Customer Reviews:
 Points to Ponder November 28, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I wasn't asked to review this book, and I hope mine won't be lost in the crowd, but I feel that I have to put my two cents in. I tend to agree with the reviewer who said to watch out for someone who poses as a guru and charges $1,000.00 a pop for lessons. I was fascinated with the book and read it in two days. I enjoyed the history part. It added to other information I have, and if anyone else is interested, I would suggest they read The Riddle of Prehistoric Britain, which is about where the true cradle of civilization was and that there was no ice age. Also, Isis Unveiled, which tells about how the Catholics stole their entire system from the Druids and copied their ceremonies for use in their church services down to the last detail. Also, on the Internet is a short book called The Diabolicon written by Michael Aquino, which you can download for free from the Occult Library operated by Satan Singles. In it Aquino tells Lucifer and his Demons' side of the story of creation and the war in heaven. If you read this and the other two books, you can get a bigger picture of where things came from and how so much Christian stuff got mixed in with magic.
Lisiewski's assertion that using the old grimoires is the best and only way to do magic bothers me a lot. I would say that very few people would or could memorize all those long conjurations, and he doesn't give any pronunciations. Then all the other stuff you have to do, including the three circles and writing a bunch of stuff inside them. And when I got to the part where you have to get holy water, baptismal water, holy chalk and a robe worn in a Catholic church service from the Catholic church, that really galled me. It was as if the Catholics alone are in control of magic. Sorry, I don't buy that.
I can see how, if you believe him, you would want his help, and I can also see how many outs he left himself in case you fail. It would never be his fault, but yours. And that list of exact things that are going to happen to you if you fail, really I think they must be what always happens to him, not other people, if indeed he is actually performing these ceremonies himself.
I suspect this man is a college professor, as Edred Flowers, whom he praises to high heaven, is. These people have plenty of time to research, speculate and write books on their theories. That's what they get paid to do.
One reason why I am more than a little suspicious of his writings is that many years ago I accidentally called up the spirits of Saturn without meaning to. I was trying to do a spell for money, and I was using a pentacle. At that time I didn't know anything about evocation. The book I was using didn't mention that. As I recall, I made a circle, not very big, with salt water, and I used a candle, and I am not sure whether or not I used incense. I laid the pentacle on the table, lit the candle and recited a short spell, blew out the candle and walked across the hall to my office and started to work on my computer.
There were large openings between the room where I did the spell and my office, and I could easily see the place where I did the spell. Well, it wasn't but a few minutes until what appeared to be the spirits of several old men with long hair and beards and wearing brown robes rose up inside the salt water circle. They could see me in the next room, and though they didn't speak, they were making threatening gestures towards me. Of course I was taken aback but relieved that they didn't seem to be able to leave the circle. I didn't know what to do at first, but then I remembered that the book with the pentacle and the spell was on a table by my desk, so I picked it up and showed it to them. Seeing it didn't appease their anger, but they seemed to understand, and they disappeared back down through the circle into the floor. Afterwards I could never get the feeling of anger out of that room. No matter what I did I couldn't cleanse it, not that I knew much about how to do it at the time. I don't remember the things Lisiewski said happening to me afterwards, considering I must have gotten a partial manifestation. My point is how easy it was to get that far. That's why I don't believe it's an absolute must to do everything he says. I just can't imagine pagan country folk in ancient times going to such lengths. How did they know what time it was? What did the pagans do before the Catholics were there to tell them every little detail. I wonder if the Druids told the Catholics the ceremonies had to be elaborate in order to discourage them from doing magic, and when that didn't stop them, encouraged them to call up demons inimical to man and do things that would anger them hoping the demons would destroy them.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't like the idea of forcing spirits to do my will. How would you like it if lots of people called you up and forced you to work for them for nothing? After a while I would think you might be trying to find a way to get rid of them permanently, or waiting to catch then off guard so you could attack. Perhaps a better way would be to call up benevolent demons,ask for their help and offer them something in return. Lisiewski even arrogantly mentioned that they don't even have the right to ask why you want what you want. It's none of the demons' business, he says.
I couldn't help drawing the conclusion, after reading The Diabolicon, that roughly half of the spirits are inimical to man and roughly half are kindly disposed towards us. Therefore, I think it would behoove us to call up the latter. But with the Catholics muddying up the waters, so to speak, it might be hard to tell who is who, and I wouldn't want to find out the hard way.
 the best period August 23, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
this is the best and easest grimoire of them all iwill be doing it next month
yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh July 28, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
yeahhhhhhhhhhh this man got brass one baby. final somebody who told the truth about the new age and wica them carzy, folk with there bull carp karma and do only good and not mess other free will. i love the writter. great way to teach us to use the spells in the right way to get the one we want the money and the revenge agaist our foe. dr joseph god bless him for his truth.
Magic June 28, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book describes an "easier" way of performing ceremonial magic, specifically summoning demons. It doesn't require all the tools of the trade that are normally associated with this form of magic, which makes it simpler. I am impressed that the author points out the main flaws in general with today's ceremonial paths. They texts were written for a reason, not to be changed and the author points out the reasons they should not be changed and that they should be performed as written to get the desired result.
Principles of Magic in Action June 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the first book that I ever read that really showed me how a personal system of magic is truly built. Dr. Lisiewski uses the Heptameron grimoire to illustrate the rigorous thought process which must proceed magical operations if they are to succeed. He may be very emphatic at times, but he does so to minimize confusion as to the importance of the issues at hand. This book is about the thought processes and the attitudes that come together in the magician to make sure that no false steps are taken, that every part of any ritual undertaken is fully comprehended. Intellectual understanding is not what magic is about. It is about experience, and experiences of this kind are a serious business where there is no room for errors of carelessness. This book points the way and acts as a guide along the way. Be glad it's there.
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