Magick books, Seeing if these books are good or not Options

Hey all. I have a question to ask. I am in the process of buying, or already have these books. I also have books here that I want. Kindly say if these books are good or not and explain.
1. Modern Magick Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts by Donald Michael Kraig
2. Everyday Magic by Dorothy Morrison
3. The Witch and Wizard Training Guide by Sirona Knight
4. Nocturnal Witchcraft: Magick After Dark by Konstantinos
5. Gothic Grimoire by Konstantinos
6. tarot by Lars-Kristian Holmsen
7. Necronomicon by Simon
8. Necronomicon Spellbook by Simon
9. Magick: Theory and Practice by Aleister Crowley
10. Summoning Spirits: The Art of Magical Evocation by Konstantinos
11. The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation and Psychic Development by Christopher Penczak
12. The Outer Temple of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells, and Rituals by Christopher Penczak
13. The New Encyclopedia of the Occult by John Michael Greer
14. Speak With the Dead: Seven Methods for Spirit Communication by Konstantinos
15. Vampires: The Occult Truth by Konstantinos
16. Contact the Other Side: Seven Methods for Afterlife Communication by Konstantinos
17. Nocturnicon: Calling Dark Forces And Powers by Konstantinos
18. The Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley
19. Magick Without Tears by Aleister Crowley
20. Book of the Law by Aleister Crowley
21. Goetia by(don't know)
22. The Greater Key of Solomon by (don't know)
23. The Lesser Key of Solomon by (don't know)
WOW!!! I didn't know I had that many. But please, say if they are good or not and explain. If anyone has any suggestions as to any other books, that would be great.
Thanks,
Chaos_mage4 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

This post has been edited by chaos_mage4: Jun 20 2005, 12:48 AM

1. Modern Magick is a basic beginner book that is worth getting as a first.
9. Magick in Theory and Practise is also a basic foundational book.
10. Summoning Spirits by Konstantinos is a basic but makes it sound easier and safer than it can be.
19. Magic without Tears, another favourite often recommended

If you are short of cash, don’t buy occult encyclopaedias unless they are really exceptionally good since most things can be googled for a basic understanding

The others really depend on what system or path you want to follow. Do the basics first and see what draws you.

I would add The Golden Dawn by Regardie (Complete 6th version)

There are modern books out there but they tend to be more subject specific and it is my personal opinion that they are best left until you have at least skimmed or reviewed the older works.

Thanks for the reply. And I know about the google search, but from what I have heard the encyclopedia offers a lot and it is very informative. The Konstantinos books are really about "dark" energy and stuff but it is witchcraft, and I thought it would be an interesting read. But now I know that a few of those books on my list are recommended by someone.
Thanks,
Chaos_mage4

Hey all. I have a question to ask. I am in the process of buying, or already have these books. I also have books here that I want. Kindly say if these books are good or not and explain.
1. Modern Magick Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts by Donald Michael Kraig
9. Magick: Theory and Practice by Aleister Crowley
19. Magick Without Tears by Aleister Crowley
21. Goetia by(don't know)
22. The Greater Key of Solomon by (don't know)
23. The Lesser Key of Solomon by (don't know)



(List 2... this text added by 9-2-2)
4. Nocturnal Witchcraft: Magick After Dark by Konstantinos
5. Gothic Grimoire by Konstantinos
10. Summoning Spirits: The Art of Magical Evocation by Konstantinos
14. Speak With the Dead: Seven Methods for Spirit Communication by Konstantinos
15. Vampires: The Occult Truth by Konstantinos
16. Contact the Other Side: Seven Methods for Afterlife Communication by Konstantinos
17. Nocturnicon: Calling Dark Forces And Powers by Konstantinos

That selection is okay, but I don't think it's broad enough. The first list is nice, but I feel it's too limited. You've got your beginner's guide (Modern Magick), then you've got your more in-depth texts (literature by Crowley), and a book focused on one exact style (Goetia). Lastly, you've got your older, referential grimoires (Keys of Solomon).

As for list 2... enjoy them if you want, but I don't like them. I dislike Konstantinos' style, because I feel he is being more of a goth-culture sellout than a more useful, magickal teacher. If you like him, well, full speed ahead, dude. I'm also iffy on the Necronomicon because of the reasons people hop into it, but it's useful.

