I figured as a voracious reader (this is the 32nd book I've read since New Years), with many of them occult, I should start putting the mini-reviews that I put up in my personal journal, here as well. It gives my general take on the book, and if people want specific information or have a question about the book, I can reply with such.

"Ouija...is only a game...isn't it?" asks the box of the Ouija board, and that is the question many people have about it. Is a just a toy, a game, does it work, and how seriously can it work? That's what J. Edward Cornelius sets out to discuss in this book. His use of "Aleister Crowley" reminds me of how Hyatt uses "Sexual" in many of his books, while the book has quotes from Crowley put throughout the book, I don't feel there is enough Crowley material to warrant using Crowley in the title. The book starts with the history of the Ouija board, tracing it back a hundred years to the talking boards of the spiritualist movement, though makes speculative claims to earlier sources. Not as direct ancestors of the Ouija board, but as similar devices, such as the Chi sheng oracle, or even how the Enochian Angels would spell out their messages on a great board (backwards) for Dee and Kelley. The book then moves from the history to some of the theory, which included a very interesting QBLHistic interpretation of the board working through Yesod, and accessing the Qliphoth as animated by Elementals. The theory works well, and is similar to what I had believed, but more structured. The author puts forth that such entities cannot be trusted, and may not be helpful, so spends much of the book introducing the reader to basic ceremonial magick, and Enochian magick, building up a greater and greater list of requirements to establish control over the board. By the end of it, he recommends always having a man and woman work the table, having achieved Knowledge and Conversation with your Holy Guardian Angel, only doing the Ouija board when the sun and moon are in compatible signs with those of the people involved in the ritual. Casting a circle around the table, and Opening the Temple in the style of the Golden Dawn Enochian Magick system. Needless to say, I feel it is a bit much, he takes the Ouija more seriously than most magicians take anything (which may not be a bad thing), but I am unsure if so much preparation is needed, or if like some medieval magick, it seems unnecessary but when you put all that effort and preparation into it, you get different and possibly better results. An interesting niche book, and while his list of Ouijian requirements had me surprised and confused, I do think it is an interesting and good book to read, at least for the theoretical parts.