The subtitle gives the book's intent "A Beginner's Guide to Thelemic Magick", and in this the book succeeds tremendously. But the book also contains hidden qualities that makes it invaluable to have for even the more advanced thelemic magicians.
The book itself starts with very moderate meditation, evolves into the natural step of the Ritual of the Pentagram, where it introduces a new version of the ritual, that maybe is more suited for the ones who gets allergic reactions towards archaic archangels. But the most important thing in the second chapter is that it explains so carefully and accurately the intent and purpose of the Ritual of the Pentagram.
Then the first of my favorite chapters (together with the ones on "Everyday Magick" and "Thelemic Morality") begins, "Thelemic Cosmology", which is quite usefull for the beginner. Each aspect of the various Gods is explained.
And so it goes on, each chapter, drawing the beginner more into the realms of Magick as practised by Thelemites, with elegance, humor and wit as weapons to illuminate the mind.
The main problem this book may have, is from the competition from another Beginner's guide, "The Magick of Thelema", by DuQuette, which was launched by the powerful publishing house Weiser last year. But I feel that Abrahadabra in some ways are far better suited to the beginner than DuQuette's book, as it is written with such humor and wit, and even introduces some of the more popular Chaos Magick frameworks like Star trek. All in all, it portrays, I believe, far more accurately what is going on in the Thelemic Scene these days.
In other words, I can't give Bro. Rodney enough praise for his excellent work, and I think that people who wonder what Thelema is all about, as well as those of us who have experienced the Current for a time, may benefit from reading this book.
93 93/93.
Kjetil
kfjell@james.avh.unit.no
"_ABRAHADABRA_" Rodney Orpheus, Looking Glass Press £10.99
A Beginners Guide to Thelemic Magick, runs the sub-tilte to this new book from Sweden, and that is precisely, but not exclusively, what you get. Rodney Orpheus has a produced a fast moving, practical guide to Thelemic Magick. The intention is that anyone can pick up this book, start reading and working through it, and end up, in next to no time, a fully-fledged Thelemic magician! Surprisingly, he might actually be right.
Don't be put off by the slightly stilted 'Euro-English', and don't be put off by the irreverant and 'fun' laddishness of the text. Underneath it all is as solid an introduction to magick as you are likely to find. And that goes even if you are not a Thelemite.
Rodney begins at the beginning with simple yoga exercises, and rapidly develops a system of banishings, invocations, assumption of god-forms and the like. You learn how to find, make and consecrate magickal weapons; and how to use them. You get a basic lesson in qabalah /very basic), a lesson in astral travel, plus some basic magickal rituals.
Easy to read, packed with commonsense, youthful _faux_pas_ and mightily energetic. This might not be the greatest literature (and the chapter on Thelemic philosophy is a classic in obfuscation and confusion), but it sure beats a helluva lot of more pompous books on the subject. Crowley said 'the Law is for all'. I'm not sure about that, and there is an unfortunate naive sexism running through some of what Orpheus has to say, but all in all this is a good entry into the Thelemic corpus."
-Thee frequency of truth- Volume I issue #4 August 1995