Need guidelines, trying to familiarize myself Options

Hello, people.

I won't waste many words on introduction Actually, I hope you don't mind if I proceed straight to the topic.

I'm really new to stuff of this sort - occultism and such - but lately I've been having a desire to educate myself in this field. Not really in-depth; what I had in mind was more of a general knowledge, which I could then deepen according to the means available. I guess it probably wouldn't be a good idea to try to learn everything from the web, anyway. It's also worth noting that it's not my goal to become a wizard or mystic or anything of the sorts. You could say my interest is based partially on sheer childlike fascination (or what's left of it, sadly) but mainly it's a consequence of the psycho/socio/anthropological leanings of my present, adult (well, kind of), mind.

Now, what I had in mind was if one of those who are versed enough in this field, could compile a list of books (preferrably those available online) which would serve as a basis of sorts; which would provide me with a general knowledge of various magical systems, schools, history, etc. I have, for instance, pdf copies of the three books on occult philosophy by Agrippa somewhere on my drive, and I must admit they have me defeated (you would have thought, from the title, that they were more of an introduction, heh), so what I'm looking for is much more basic. The kind of book that you would perhaps expect to find in a window of a new-age store. Occultism 101 sort of thing. But it has to be relevant, non-mainstream - meaning not watered down, and most of all - non-biased. I don't want to read preaching.

That's about it I guess. I hope you have at least a vague idea of what I'd like.... I'm not an english speaker and my english can be, at times, unintentionally over-elaborate, for a lack of a better word (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) .

That's it for now. Thanks in advance.

Most books are aimed at people who are going to practice. As your interest seems to be more akin to curiosity then a book like Modern Magick will not (imho) be very useful.

You may wish to purchase a biography of Crowley, read 'The Golden Bough' and also 'The Queen's Conjuror : The science and magic of Dr Dee'.

If you are only after free stuff rather than books then just try any P2P network. As a bibliophile I don't like reading pdf's on a computer screen, I much prefer to have a book.