Book Reviews of 2023

Book Review: Celebrating the Male Mysteries by RJ Stewart (affiliate link)

In Celebrating the Male Mysteries, RJ Stewart shares the importance of exploring the masculine mysteries and presents a healthy vision of what such mysteries can look like as well as how they can interface into mystery traditions in general. Practical exercises and theory are presented as well as specific visualizations that men can use for sacromagical work. I recommend reading through the book once and then going back through and doing the exercises. This book can be an excellent companion to other men’s work books and offers another valuable resource for creating healthy masculinity and relationships.

Book Review: Larva: the Book of Transformation by S. Connolly (Affiliate link)

This is a collection of spells with well-written instructions and component lists that you can easily perform without having to do a ton of work to get the materials together. There are a variety of spells for different purposes so you could easily be working with the content of this book for a variety of situations.

Book Review: Saturn in Transit by Erin Sullivan (affiliate link)

I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend and I’m glad I did because it provided some excellent insights into Saturn in transit and how Saturn as an astrological influence works. It also helped me plan some of my planetary magic in further depth so that I could use Saturnian influences more effectively. I highly recommend this book if you want to understand the astrological and magical potential of Saturn.

Book Review: Meditations on the Death Daemonic by J. C. Cesari (Affiliate link)

This is an interesting book that explores the concept of death in relationship to death as it pertains to loss in a variety of forms, including the loss of life, but also the loss of a job, relationship or other aspects we may not typically associate with death. The author has the reader go through some journaling exercises to explore their relationship with death and then presents a dictionary of spirits a person can work with. What I wish had also been included was an in-depth exploration of how a person might work with the spirits around death as it relates to the topics that the author focuses on in the book. It’s a good start on that exploration, but the book could be developed further.

Book Review: Dark Moon Mysteries by Timothy Roderick (Affiliate link)

If you want to work with the new/dark moon, this is an excellent resource to help you do that work. I used the various exercises in this book to help me do some deep shadow work as well as doing some releasing around various matters in my life. I highly recommend this book.

Book Review: The Male Mysteries by Nikki Dorakis (affiliate link)

In this book the author shares rites and rituals that can be used as coming of age or initiations for men’s mysteries in a Pagan context. This is a fascinating book which can really help men both in terms of using what’s in the book, but also designing their own male mysteries.

Book Review: Howlings from the Pit (affiliate link) by Joseph Lisiewski

In this series of essays the author makes some cantankerous arguments as to why grimoire magic works and why other systems of magic don’t work when it comes to spirit work. He shares some interesting perspectives, but I’m not convinced that his system of spirit work is superior to others, especially because it can be possible to get similar results without taking coercive methods for spirit work. The author’s own limitations also show in the theories he espouses, and demonstrate how subjective some of his arguments are, but the book is thought provoking and will challenge you to be more rigorous.

Book Review: Mating in Captivity (affiliate link) by Esther Perel

This is a really thought and emotion provoking book about sexuality in relationship. Reading it brought up a lot for me, as I sorted through some baggage around my sexual history, but it also provided some useful insights about relationships, the erotic and sexuality and what it can take to maintain the sexual components of a romantic relationship. It also brings up the very important point of not taking sex or anything else in the relationship for granted.

Book Review: Swamplands of the Soul (Affiliate link) by James Hollis

In this book the author explores how to deal with the inevitable realities of moments in our lives when we feel depression, sadness, loss, betrayal and other emotions. He shares that rather than trying to always be happy we should strive for meaning and provides some useful perspectives via Jungian psychology on how a person might do this. It’s another excellent book by this author.

Book Review: The Book of Pluto by Steven Forrest (Affiliate link)

Reading this book peeled back another layer of astrology in general, as well as helping me understand Pluto’s role in astrology. It helped me understand and fill in some additional information about astrology. I feel like my overall knowledge of astrology grew as a result of reading this book.

Book Review: Hex Twisting by Diana Rajchel (affiliate link)

This is a comprehensive spell compendium for counteracting hexes and curses that someone may be directing toward you. The author also shares methods for diagnosing whether you are experiencing a curse as well as how to purify and cleanse yourself. It’s both practical self care and defense and the author does a thorough job of providing resources for anyone who may need them.

Book Reviews June 2022

Book Review: Creating by Robert Fritz (Affiliate link)

This is one of the most unique and thought provoking books I’ve read. The author explores the act of creating in depth. The perspective and depth he brings to the topic of creativity can help you change your understanding of creativity, what it means to create and also become more creative in the process. His perspective on long term thinking, alone is invaluable and necessary.

Book Review: Vastu by Robert Svoboda (affiliate link)

This is a fascinating book which explores the nature of space and how to create an intentional space using knowledge of pranayama and the 5 elements. The author shares case studies of applying vastu to spaces. It was a really unique take on how people embrace and live within a given space. I found the magical aspects to be helpful in designing my own space.

