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Most people seem to agree that Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig is one of the better books for beginners.

But then what?
Jumping directly into 'initiation into hermetics' or Regardie 'golden dawn' might be a bit advanced.
There has to be some good middle ground.

There are. To name some of them:

Fries
Fortune
Hine

Ramscha wrote:There are. To name some of them:

Fries
Fortune
Hine

Strongly Agrees
Mostly agrees
Agrees.

But which one?

Regarding the making of the decision for which one have a view at my answer to your question regarding black magick:
http://www.occultforum.org/forum/viewto ... =8&t=37162

Desecrated wrote:

Ramscha wrote:There are. To name some of them:

Fries
Fortune
Hine

Strongly Agrees
Mostly agrees
Agrees.

But which one?

Jan Fries if you're more interested in a freestyle approach to shamanism, Phil Hine if your interests are more directing you towards Chaos Magick, Dion Fortune if you want to follow a path through Wicca, mysticism and entry level Hermetics.

Clockwork_Ghost wrote:

Desecrated wrote:

Ramscha wrote:There are. To name some of them:

Fries
Fortune
Hine

Strongly Agrees
Mostly agrees
Agrees.

But which one?

Jan Fries if you're more interested in a freestyle approach to shamanism, Phil Hine if your interests are more directing you towards Chaos Magick, Dion Fortune if you want to follow a path through Wicca, mysticism and entry level Hermetics.

Yeah, that was my original thought as well. Althought I would say that dion falls under the category of christian magic. very white and very christian.
But basically these three authors represents three different systems, and it's up to the student to read what they find most interesting.

BUT, here is my idea. Modern magick is popular, because it's easy written, easy to work with and most of the exercises can be transformed into any system the student wants to work with. (having a dream journal and a daily tarot card works if your a wicca or a chaos magician)

So we need to find a second book that is very practical, very hands on and somewhat open.

I've recommended Liber null in the past because I think it's easy and practical and gives a good starting point to most modern forms of magick. BUT, I see some people struggling with the Alphabet of Desire and such, so maybe something even easier to wrap your head around.

There are many different workbook style of books out there on magick, if you are strictly going for ritual magick there is the modern Angelic Grimiore, ritual magick workbook, ect, there are many options out there and if any of them seem to just "re-hash" what you already learned then great, fundamentals are important.
(Although I do agree with the above posts, I am just stating that if you like the workability of Donald kraits book there are many workbooks that are detailed and help you along)

William Gray. He expands on known knowledge of Kraig and then takes steps further. He can be wordy, but well worth it.

I suggest him because he is like the middle man between basic knowledge and Spare/Chumbley.

Frater Chiasmus wrote:William Gray. He expands on known knowledge of Kraig and then takes steps further. He can be wordy, but well worth it.

I suggest him because he is like the middle man between basic knowledge and Spare/Chumbley.

Can you recommend a book?

Lon Milo DuQuette has some pretty straight-forward, and easy to read books for beginners.

If you are interested in Thelema: 'The Magick of Aleister Crowley: A Handbook of the Rituals' By Lon Milo Duquette.

Also his book on Enochian Magick is Fantastic: 'Enochian Vision Magick'

and his 'Chicken Qabalah' is a pretty good introduction to Qabalah.

Also, there is 'Self Initiation to the Golden Dawn,' by Chic Cicero.

'Adcanced Magick For Beginners,' by Alan Chapman (though Modern Magick, and Liber Null are probably more advanced than this. This is somewhat of a book on Chaos Magick)

There is also 'Wisdom of the Mystic Masters,' by Joseph Weed. which is a Rosicrucian book, and supposedly gives away some AMORC secrets. Not sure if it does or not, but it is a great book.

'The Golden Dawn,' by Israel Regardie.

'Kabbalah Unveiled,' by SLM Mathers.

And 'Self Mastery and Fate With the Cycles of Life,' by H. Spence Lewis of AMORC himself.

Also, Liber ABA is pretty straight-forward. It is what I read after Modern Magick.

Desecrated wrote:But then what?
Jumping directly into 'initiation into hermetics' or Regardie 'golden dawn' might be a bit advanced.
There has to be some good middle ground.

The One Year Manuel: 12 Steps To Spiritual Englightment by Israel Regardie

This is a good book to start another occult training. I would begin with this one by Regardie before going for the more advanced stuffs.

My view (and I should be clear here that I never trained with the Kraig text so I can't pass judgement on that book either way) is that any beginner's curriculum worth its salt should leave the magician with enough information to make their own way.

A beginner's curriculum should serve the purpose of developing the basic tools needed and it should also forge a connection between the practitioner and the force that guides their path (God/HGA/Whatever), even if that connection is muffled to begin with. Although it's a long and complex journey, the attraction between the higher force and the magician will ensure that they move towards each other and the pathways opened by the magician will be used to do that. One way that this can happen is that the practitioner will feel a strong desire to study a given system; this is the higher force prompting the magician to use a method that will bring about unison quicker and more completely than other available methods.

Once the beginner's curriculum is over, the best way to make progress is to ask which systems the magician is drawn to and to then develop training specific to those areas. A "second tier" reading list will probably be particular to each person.

I reccomend High Magick (I & II) by Frater U.D.

Aleister Crowley's Illustrated Goetia: Sexual Evocation by Lon Milo DuQuette and Christopher S. Hyatt, illustrated by David P. Wilson (New Falcon Publications; Tempe, Arizona, USA) ISBN 1-56184-048-3

The introductory chapters are the best I've read so far on the matter of demonology and in fact magic in general. The basic idea is right there as simple as it gets, before going off the deep end; and let's face it, every book (even IIH) goes right off the deep end. There's no one volume of anything that's good for beginners.

Thanks for all the data, guys.

Frater U.: D.: is pretty good.