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Summoning Spirits: The Art of Magical Evocation (Llewellyn's Practical Magick Series)

Summoning Spirits: The Art of Magical Evocation (Llewellyn's Practical Magick Series)

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $10.17
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great book--and in my opinion, it is NOT preachy
Review: Excellent primer on evoking entities for the intermediate magick practitioner. Unlike many books of its kind, I believe that Konstantinos' book will be applicable for many types of practitioners. That being said, I don't agree with the author who was bothered by Konstantinos' suggestion to focus on benevolent entities, nor do I agree that those who prefer not to go near the nastier entities are 'fluff bunny pagans'. While this breed does exist (I've met quite a few perky cheerleader-Witch types), I hardly think that choosing to avoid certain more malevolent entities is akin to denying the dark side of one's life, spiritual and otherwise. I also think that the author's suggestion was just a SUGGESTION, not a condescending fluffbunny dictate. I know many don't follow the Wiccan Rede, but I do--and that usually led me away from many evocation books which for the most part focused A LOT on the Goetic entities. This one seemed to have something for those like me who chooses to use my practices either for positive spiritual goals (at my most lofty--and for this, I loved the selection on evoking the Angels, Archangels and Earth entities)or (at my most 'low magick')to improve my life without harming others. It seems too many authors in Pagan/Wiccan/high or ceremonial magic genres tend to go to extremes--either turn the ritual into a Grateful Dead peace'n'love for all no matter what be-in, or compete for who can be the most eager to prove the now-debunked, formerly popular notion that all pagans/witches/magicians are evil/in communication with demons/scary, etc. Finally, a book that is the happy medium. And for those who dismiss the idea of evoking angelic entities, you don't know what you're missing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: JUST WHAT I HAD HOPED FOR!
Review: For quite some time i wished to find kind of magick that was "higher" than the typical pagan or even quabbalist ritual. I found what i was looking for in Summoning Spirits. This is an excellent book for those few dedicated souls who seek something more. Buying this book isn't a free ticket into the spirit world. In fact it may take a very long time before you have any real sugccess. This is mostly due to the fact that to conjure spirits you must have developed your clairovoyance and clairoaudience to a very high degree. But this book will provide you with methods by which, if practiced regularly, will adequately strengthen your psychic abilities. From there on you are provided with all the rituals and theology behind the rituals to effectively summon spirits with out all the tradional, old fashioned garble that is usually involved in evocations.

Preforming this type of magick takes a lot of determination and practice but can be well worth the effort if you are cautious. This isn't something with which you can screw around with and not expect to get burned, or should i say POSSESSED. But don't let that frighten you away. Getting possessed isn't that bad, well actually it really sucks and is really scary the first few times but it's not that big of a deal and it/they always go away after a little while. The only real weapon you have against such entities is a strong will - make them get out. But just to be on the safe side, i would recommend evoking angles (many of which are available in this book). Angles are the greatest types of being you can work with, and with angles there is no danger.

This is probably the most complete and practical book you will ever find on the high art of evocation, if you truely wish to do some hard-core magick you will get this book!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: fear to tread
Review: funny, there is much in this book, but the value of it lies
almost in the visualisation ritual alone. The author borrows from so many other sources that the ones of you with a firm occult base will find nothing new, much over-simplification and all understated. One feels that the author has a reader in mind, and that both do not seem to understand the actual reality and meaning of what is proposed. K. seems to find it a fine idea to say to every 'newcomer' "here's a phonebook to some beings that can 'help' you with power, understanding etc.. free of cost, and if you would believe the author it would also be mere months before one invokes angels and other very very powerful beings.. Irresponsible and painfully obvious that even though the information has been given the wisdom is lacking in the giver..free of cost! a very irresponsible book.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Hey lets start to think where this road is going.
Review: Hello everyone! let me just say that I genuinely respect and love each and everyone of you. But, I have to say that you guys are being deceived.
Now really, take some time to think about it. You guys are summing spirits, who are wolves in sheep's clothing. Listen guys all you really need is Jesus in your life. You don't have to go on a wild goose chase to attain the great mysteries of life. God wanted to make it simple, and all it is is Gods son (Jesus) died for us so that we could have real spiritual life. Let Jesus come into your heart, stop following those deceiving spirits. Learn what true love, happiness and joy are all about. God bless you all.