Book Review: The Courage to Be Happy by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga (affiliate link)

Another thought provoking book that will change your life and how you approach love and happiness. Reading this book has provided me valuable insights and I have no doubt I’ll come back to it again and again to learn and consider and apply these principles to my life. Some of what is read isn’t easy to read but it will make you think and grow if you make the choice to consider how to apply it to your life.

Book Review: Mistakes were Made (but not by me) by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson (affiliate link)

This is an eye-opening book that can help you recognize the dissonance in your own life and how you apply that dissonance to justify your choices and mistakes. Reading this book wasn’t easy for me. It caused me to reflect on my mistakes and see instances where I created my own sense of dissonance to justify my choices and behaviors, but reading it also helped me take better ownership and responsibility for those choices. I recommend reading this book because it will help you reflect on how you rationalize your own choices and how you reduce dissonance with those choices.

Book Review: The Tai Chi Space by Paul Cavel (affiliate link)

I recommend reading this book if you have experience with qi gong because then you can take on what is shared and apply it. However like any book on martial arts, the limitation of the book is that text and diagrams can only take you so far. I think it’s a useful supplementary guide that can help you appreciate the movements if you already have experience in those movements, but will not help much if you have no experience.

Book Review: The Art of Black Mirror Scrying by Rosemary Guiley (Affiliate link)

This book presents a fascinating history of scrying, which is a must read if you want to learn more about the background of scrying. The author also provides some explanations for how scrying works and includes exercises you can do to sharpen your skills. She also explains how to create a black mirror for scrying. The book is well written and provided some useful information on scrying.

Book Review: The Process of Creating Life by Christopher Alexander (Affiliate link)

This is another amazing book in this series that explores how architectural design can be used to create a living space. What I found most interesting was how the author wove in multiple disciplines and schools of thought into this work. I read this book over the course of a couple years because it really requires some digestion and perspective, especially if you’re not an architect, which I am now. I nonetheless find the insights are relevant to my own practices and am thankful for this book.

Book Review: The descent of Ishtar by Timothy Stephany (affiliate link)

A translation of the The descent of Ishtar and related sumerian myths. I didn’t get a sense of the Akkadian version, but found the overall content to be fascinating and insightful in regards to some research I’m doing. I do wish the author had included some analysis and translation notes.

Book Review: Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday (Affiliate link)

Another excellent book from the modern day stoic Ryan Holiday which explores the virtue of courage and how you can instill it in your life. He share some excellent historical stories, but more importantly he explores what it takes to be courageous and what can happen wen you aren’t. Reading this book has helped me see the moments where I hesitated and could have been braver, and also sown what I can do to be braver in my life.

Book Review: Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown (Affiliate link)

This book is a survey of the emotions and how we feel and experience them, but it also more than that. It is an opportunity to explore our relationship with the emotions, but also with connection/disconnection and the way we show up with ourselves and others. Reading this book and meditating on what was shared opened me up to some good realizations, showed me where I need to continue working on my ability to connect with others meaningfully and gave me some direction during a tough time in my life.

Book Reviews March 2021

Book Review: The Great Unknown by Marcus Du Sautoy (Affiliate link)

In this book the author explores the frontiers of science and shares what we know and more importantly what we don’t know about those frontiers. It’s a fascinating book that explores the frontiers of physics, math, biology and more. I found it to be an interesting book if not quite as engaging as some of his works on mathematics. Nonetheless its a good introduction to the frontiers of science.

Book Review: Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday (Affiliate link)

This is a must read book for anyone because it explores how our egos get in the way of our work. The author provides historical examples of people who’ve either managed to avoid letting their ego get the best of them or have allowed their ego to cause them to fall. The examples help to illustrate the principles of this book, but even without them you only have to look at your own life to see where sometimes you’ve fallen off the right path because of your ego. This book has been a transformative read in my life and is one I will come back to frequently.

Book Review: The Phenomenon of Life by Christopher Alexander (Affiliate link)

This is as fascinating book that explores how life shows up in building design. The author presents a holistic and dare I say spiritual approach to building design that is eye-opening. The various examples and case studies illustrate the principles he discusses. What I found really helpful was how this book helped me further revise my own understanding and experience of space and how we live in space.

Book Review: The Inner Life of the Earth edited by Paul O’Leary (Affiliate link)

This is a collection of articles that focuses on elemental magic and the alchemy of the Earth. Mixed in with these articles is a focus on Christian mysticism. Some of the articles are useful and others less so. As with any anthology the articles are a mixed bag. I did find the collection interesting and would recommend it if you’re wanting to explore Christian mysticism and elemental magic.

Book Review: Emergent Magick by Threskiornis and Zentra El (Affiliate link)

Emergent Magick is essentially a recruitment manual for a magical organization. The book provides a foundational definition of magic as well as the specific practices that are done within this organization as well as how sub-communities are organized. The book also attempts to present what’ shared as a new paradigm, but it doesn’t strike me as significantly different from other magical organizations or currents of thought and practice. With that said, if you’re looking for a model of a magical community, this is a good model to draw upon. I don’t agree with all the perspectives shared on magic in this book, but if nothing else it may provide you consideration of what you’d like to see in your own magical group.

