Customer Reviews:
 A Good Starter Book.... March 16, 2006
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
BUT definately move on to other things ASAP. If you have absolutely NO experience with high magick, or magick in general, then this is a good book to start with however it should only be a starter. It does a very good job of teaching some of the basic rituals however the correspondences are a little shallow and could have benefited from greater explination.
Then there is the history sections located in various parts of the book and I must say that Mr. Kraig's history is some of the WORST I have ever read. He gives examples from terrible and most seriously flawed secondary sources I have ever heard. Some of his versions of "history" are completely laughable and absurd. Being a student of history myself I find this very grating.
Also annoying is his constant coaching on how to have what I call a victim mentality. People who practiced magick in the past have been persecuted. EVERY group has been persecuted at one time or another, many by pagans and practitioners of magick. Read the origins of the NAZI party and what they believed as an example. So, as I tell my students, GET OVER IT!!! I wish Mr. Kraig would do the same.
All in all I am probably being a touch hard on this book by only giving it 3 stars but the problematic history was just too terrible for me to give it 4 stars.
 You must own this book! March 12, 2006
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is a must have because it covers all the information and rituals in great detail as if you where in a real class talking to a real teacher !
Insight into Discipline. February 23, 2006
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I must admit, when I first picked up this book, the 500+ pages seemed daunting. Having quickly grown bored with other books on magic after only a hundred pages or so, I had my doubts about how long this one would hold my interest. However, I quickly found myself deeply engaged, looking forward eagerly to my nightly reading. I took extensive notes, even copied down some of the exercises and rituals (something I have never done with any other book on magic, even those which I have enjoyed and found useful).
The single most impressive aspect of this book is that it not only suggests self-discipline, but actually requires it. (If a person cannot find the will-power to carefully read and contemplate each lesson in this book, they very likely will not have the discipline to extensively pursue magical studies in practice, either.) Although I have read several other books on ceremonial/high magic, this was the only book that did not immediately turn me off to the complex (and what I had always thought were over-blown) techniques. Instead of listing numerous ornate rituals, Kraig presents several carefully chosen and cumulative exercises which a student can practice regularly. These exercises (including the familiar LBRP and Middle Pillar ritual) are neither boringly simple nor unnecessarily confusing, and serve as excellent building blocks for increased visualization and concentration skills (as well as increasing psychic/intuitive abilities--a promise he makes early in the book and which, in my personal experience, is certainly kept). His discussions of each exercise and various systems of thought behind them transform familiar techniques into challenging new practices.
The key to truly practicing these techniques and benefiting from them is self-discipline. Often other books give the impression that simply to read them, picking and choosing the occasional ritual to try, is all that is needed to learn, Modern Magick shows time after time that regular, disciplined practice is absolutely necessary. Kraig's style may at times come across as a bit dictatorial, but in my opinion, this was a refreshing change from the do-whatever-you-like attitudes of many books out there (any well-read and thinking individual runs little risk of succumbing to the my-way-is-the-only-way mindset as a result of this book).
In short, Modern Magick is an excellent resource, one I plan to refer back to over and over again. However, it does deal almost exclusively with ceremonial/high magic (with long discussions of the Tree of Life, talisman magic and evocations). Folks not truly interested in this subject may find it frustrating or unnecessary.
 ~~Rip Off~~ February 9, 2006
6 out of 26 found this review helpful
My take: This book is a rip off. He leads the reader along carrot and stick fashion through this long book, just so that in the end he tells us the way to find the ultimate secrets of magick is dreaming or astral projection. And then later he fills even this with dogma, saying the information learned from entities on higher planes through astral travel is only for the one who received it. What about Robert Monroe for instance (Far Journeys, Ultimate Journey), who helped so many people by sharing what he learned. Also his Explorer tapes that are recorded sessions of people projecting and voicing their experiences. Robert Monroe found that the higher spiritual being he met was himself, and how we are all connected and related. So to say that the info I gather is absolutely only for me is dogmatic and... secretive. The day is past where we must fear being burned at the stake for sharing what we learn. Such ideas of secrecy may be carry overs from that time.
As far as this book, he could have simply written a booklet teaching pathworking or astral projection, and saved us the time, money, and frustration of drudging through all this stuff that he himself identifies as a waste of time, as we could have astral projected/pathworked and cut our learning time in half or more! Since giving 0 stars is not an option, he gets a one.
 Excellent with Few Flaws January 28, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
If it is your wish to become a practicing magus of the Western Esoteric or Hermetic traditions, you'd be hard pressed to find a better place to start that "Modern Magick" by Donald Michael Kraig. In just under 600 pages, the author expertly lays out the sophisticated system of modern hermetics in eleven easily digestible lessons. From the basics of visualization and relaxation all the way to the very advanced pathwork on the Tree of Life, this book makes magical knowledge accessible to people in ways that its never been before. For beginners its value is incalculable. For long-time practitioners it is still quite worthwhile, often presenting new points of view on what many of us consider to be well understood topics.
The book does falter in some places, though. For instance, it is often repetitious. While this is often a good thing, repetition being the basis of memorization and learning, it can bog the work down, especially when the author repeats such simple concepts as the pronunciation of "ch" (he never writes a word with "ch" in it without explaining that its pronounced like the Scottish word "loch").
Another area that I didn't particularly like was his explanation of alchemy. The author doesn't go into practical alchemy at all, such as the creation and use of herbal tonics or elixers, etc... Instead, he only discusses speculative or spiritual alchemy, and in these cases it is almost always in its aspects as sexual magic. While I have no opposition to the practice of sexual magic, I think that other areas of alchemy could have been discussed from a historical view at the very least.
These two small flaws aside, the book is very very good. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject, from neophyte to expert. While many of the exercises and lessons are challenging, going through them whether for the first time or the fiftieth seems well worth the effort.
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