Source books

Books

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277 books of 336 · showing 201–250 · oldest first

Egyptian religion and magic 3

  1. undated

    The Book of Gates

    ancient Egyptian funerary text

    Primary source Landmark

    Read at sacred-texts.com ↗

  2. undated

    Primary source Landmark

    Read at sacred-texts.com ↗

  3. undated

    Primary source Unmeasured also Greek and Roman mysteries

    Read at sacred-texts.com ↗

Alchemy 2

  1. written 1471; printed 1591

    The Compound of Alchymy

    George Ripley

    A verse treatise that divides the work into twelve gates, one to a chapter, from calcination to projection.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    Read at archive.org ↗ and 1 more edition

  2. undated

    A Discourse of Fire and Salt

    Blaise de Vigenère

    Primary source Unmeasured

    Read at gutenberg.org ↗

Grimoires and ritual magic 1

  1. undated

    The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy

    Attributed to Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

    Primary source Unmeasured also Renaissance magic and Christian Cabala

    Read at esotericarchives.com ↗

Witchcraft and demonology 2

  1. undated

    The Discoverie of Witchcraft

    Reginald Scot

    partially sceptical book published by Reginald Scot in 1584, intended as an exposé of early Modern witchcraft; contains a small section intended to show how the public was...

    Primary source Notable

    Read at gutenberg.org ↗

  2. undated

    The Discovery of Witches

    Matthew Hopkins

    Primary source Unmeasured

    Read at gutenberg.org ↗

Christian theosophy and Swedenborg 1

  1. undated

    The Cloud Upon the Sanctuary

    Karl von Eckartshausen

    Primary source Unmeasured

    Read at sacred-texts.com ↗

Theosophy and its descendants 4

  1. 1934

    A Treatise on White Magic

    Alice A. Bailey

    A practical and theoretical account of spiritual development and magical service.

    Primary source Minor

    No free edition

  2. 1936–1960, later volumes posthumous

    A Treatise on the Seven Rays

    Alice A. Bailey

    A multi-volume system correlating seven fundamental energies with psychology, astrology and spiritual evolution.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  3. 1948

    The Reappearance of the Christ

    Alice A. Bailey

    Anticipates a renewed manifestation of a universal spiritual teacher.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  4. undated

    Esoteric Christianity

    Annie Besant

    Primary source Unmeasured also Christian scripture and mysticism

    Read at gutenberg.org ↗

Thelema 4

  1. 1944

    The Book of Thoth

    Aleister Crowley

    Crowley's account of the Tarot system embodied in the deck painted by Frieda Harris.

    Primary source Notable also Tarot

    Read at hermetic.com ↗

  2. received/written February–March 1946

    Liber 49

    Jack Parsons

    Parsons regarded it as a divinely received continuation or complement to Crowley's Book of the Law.

    Primary source Unmeasured also Twentieth-century magic

    No free edition

  3. 1949

    The Book of Antichrist

    Jack Parsons

    A short manifesto announcing his magical identity and rejection of oppressive moral structures.

    Primary source Unmeasured also Twentieth-century magic

    No free edition

  4. essays, collected later

    Freedom Is a Two-Edged Sword

    Jack Parsons

    Essays on liberty, magic and society, gathered after his death.

    Primary source Unmeasured also Twentieth-century magic

    No free edition

The Fourth Way 4

  1. 1931

    A New Model of the Universe

    P. D. Ouspensky

    Connects cosmology, recurrence, psychology and esoteric traditions.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  2. 1950, posthumous

    Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson

    G. I. Gurdjieff

    A vast and deliberately difficult allegorical cosmology meant to interrupt habitual thought.

    Primary source Notable

    No free edition

  3. 1963, posthumous

    Meetings with Remarkable Men

    G. I. Gurdjieff

    Semi-autobiographical narratives of his search for wisdom.

    Primary source Minor

    No free edition

  4. posthumous, 1970s

    Life Is Real Only Then, When 'I Am'

    G. I. Gurdjieff

    An unfinished third series concerned more directly with inner work.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

Twentieth-century magic 4

  1. 1930

    Psychic Self-Defence

    Dion Fortune

    Her best-known practical book, interpreting psychological and interpersonal danger through an occult model.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  2. 1932

    The Tree of Life

    Israel Regardie

    A systematic introduction to ceremonial magic written before his Golden Dawn initiation.

