So the title that got you to click this thread is the name of the book.
Just like the NAP book, this book claims outrageous things. And on top of that, it also has those experience stories as well…These stories tbh pisses me off
Anyone tried the book? Does it work?
Thanks
Define “outrageous”, since for most people I know it is outrageous that an author says anything about magick stuff in a serious or positive way, so I don’t know your threshold of tolerance, mine is quite narrow actually
That is why I prefer books that are technical, like “this is this, this is done like this”. I appreciate stories when they are amusing and they actually contribute to the technical explanation, Lon Milo Duquette is great doing that, even though he uses fiction sometimes, but I cringe at those who try too hard to make their systems (and themselves) look cool, specially when their target audience will hardly like those things after growing up or after learning the stuff that was missing in the bag of chips that had more darkness than chips
This is the first time I read the title. The fact of books workings or not has to do, to a certain degree, with your own abilities and preferences when it comes to lore and practical work. I mean, I can give to any person I know any of the books I work with, and nothing magical would happen, just as with to a lot of people in this forum who struggle to get results despite supposedly having clear intentions and acting according to their Wills, which they don’t know, You can know if something is gonna work for you just by looking at what the proceedure requires and the instructions. If you are not open to use those materials nor to act that “theatre play”, and you can’t or you don’t know how to adapt it, then it won’t work until you feel like doing it
Thank you so much for your input
Marketing in any field is interestiing. This one is 10x weirder. I’d take all the anecdotes as signposts to scale about what could happen. I’ve had some results hit so hard they’re difficult to believe and putting them in a book would sound just like that stuff.
Then there’s EA’s branding. Cheesy as fuuuuuuuck yet his products all have substance. Namely the video ones, the books read like my journals with instructions. It feels honest every time so it’s a matter of taste. Kurtis is on another level in his writing. That’s the thing though, there’s lots of little skills that add up. My guess is the best occultists aren’t great marketers too so it can come off like that.
Just like the best football coaches are often built like a whale in a suit and the best guitarists aren’t usually great teachers.
I bet most of them do a money spell, look at their grimorie and think "lol I have tons of liked opinions on occult forums! I should write under the most fedora-neckbeard-school shooter pen name possible (like goddamn Corwin… Hargrove… …really?) and then take several key ideas already widely used and rebrand them under other ideas already used so they screw up google’s keyword rankings (calling sensory/evocation keys “pathworking” etc)
Internet marketing is the new gold rush, everyone on Amazon models the Gallery of Magick’s branding because the vast majority of their books have an aire of “I spent a lot of time refining this so it’s elegant yet not boastful, instructive yet there’s more to it than we spell out” (Gordon Winterfield leaves clues everywhere, like an ancient text).
It isn’t hard to invent a few spells, pay someone a few bucks on Fiverr for a cover and formatting, crank out a book for Amazon print and ship and then buy reviews/copies of your own book through proxies/a VPN to leave “Verified Purchaser” reviews telling people it’s amazing.
Most people see projects as quick cash and a vehicle to quit their job. Others view it as a mission they’d do anyway if they were financially free. That’s the difference. Anyone in between often has a publisher screwing with the presentation. I know this because I have self published with a marketing buddy and found myself cringing at certain things they wanted to do with a book I poured myself into. It’s the plight of the artist’s soul
Look further than the presentation and trust your gut, look for the purpose behind it all. If all you’re getting is a rehashed grimore with enns, another set of sensory correspondences, and a really cool looking cover then maybe your time is better spent on magick you already have. (For instance: How many top grade servitors do you have? The power is in the work)
If there’s a new approach entirely, spirits you haven’t heard of (even if they’re the authors servitors and their story is mere subterfuge), or even an entirely new current then maybe try it on. Everything on this forum is mere perspective within infinite possibility. Magick simply works, the rest of it is dressing it up differently and it’s about finding a pocket of power that hits way way harder than the rest for you. The rest is like comparing rappers, they’re all the same damn thing over the same beat used by everyone else. Find some whose nuance you like and roll with it
Or invent your own and sell it, I’ll see some of you on Amazon and know which camp you came from. It’s obvious whether it’s mission or an attempt at a vehicle to live one