Lughnasadh & Reading Lists

As per Lughnasadh, for the last couple of days I have been thinking about skillsets and characteristics that not only guide me into my own, but that help to define the person that I am. Also after a lunch meeting with a friend and mutual former grad student, she reminded me that I was right when I said I really felt this gaping hole in my life without research. I know for a fact that I will be returning to school someday, but that maybe its time for me to finally devote some time to figuring out what it is I want to study. Independent study isn’t an impossibility at the present. Being out of work could potentially afford me a good opportunity to do quite a bit of reading and writing.

The last few days of surfing the net for the Pagan related content did enable me to come across some bibliography lists, and scholarly reading lists. One of the lists got my attention. Its listed at the end of the post. The reason why its so fascinating to me is because within the past year or so when I approach the subject of spellwork I find myself explaining to others its mechanics and theory. I have to admit, I do enjoy reading through spell encyclopedias and thinking critically about what is happening in spellwork when considering what is involved, with the region from which it hails. This is a new plateau. A place I am kind of surprised to find myself at, but shouldn’t be considering it speaks volumes to the amount of time and focus I’ve sacrificed to my own personal study and practice. Simultaneously, being a firm believer in a kind of natural magic that is innate to the individual  – a practice that is without structure or form necessarily; without restrictions – I tend to not view that practice in terms of mechanics and theory, even though I’m aware that theory applies to all forms, all spectrums of spellwork. My brain tells me that will interacts through substances, sound, visualization, etc. to evoke change in the manifest world we live in. And yet, my soul sees the ethereal visions of magic as energy. While I don’t think that my mind and soul are perceiving different realities, there is definitely a sense of disconnect between in-ritual perception, and the mechanized description of what we experience when we are in the ‘zone’ so to speak.

http://www.geocities.com/hearthstoneshaven/spellcraft.html

Janet and Stewart Farrar, Spells and How They Work

Most useful for:	Intermediate students and beyond
Content:	Discusses magical theory and ethics; discusses psychic self-defense; describes various magical methods, including sex magic, the Cabala, talismans, spells of different historical periods and lands, folk magic, and healing, love, problem-solving, weather, and binding spells; provides planetary squares and magical alphabets.
Commentary:	This book shares many of the same qualities of Valiente’s Natural Magic–a general discussion of magical theory, a wide range of examples of traditional forms of spellwork. I particularly liked the chapter on “Coming Unstuck,” full of examples of failed spells and the reasons they may have failed. Again, not a book for the beginner, but a potentially valuable one for someone seeking out somewhat more advanced information than is commonly found elsewhere.

~ by tavthe on August 2, 2008.