Ritual Magic: What It Is & How To Do It

by Donald Tyson

Ritual Magic, by Donald Tyson, provides a historical, theoretical, and practical introduction to the astonishing world of magic--not mere myth and delusion nor tricks and illusion, but real magic.

In Ritual Magic you will learn what is possible with magic. Can magic bring rains from a clear sky? Can it calm stormy seas? Can real magic change the outcome of great battles? Can you use magic to improve your life? The answers to these and many other questions will be found in Ritual Magic.

·Explore the roots of magic ― its complete history
·Get answers to questions frequently asked by those approaching magic for the first time
·Discover how magic works
·Learn the similarities and differences among different magical paths, including Golden Dawn, Shamanism, Wicca, Thelema, Druidism, and more
·Receive complete instructions for rituals to awaken magical awareness and to accomplish a willed purpose
·Deepen your knowledge of ritual magic, with suggested programs of study and reading material
·Learn how and why magic can become an important part of your life

Whatever you own particular occult interest, Ritual Magic will help you learn what it is about, where it comes from, and how to do it correctly. By using this book as a road map of Western occultism, you will discover the truth about magic and use it to improve your life.

Genres: Occult, Magic

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 8, 1992

About the author

Donald Tyson is a Canadian from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Early in life he was drawn to science by an intense fascination with astronomy, building a telescope by hand when he was eight. He began university seeking a science degree, but became disillusioned with the aridity and futility of a mechanistic view of the universe and shifted his major to English. After graduating with honors he has pursued a writing career.

Now he devotes his life to the attainment of a complete gnosis of the art of magic in theory and practice. His purpose is to formulate an accessible system of personal training composed of East and West, past and present, that will help the individual discover the reason for one's existence and a way to fulfill it.

Reviews

[Chronicat · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first beginner books I read many years ago in the early 90s when it came out. Just recently re-read it and it holds up very well. It is very concise, easy to understand and has an excellent bibliography, which was largely missing in a lot books from that era. Unfortunately a lot of his work is becoming out of print and harder to find. You can tell by his references Tyson knows what he is talking about.

The book is more of a general overview, history and introduction, but doesn't have a lot of practical exercises, only two at the end. I don't see this as a bad thing or negative as there are plenty of other books with this, some that even he has written and some he recommends in his bibliography. His focus in this book is the western mystery tradition and is mainly theurgical Golden Dawn style magic.

[Janine Prince · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me, a book with "how to do it" in the title needs to have a lot more on the doing than anything else and Tyson spends a good deal of time on the "what it is part". I can see why. As a respected author and long-term practioner his consideration is in providing what he feels is enough information and of the right kind to let you know if you're in the right place.
I felt that he should have left areas other than his own direct interest alone and referred readers to specialists for further reading (about 2 pages each on Voodoun, Shamanism, Druidry etc ? To me that seems brief to the point of caricature, and in fact based ont he other reading I've done this year alone [Gainomicon shelf if you care to look] I had a couple of minor factual questions on the Druid pages. If I can feel uncomfortable about a summary, what would a specialist say?)

Once the books moves into the action, it is good stuff for a beginner - easy to follow guidelines, helps you to make a decision about what is essential, important or nice to have, and talks a bit too about the balance and timings of things. To me this appears to be grounded in the Hermetic traditions, so if that's your bag, or you want it to be, this is a pretty good starting point. If you already know that you're interested in a specific path, or even if you think that you might be, then read something written by someone from that path rather than depend on an all too brief blurb from soneone aching to move along and get into the good bit of his own book.

[Jhef · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book as a Christmas present when I was 11. This was where I started with learning all about Ritual and how it all works. The fact I was able to get through this at such a young age says a lot. My unending thanks to Tyson for writing this.