BASIC SIGIL MAGIC

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Summary: A good synthesis, a hands-on manual of sorcery.
Review: Casting sigils is a highly effective form of sorcery. It does not require an in-depth knowledge of magical techniques or years of tedious training under some self-appointed adept who may simply be after your money, your body, or both. Cooper provides a sound overview of the process. As in his other books (especially Basic Magick which covers many of the ideas presented here), he cuts through the cant, rhetoric and old-fashioned moral baggage associated with magical practice. He offers practical information on communicating with the subconscious mind and the collective unconscious via symbols and imagery - the key to success in magic. He shows us how to use sigils to influence the subconscious, bypassing the often contradictory and usually self-sabotaging internal dialogue of the conscious mind. The book draws very heavily on Chaos mages such as Peter J Carroll and Phil Hine. The section on colour magic, for example, seems to be lifted from Carroll's excellent and innovative Liber Kaos. Carroll excels at exciting you about the possibilities of magic, Hine is superb on process and detail. Read both, if you can. Cooper's style is refreshing, very direct and no-nonsense in the manner of a 'just add water' recipe book. Some may think he strips magic(k) of its mystery, romance and grandeur, and you should look elsewhere if you are seeking enlightenment, union with the Divine, or fancy a chat with your Holy Guardian Angel. However, if like most of us, you simply want to create and fire a number of sigils to help you manifest your desires (sex, wealth, material things), BASIC SIGIL MAGIC provides the information you need. It is generally felt that the best introduction to sigilisation is by German magician Frater U.D., unfortunately now out of print. However, Cooper's short, easy-to-follow book provides a striking alternative and a superbly entertaining read. You can also visit the author's website, for information and FREE downloads at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/cphllpm

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Summary: what the...
Review: i did not enjoy this book.

it takes a Very Simple technique, and adds a whole bunch of useless fluff to it, without giving much explanation of theories, or even any new ideas on "gnosis".

Rating:
Summary: Avoid.
Review: I expected at least a bit of useful information from this book.. and it was totally useless to me. The author spent the all but a few lines merely summarizing modern metaphysical practice and his opinions on the matter. When he did finally get to the point of the book, it was pitiful.

Rating:
Summary: Avoid.
Review: I expected at least a bit of useful information from this book.. and it was totally useless to me. The author spent the all but a few lines merely summarizing modern metaphysical practice and his opinions on the matter. When he did finally get to the point of the book, it was pitiful.

Rating:
Summary: Poor, poor trees
Review: I picked this book up by accident, I'd ordered <u>Practical Sigil Magic</u> by Frater U.D., but this one had come in instead. I thought, what the hell, and bought it anyway. I now wish I hadn't.

The book is broken up into two parts 'The Psybermancer' and 'The Psybernomicon', it's unclear why. It's also unclear why the author spells magick with a 'c' in the title, then switches to 'ck' throughout the rest of the book. I'm not particularly bothered by which spelling is used, only that it be consistent.

After throwing out the mind - without giving a decent explaination as to why (pg. 15) and denying the power of emotions and their useful place in your life (pg. 16-17), Cooper then decides to do away with karma as well (pg. 17).

Before you can master the effects of your mind, you need to understand it, and in doing so, yourself. Take the example of emotions given (pg. 17) he suggests that 'each time you find that you are being negative, stop, remind yourself that your thinking will effect the outcome.' Denying how you think and feel will only surpress these thoughts and emotions until you burst, which can far more disasterous. He offers no real solutions to fears or doubts, just suggests you push it down a little deeper. He does away with karma, denouncing it as a useless concept, but doesn't seem to have a firm grasp of what it means, then decides to fabricate his own debt-system, calling it 'The Great Law of Tenfold Return'.

Copper's preference of Spare over Crowley seems not to have any real foundation, a common thread throughout this book. While I don't necessarily disagree, I would like to see an explaination given. The only quote by Crowley cited is secondhand, coming from a book by another author - it looks as though he's not even bothered to read Crowley before forming this opinion. There is no mention of Crowley in the bibliography.

The concepts presented in this book are barely even a rehashing of everything that's already been established much more effectively by other authors, and in more depth. The only new concepts he presents are baseless and useless.

I found this book to be a useless load of rubbish. Perhaps this ridiculous magickal philosophy is explained futher in his other works, but I found this one such a waste of time that I'm not inclined to persue them.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I picked up a copy of this book because I was looking for another method of working magick and I`ve had an interest in sigils for awhile now. When I read this book I was highly disappointed with how the author basically says that anyone who believes in Karma or some other type of fate is just wrong. The author never gives a logical reason as to why he thinks the philosophy of Karma is wrong, but rather just says it`s wrong. The author also has a tendency to ramble on and on about how magick is created from the subconscious rather than mentioning at all the other idea of sending out energy to the universe to cause change in your life. I give this book 2 stars because if you have no knowledge of sigils at all you may find some useful information here. However, if you do have knowledge of sigils or if you are part of a religion that believes in Karma I wouldn`t waste my money on this book. You`ll just get angry with the author and want to throw this bok out the window.

Rating:
Summary: Basic but useful
Review: Like the title says, this covers the basics. Describes how to create sigil glyphs and mantras from a statement of intent as well as a ritual suggestion for how to charge sigils. The main form of charging that is emphasized is whirling or spinning. Sex magick applications are not explored at any great length. No new territory but an acceptable reference for someone starting out with sigils to help get familiar with some basic concepts.

Rating:
Summary: Where's the sigils?
Review: Of 110 pages in my edition, only 9 pages offer clear sigil info; Cooper admits he's lifted that info from another author -- and it was info I already had from a class I was taking. I had hoped this book would elaborate on class material.
The rest of the +100 pages seem irrelevant to the title: a mix of derision against other beliefs, and explanations for basic wicca (magick etc), visualization, and chakra info which can be found in hundreds of other books. The hundreds of other books, however, will also likely give better foundations for these concepts, and without having to wade through Cooper's ranting and railing. Out of the thousands of books I've read or owned, this is 1 of only 3 books which I will throw out.
I wish I had known of Cooper's other titles before I considered this book -- unfortunately, I relied too heavily on the misleading number of explanatory drawings to make this purchase. Do some research on this author before you buy.

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Summary: SIGILS MADE SIMPLE
Review: What makes magick work, is the ability to communicate our intentions to our subconscious mind and the most effective way of doing this is via symbols or sigils. This book explains the significance of sigils, how to create them and how to charge them with psychic power. The work is divided in two parts: The Psybermancer and The Psybernomicon. The first deals with the basics of magick, critical self-analysis, magical preliminaries including the altar and equipment, rituals and formulas, the creation of sigils and a discussion of inhibitory an excitatory gnosis. The author provides extensive information on whirling gnosis and charging methods for the sigils. Chapter Six: The Master Ritual includes pieces on words of power, the use of sound and the colors of magick. The Psybernomicon examines the concept of color in magick in detail, including white, red, black orange, green, blue, yellow and silver, and the last chapter provides magical techniques and exercises. The book concludes with a bibliography and index. I found it to be quite an enjoyable read with simple instructions and sound advice.