2 Corinthians 11:14 - And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Unoriginal
Review: I considered myself a full fledged fan of Kostantinos for his originality in books like Gothic Grimoire and Vampires The Occult Truth. This one, however, needs work. First off, most of what he says in right on. But, there are too many customized items you need to invoke the entities, with little given as to how or what is invoked, as he tells to find it in other sources. This is more like Kostantinos' Custom Goetia, as the title is misleading. Nothing new or original whatsoever, just the author giving information on how to make custom magick tools and how to contact those entities mentioned from other sources. There is more unoriginality as he admits a lot is taken directly from the Golden Dawn. Ah, a mess of borrowed sources. Stick with Gothic Grimoire, and I haven't started it yet but Nocturnal Witchcraft. I skipped this about 3/4 the way done as it wasn't at all what I was expecting. The decent rating is for the fact that it is a nice book and well illustrated. I hope I will find better in The Keys of Solomon the King by Mathers. A waste of money and time!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good read and practice
Review: I found this book to be very well written, with no overt typos. The author is knowledgeable on the subject and as plus in my review mentions Franz Bardon, giving readers a chance to look at the work of an earlier occult author. Konstantinos provides readers a thorough examination of summoning spirits, including several different ways of evocation and exercises that can be used by the beginner or adept to ground him/herself and get a working knowledge of how to evoke before the actual evocations begin. He also provides a list of spirits the magician might wish to work with.

However, while I liked this book overall I did find the emphasis on judeo-christianity to be a bit much. Granted much of the tradition of evocation is centered around those religions, however I wish the author would've researched other magic systems such as Demonolatry so that he could present alternative ways of evocation that don't involve calling on the judeo-christian God. At the least I would've liked to have seen a framework provided for magicians that might not be comfortable working with judeo-christian spirits. I rank this book four stars out of five.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT BOOK BUT...
Review: I have conjured every spirit in this book except the Spirit Frucisierre(which Im having trouble with)so if there ANYONE who has conjured the spirit frucisierre and knows how to give magical life to objects, create powerful talismans and Physical Golems/Egregores please let me know ASAP at javon@ekit.com

Thank You and I appreciate it

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Curate's Egg
Review: I must take issue with one of the claims made by the author about this book. He says that it is the only book you will ever need on the subject.

This is patently not true.

Don't get me wrong, there is some stuff worth reading in this book, but it is _suggestive_, not _definitive_. For example, his Clairvoyance and Clairaudience exercises are interesting. Also, the descriptions of the fifty spirits is useful - assuming that they are taken from his own magical diary.

But elsewhere, Konstantinos makes a bit of a hash with his presentation of the Golden Dawn-style of magic, no more obvious than in his treatment of Enochian magic, which is woeful. This is a complex subject in itself, so much so that authors like Aleister Crowley and more recently John Michael Greer have recognised that it can't be handled adequately in a book which is only general in its terms.

My advice: read it if you want - or better still borrow it from a lending library if you want! - but there _are_ other books on the subject which should be read to get a more balanced view. (See, e.g. Crowley, Greer, Lon Milo Duquette, Poke Runyon, etc).


Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Basic overview of evocation
Review: This book contains information that you can easily find in many other mainstream works on magick. The author takes ideas directly from Kraig's "Modern Magick" which were taken from Runyon's techniques and other Golden Dawn sources. This can be helpful if you are interested only in magickal evocation but I question the simplification of many of the Golden Dawn rituals. Evocation can be serious business and glossing over fine points can lead to trouble but most dire warnings from my experience are grossly overstated. He does include the pentagram and hexagram rituals and rites for the basic consecration of the magickal tools. His exercises for developing psychic sight and hearing are useful. He also includes an original chapter on how to evoke to visible appearance and many original illustrations of various entities. If you are looking for cliff notes on evocation this is a good book on the subject.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An excellent start
Review: This book will give the beginer an excellent foundation to start evocation. The author draws on several old world texts and simplifies them so that the every day "Joe" can grasp the concepts.
I began my first works in evocation with the Golden Dawn material. However, "Summoning Spirits" gave me a clearer understanding of this working.
The first spirit I summoned from this book was the archangel Michael. Although I didn't "see" the spirit in the crystal, I could sense the presence and there was a sweet smell. As I continued to evoke various entities, my life began to improve. I had been very ill and was in a bad situation; in fact, I nearly died at one point. But thanks to the contents of this book, my life gradually improved, and today I have to say my health and life have improved 210%.
This is a terrific book...however, if you're going to evoke a spirit, make sure you're reasons are very clear. Don't just do it to see if you can.


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