Search - Book of Black Magic and Ceremonial Magic

As Waite so eloquently puts it:

"(I)...will explain why this work is entitled "The Book of Black Magic," when it deals, as a matter of fact, in a fairly exhaustive manner, with most extant rituals. These are all tainted with Black Magic in the same way that every idle word is tainted with the nature of sin. The distinction between White and Black Magic is the distinction between the idle and the evil word."

In my opinion, it would be much more accurate to call this book "Discussions of Black and Ceremonial Magic" than to refer to it by its actual printed title. Not even close to finding the voodoo-esque cheesiness I had anticipated within the pages of this book, Arthur E. Waite instead turns the chosen subject into a compelling and page-turning discussion of history, example, and veritable pictoral symbol dictionary of assorted demonic sigils.

With no-nonsense descriptions of widely-known grimoires, numerous assorted prayers to the Lord our God and to perform exorcisms, hierarchies and seals of angels/demons, and a plethera of ritual descriptions as just part of its arsenal, I was really quite impressed by Waite's selection in this work. For me, the best parts were in the readably-arranged multitude of pictoral sigils.

Although I never expected this book to find a place on the same bookshelf as my copy of Agrippa's "Three Books of Occult Philosophy," I am impressed enough to feel it deserves its place there, and I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone thinking of picking this title up to do so- and enjoy the read.