there's really no "interaction" with the reader as some books offer, such as meditations, questions, and other "homework" at the end of each chapter. Dubious as to what constitutes an actual course, yes, but far more authentic than this particular book.
I'd greatly recommend Doreen Valiente's Natural Magic and Janet and Stewart Farrar's Spells and How They Work (both woefully out of print: why on earth don't publishers understand you don't need to publish the unnecessary simply because it's new when you could republish the old and better?) over this. Not only as far better books, but those two in particular are classics that belong on the shelf of any practitioner.
Notable: In the resource guide in the back of the book, Illes lists various businesses (brick and mortar, online, mail order) from various cities, including New Orleans. She explains her choice:
Don't get caught in the tourist traps! True, authentic materials and products associated with the Crescent City style of magic are available, even post-Katrina. And just as in the days of Marie Laveau, America's southern capital of magic seems to nourish and cultivate a community of wise and powerful female practitioners. (pg 272)
The toll Katrina has taken on so many communities, on so much of America cannot be measured. Katrina is an even closer touchstone for practitioners of Magic, and many see its loss as an irreparable hole in our collective community. Many poignant essays on the subject can be found at The Witch's Voice.