Magical Pathworking: Techniques of Active Imagination

Rating:
Summary: A reasonable attempt at a book about imagination
Review: But, however, as Elias Legolas has already pointed out, this book is very similar to stuff already available, and does not really give any new information.

If there were no other books on this stuff (but there are plenty), then this book would be a good buy.

I remain the artist - Joe Blow. Yours Sincerely in "magical power".

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: If you can only do one occult book order a year, then this book should be included in that order. Nick Farrell’s writing is elegant and yet to the point. There are no typos in this book and the writing is at the level that any person could understand the concepts that he conveys in this book.

What I found most enjoyably about the book were the techniques that Nick uses in this book. The techniques are accessible and easily adapted to a person’s own style of magic, so that if you’re not inclined to use the Golden Dawn structure of magic you can stick with your own and still use these techniques.

There are several other bonuses to this book. Mr. Farrell does an excellent job of providing a history behind the techniques and who and how they came to be developed. Even better he actually knows who William Gray is as well as other more obscure occultists. It’s rare to find an author who quotes and uses the work of these ground breaking magicians and it’s good to see that Nick not only does that, but does it well. I rate this book a five out of five.


Rating:
Summary: Really interesting
Review: There have been books about creative imagination and even a few reasonable ones on pathworking. However this one gets down to the nuts and bolts of changing your life using active imagination. Some books will give you pathworkings, this one tells you the rules for creating them. It also explains how to build yourself an 'inner kingdom' in which to reveal your secret self.
The manuscript has been circulating in the esoteric counselling community for a while and there are many who were amazed at how effective the methods used were. I count myself among them. I used several of the techniques suggested on some of my tricker clients who were able for the first time to actually see and change patterns that had lasted for some time.
However the occultist in me was really impressed by the way this book explains the symbolic nature of our life and the esoteric techniques used.
However it is not a technical book for the shrinks, it is a handbook written in a simple and at times humorous style, in which the author happy to reveal much.
If you are a wiccan, practical magician or a counsellor this book is an amazing trove of information.

Rating:
Summary: Not quite what I was expecting
Review: This book about the Magical Imagination is Nick Farrell's second book. He is now becoming quite the author.

This second book bears many similarities to Shakti Gawain's book on Creative Visualization. But there are some real differences. This book draws on the magical tradition of the Golden Dawn, and emphasises this in a big way.

All in all, this book is okay to read.

Rating:
Summary: Insightfully Competent
Review: While I'm not an overt fan of "pathworking", I have to say it does have its objective uses. Typically I've found pathworkings to do little on the physical or Astral planes regardless of which author is claiming otherwise. Pathworking is a fancy name given to a guided meditation. The main difference is that a pathworking is usually constructed along Qabalistic lines of thought and uses more often than not Hermetic symbols whereas a guided meditation can be a simple affair to get you to realize you snore in bed.

From an inner psychology aspect, the usage and implementation of a well executed pathworking can help you to acknowledge misplaced feelings and to challenge your own fears and phobias. This is done by objectively linking the fear or phobia to a symbol and then learning to deal with the symbol's energy or using Alchemy to transmute it into something more constructive in your mind.

This artform is nothing knew as Dion Fortune's crew have used pathworking as a main focus since the beginning of the 20th century. Others such as Dolores Ashcrowft-Nowicki have authored books on the subject as well and these would make good reading in addition to Farrell's book if you're of the notion to explore this time honored practice yourself.

In all fairness I should clarify that what you experience on the inside landscape of your mind's pathworking can alter your perceptions and insights on the outside. It's just that a normal pathworking event will not alter a dignitary's way of thinking just because you imagine it so. That would involve you having to do a ritual/spell and empowering it in some way. Still if you sufficiently alter your own psyche strongly enough, you'll find plenty of changes on the outside of yourself for you to experience.

Farrell offers a simple but fun experiment he calls "The Five Dollar Experiment" on page 21. It's a variation on his "Basic Visualization" lesson from the previous page. He's giving you advice on how to manifest $5 from an unexpected source to prove to you this works. After you've mastered this, he offers a technique taught to him by David Goddard and it is to help you from ever having to be in financial need again. Well thought of advice! One of the things I like about Farrell is that he's not ashamed to tell you that he learned a technique or idea from someone else to which he gives credit. THAT is rare in an author these days!

Then Farrell offers you some practical advice on building your own inner kingdom. This is a terrific idea as it can be a springboard for a variety of creative ideas during your life. And these don't have to be all "metaphysically" oriented either. One can certainly use their inner kingdom to bounce ideas off of such as talking to other dignitaries or intelligent magical beasts for advice. In the new age circles, there has been the art of creating a magical laboratory where you go to shut out the world to give yourself some time to think, plan and get your creative juices flowing. Farrell gives you much the same and offers plenty of advice on creating this inner world for you to romp around in at your leisure or when you absolutely MUST have an answer.

Another great chapter in this book that I highly recommend you read several times over is how to use your imagination to change your psyche. While it's true that's the fundamental focus of the whole book, here Farrell points out in specific detail an outline of steps on using your psyche to make majore changes in your life. He even discusses using this technique for helping someone who's been abused all their life. While not a panacea per se, this section can have life altering affects. However Farrell is wise to point out that no pathworking is completely 100% safe and especially where those involve altering your perceptual patterns to such a degree.

All in all, I have to rate this book a four star manual. It's offering a lot even though it's coming from an ultra reserved esoteric order-ish background. Of course there's a bibliography and unfortunately no index. Thus make sure you have your highlighter and Post-It-Notes handy so you can mark those particulars that you find helpful for later finding.