    Primary source Unmeasured also The Golden Dawn

    No free edition

  3. 1935

    The Mystical Qabalah

    Dion Fortune

    A readable synthesis of the Golden Dawn Tree of Life, Christian mysticism and Fortune's own psychological interpretation.

    Primary source Unmeasured also The Golden Dawn

    Read at globalgreyebooks.com ↗

  4. 1938

    The Middle Pillar

    Israel Regardie

    Connects a Golden Dawn body exercise with psychotherapy and helped make the practice one of the order's most widely adopted techniques.

    Primary source Unmeasured also The Golden Dawn

    No free edition

Traditionalism 3

  1. 1931

    The Symbolism of the Cross

    René Guénon

    Uses the cross as a metaphysical symbol of multiple states of being.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  2. 1932

    The Multiple States of Being

    René Guénon

    One of his most rigorous metaphysical works.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  3. 1945

    The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times

    René Guénon

    His great critique of modern materialism and the reduction of quality to quantity.

    Primary source Notable

    No free edition

Modern witchcraft 6

  1. 1949

    High Magic's Aid

    Gerald Gardner

    A novel used to place ritual material into print before Gardner could write publicly about a living witch religion.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  2. 1954

    Witchcraft Today

    Gerald Gardner

    Gardner's first public nonfiction account of the religion he called the witch cult.

    Primary source Notable

    No free edition

  3. 1959

    The Meaning of Witchcraft

    Gerald Gardner

    A broader defence and historical interpretation of modern witchcraft.

    Primary source Minor

    No free edition

  4. 1973

    An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present

    Doreen Valiente

    An alphabetical introduction joining folklore, ritual practice and the history of modern witchcraft.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  5. 1975

    Natural Magic

    Doreen Valiente

    A practical account of magic using ordinary materials and local landscapes.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  6. 1978

    Witchcraft for Tomorrow

    Doreen Valiente

    Presents adaptable rites for readers without access to an initiatory coven.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

Late-modern and chaos magic 16

  1. 1969

    The Satanic Bible

    Anton Szandor LaVey

    The foundational statement of LaVeyan Satanism, combining polemic, ritual and an individualist ethic.

    Primary source Landmark

    No free edition

  2. 1972

    The Magical Revival

    Kenneth Grant

    The first of the Typhonian Trilogies, rereading Crowley and modern occultism through Tantra, dream and hidden correspondences.

    Primary source Notable also Thelema

    No free edition

  3. 1972

    The Satanic Rituals

    Anton Szandor LaVey

    A collection of group rites drawing freely on literary and historical sources.

    Primary source Notable

    No free edition

  4. 1977

    Nightside of Eden

    Kenneth Grant

    Develops a shadow-side reading of the Qabalistic Tree and the tunnels associated with it.

    Primary source Unmeasured also Thelema

    No free edition

  5. 1978

    The Book of Results

    Ray Sherwin's early practical account of sigils and results-oriented magic.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  6. 1978

    Liber Null

    Peter J. Carroll

    A stripped-down magical curriculum emphasising altered states or 'gnosis', sigils, belief manipulation and practical experimentation.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  7. 1982

    Psychonaut

    Peter J. Carroll

    Extends the approach into group magic, paradigms and broader magical theory.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  8. combined edition, 1987

    Liber Null & Psychonaut

    Peter J. Carroll

    The combined edition, and probably the defining textbook of chaos magic.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  9. 1992

    Liber Kaos

    Peter J. Carroll

    Pushes his magical theories in increasingly mathematical and cosmological directions.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  10. 1993

    Prime Chaos

    Phil Hine

    Moves beyond beginner sigil magic toward ritual construction, group work and more developed practice.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  11. 1994

    Outer Gateways

    Kenneth Grant

    A late synthesis of Typhonian magic, dream, fiction and extra-human intelligence.

    Primary source Unmeasured also Thelema

    No free edition

  12. 1995

    Condensed Chaos

    Phil Hine

    Probably the most accessible introduction to chaos magic.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  13. 1995

    PsyberMagick

    Peter J. Carroll

    A playful, compressed collection of advanced chaos-magical ideas.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  14. 1996

    The Pseudonomicon

    Phil Hine

    Applies chaos-magical thinking to Lovecraftian imagery — illustrating the willingness to use a fictional symbolic system without requiring belief that it is historically or...

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  15. 2008

    The Apophenion

    Peter J. Carroll

    Continues his later speculative system.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition

  16. 2010

    The Octavo

    Peter J. Carroll

    Further development of the same speculative cosmology.

    Primary source Unmeasured

    No free edition