A Strange Request... Options

As the title would suggest, this is a bit of a strange question, but does anyone know of any decent books on magic aimed for children? I don't mean that wizardology stuff, but books with actual genuine information that can really help with a child's early magic study.

Sidebar: ethics and ideas about children learning magic aside for the moment.

Anyway, I was looking at The Wizard's Book of Spells by Beatrice Philpotts, but I'm not sure if it can't be a bit too graphic at times. Has anyone seen anything that might fit the profile?

As the title would suggest, this is a bit of a strange question, but does anyone know of any decent books on magic aimed for children?

What ages?

I have four children, ages 10, 6, 4, and 6 months.

I think there are three fundamentals of education that need to be addressed before introducing them to magic literature.

They should learn folk tales, and this is best to provide from infancy onward. Whatever your ethnic background might be, there is a good chance that your traditional folk tales are full of magical wonders. These introduce children to the concept of fantastic or unexpected changes, clever solutions, and the general idea of something beyond the ordinary existing. Sir Walter Scot (see Letters on Demonology and other famous books) insists that the true secrets of magic are all to be found in faery tales, and J.K. Rowling agrees.

After folk tales, classics. Give them the Eddas, Homer, and Aesop. Give them Tolkien, Asimov, and Lewis Carroll. Let them see how people have taken the basic themes of wonder and the supernatural and explored them with characterization and humor. The boy who has read Tom Sawyer will have a better idea of cleverness, responsibility, and freedom than one who has read every Wicca book on the market.

In the midst of all this, they need to learn natural sciences. It is useless to know Astrology without a sound understanding of astronomy. To speak of "healing crystals" is a path toward idiocy unless one has some geologic lore under his cap, and the same might be said of herbs and animals. Occult study and magical practice are heavily rooted in the natural properties of things and it is best to give the kids a foundation in these subjects before anything else.

If the children are even the slightest bit capable to understand these three things, then they ought to have no difficulty with "adult" occult books. Crowley's "Liber Aba" (published as Magick) is excellent, particularly appendices like "Liber E," and it is written for laity. Many of the more popular occult authors use sexuality or drugs to sell their subject, and for all their entertainment value lack useful instruction.

a few years ago i would have unequivocally said the "so you want to be a wizard" books by diane duane

they are fiction, but deal with magic in the real world far better than herr potter, and they have a good storyline

she used to be banned in all public and school libraries

but oh dear, they are popular now, and have been reprinted

was a series of 7 books, now maybe 8?

available on http://www.youngwizards.com/



of course there's my weavings, once you have exposed them to the idea of magic

they are designed to directly change the brain structure to supporting magical stuff

short, jock-friendly and to the point even for slow readers or different languages

"Emma Walks Both Worlds" the concept of walking in two worlds at once; above and below are really one place - emma.pdf

"Jimmy's Mom" - the difference between physical life and physical death and the reality of non-physical life temporarily incarnating into the physical - jimmy.pdf

"Joe Trucker" - moving one's awareness up and down the chakra's like a ladder, and how evolution means leaving the non-evolved behind - joe.pdf

"Rhin And The Magickal Attitude" - everyday magic, chaos and sigil, helping others with magic - rhin.pdf

This post has been edited by esoterica: Mar 20 2009, 09:19 AM

a few years ago i would have unequivocally said the "so you want to be a wizard" books by diane duane

they are fiction, but deal with magic in the real world far better than herr potter, and they have a good storyline

she used to be banned in all public and school libraries

but oh dear, they are popular now, and have been reprinted

was a series of 7 books, now maybe 8?

available on http://www.youngwizards.com/
of course there's my weavings, once you have exposed them to the idea of magic

they are designed to directly change the brain structure to supporting magical stuff

short, jock-friendly and to the point even for slow readers or different languages

"Emma Walks Both Worlds" the concept of walking in two worlds at once; above and below are really one place - emma.pdf

"Jimmy's Mom" - the difference between physical life and physical death and the reality of non-physical life temporarily incarnating into the physical - jimmy.pdf

"Joe Trucker" - moving one's awareness up and down the chakra's like a ladder, and how evolution means leaving the non-evolved behind - joe.pdf

"Rhin And The Magickal Attitude" - everyday magic, chaos and sigil, helping others with magic - rhin.pdf

Those "so you want to be a wizard" books are great. I've actually read a couple of them myself.

Mythical stories kept me going, they're designed to engage people in the way Imperial Arts suggested.

Personally had tales of Anansi, the spider who stole the stories of God, always tricking people that spider, hints at his, um... god given ability to malnpiulate his surroundings tugging at his web here and there, staying central to each tale learning lessons along the way but generally getting what he wants when he wants it... problem was that I had phobia of spiders, scared the crap out of me most of the time... the Lion the witch and the wardrobe did it for me later on, perfer the books to the films though, works the imagination ten times over.