Book Review: Nature Spirits & Elemental Beings by Marko Pogacnik (Affiliate link)

This is an intriguing book about elemental magic and nature spirits. It’s an earlier book, with some commentary provided at a later date, which makes for a fascinating read because you get to contrast the earlier perspectives with the later awareness of the author. I also like that the author shares drawings of the elemental spirits. About the only thing I don’t care for is the tendency to link Christian mythos with the interactions he has, but I recognize that some of what the author is sharing is filtered through the spiritual path he walks, so I recognize in turn that informs his writing and experiences of the spirits. Overall its a fascinating exploration of elemental magic.

Book Review: The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris (Affiliate link)

This is a must read book for anyone who struggles with feeling their emotions and compartmentalizes their experiences. I found that reading this book and practicing the exercises within it helped me immensely when it came to working with difficult emotions. Just as importantly I’ve learned tools for communicating with my partner about my emotions, as well as being more present when my partner shares their emotions. This book is a life changer and since I started reading it and implementing it I’ve felt a deeper level of contentment than I’ve ever felt before and been more in touch with my emotions than I previously was.

Book Review: GPT-3 Techgnosis by Alley Wurds (affiliate link)

This is a grimoire of sorts, where the author has written the book with an AI and treated the AI as an entity. It’s a fascinating experiment with writing and magic, and the author does explain how they edited the AI response in order to focus the content of the book. At times the content is scattered and it doesn’t read like a typical magical book. With that said there are some gems in the book and if you’re someone interesting in writing magic, it may be a fascinating book for you to explore.

Book Reviews Jan through March 2019

Book Review: The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard

This is a whimsical book which explores the poetics of space, of the home, and the environment. It asks you to redefine your awareness of spaces you take for granted and provides appreciation and perspective about what space is really about. What I liked is how the author combined poetry, philosophy and design to create this treatise and its one I'll return to from time to time to help me appreciate my own space anew.

Book Review: Processmind by Arnold Mindell

In this book the author explores how to connect with the environment through meditation and internal work. This is a fascinating book which examines not only how we relate to the human body, but also to the environment through our body, both natural and manmade. It provides some useful exercises that can help you implement the practices described in the book. Worth reading if you want to develop a deeper connection with reality.

Book Review: The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

This is a must read book which will transform your relationship with yourself and your community. This book has helped me examine my relationship with myself as a writer and artist, but also as a person and the lessons its provided me have helped me become more confident and focused on doing the work instead of worrying about things I can’t control. It’s a relatively quick read with a socratic dialogue, but take some time to ponder and meditate on what is shared.

Book Review: Zero to One by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters

This is a fascinating, must read book on startups that applies to any business. The principles in this book will help you start a business or change an existing one. Most importantly what this book teaches you is how to focus on making your business successful, without falling into the trap of competition. Instead you learn why its important to do your own thing well and with a plan.

Book Review: Stealing Fire by Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal

This is a fascinating overview of the ways people are exploring ecstatic practices in modern times. I don’t feel its comprehensive as there’s areas the authors haven’t explored but its a good book, which can give you some food for thought about how altered states of consciousness can be applied to your life to increase your innovativeness and productivity. What it also reveals is the importance of altered states of consciousness for helping us achieve breakthroughs.

Book Review: White Moon on the Mountain Peak by Damo Mitchell

This is an excellent book which explores the alchemical firing process of Nei Gong and how it works. It’s not a book for beginners, and it requires that you already have some experiences with Taoist meditation practices. I read this book and clearly understood some of it, and some of it I realized I needed to go back and get some more experience. The author does present the information clearly, but its important that you have the requisite experience to fully implement and comprehend this book.

A couple of book reviews

Book Review: Tao of Letting Go: Meditation for Modern Living by B. K. Frantzis

In this book, the author introduces readers to the Taoist water Breathing meditation. This book is similar to his other book Relaxing into Your Being. If anything it's a bit more stripped down and focuses on the basics, but its a god book to start with and I'd recommend it because the author takes the time to explore how to apply this technique to internal work and emotional blockages that's a bit more grounded than his other books on the same topic. I found it useful for revisiting what I'd previously learned and it will also be helpful for anyone who wants to learn meditation. 

Book Review: An Outlook on our Inner Western Way by William G. Gray

This is a book I will read again and again and each time I know I will discover insights and perspectives that will blow my mind. Reading it the first time, what struck me the most is how concisely and clearly Gray predicted modern society and the place of magic in society. And he does something so rare for frankly any magician to do and its that he advocates for experimentation. Actually that's one of the reasons I love all his books. And this one is no exception, with amazing insights that will challenge what you know about magic and push you to experiment.