I was honestly surprised to find that Israel Regardie's works were absent from your list. While I agree with Radiant Star that The Golden Dawn is worth it, I'd reccomend The Tree of Life as an introduction to magical theory and practice (although it is not the practical guide that Kraig's book is), A Garden of Pomegranates as an introduction to Kabbalah from a Hermetic perspective, and The Middle Pillar as preliminaries to The Golden Dawn.

Then again, Radiant Star is by far more experienced than I (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I was honestly surprised to find that Israel Regardie's works were absent from your list. While I agree with Radiant Star that The Golden Dawn is worth it, I'd reccomend The Tree of Life as an introduction to magical theory and practice (although it is not the practical guide that Kraig's book is), A Garden of Pomegranates as an introduction to Kabbalah from a Hermetic perspective, and The Middle Pillar as preliminaries to The Golden Dawn.

Then again, Radiant Star is by far more experienced than I (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Holy Socialist Ninja Baboons of the Fouth of July, Batman!!!

Hehe, sorry about that outburst... it wasn't meant to be offensive, I just suddenly got very happy. n_n
But yeah, Regardie's works ARE missing from that list... a good shelf should include works that:

1) Deliver the basics on the intended path
2) Focus on certain aspects
3) Provide general knowledge (i.e., an overlook on magickal practices)
4) Give some historical background on occult societies or traditions
5) Books for future interest to expand your horizons.
6) Provide referential knowledge
7) Teach how to do a lot of hands-on energy work.

Otherwise, practice your bum off... the list is all I can think of at this tired moment. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

"Tree of Life" is a definite good recommendation
I would say probably just get that
"modern magick" and "the complete golden dawn"
If you want an amazing reference I would look for "the magician's encylopedia" or Godwin's Cabalistic Encyclopedia.
Either of these references will hold all the info of the reference books you listed plus a ton more. Personally I think the New Encylopedia of the Occult sucks. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Most of the things listed in it can be found in a plain old dictionary or google. It has very few technical terminology whereas godwin's or Magician's Encylopedia has tons. If you get or already have Modern Magick or Tree of Life I would probably read and practice the techniques in these from cover to cover before buying too much else. I think too often people (including myself) dive right into crowley and the grimoires with no explanation of what's being discussed. Without some knowledge of the basics of where crowley began (i.e. The golden Dawn) I think that he can be incredibly difficult to understand, even in his beginner books. Personally I went spend-crazy and bought books all the time in the beginning and I later found it was much better to simply concentrate on one or two at a time because otherwise you simply become overwhelmed with info. I'm at the point now where I think I might get rid of every book except for my godwin's, complete golden dawn, hebrew dictionary, and my corpus hermeticum, and I think i will never need a new occult book again. I will end my pedantic rant now. One other thing ---Lesser Key of Solomon and the Goetia(usually titled Goetia of Solomon) are the same thing.

Konstantinous
As an old Goth, Konstantinous makes me giggle. Reading his books reminded me of what I was like in high school. Some of his ideas are interesting but you have to read though an obscene amount of dogma to get to them. His recording methods in Speak With the Dead work unusually well, just don’t expect to get all the happy flowery responses he claims to. Keep an open mind

Crowley
I would suggest buying The Book of the Law and Magick: Theory and Practice. These will give you a good feel for Crowley’s style and should be enough to let you decide if the rest are worth it. He has an odd style and philosophy and some people simply find they can’t work within it

Goetia (Lesser Keys) and Greater Keys
Wonderful books full of rather challenging but rewarding spells. With some work and repetition I’ve drawn some impressive results from these…. But they can be some what dangerous. So if you get them be careful. Oh yeah the Goetia and the Lesser Keys are the same book trans. S. Mathers and edited by Crowley. The Greater Keys was trans and edited by S. Mathers.

Necronomicon
These are more amusing than useful every spell is very labor and money intensive. I have heard of people getting interesting results form it but most seem to feel it wasn’t worth the effort. They are, on the other hand, cheap, easy to find, and interesting if you plan on reading them for theory. If you hunt around on google you should find a free pdf version of both.

You might want to try to find a copy of Practical Sigil Magic by Frater U.D. (if you can find an affordable copy) and spend some time messing around on the Wikipedia it has all kinds of useful information especially for a beginner.

Frater Lux