An excellent compilation on the history of magic with in-depth details about each doctrine.

Despite being a serious topic, there were some humorous bits such as passage " He took his leave of life (or at least of Sicily) by jumping into a volcano, leaving his sandals on the edge of the crater. "

There were also gruesome details in regards to the Dark Ages which were crude yet faithful to the incidents.

The excerpt on Kabbalah was an eye-opener and there were tidbits I wasn't even aware of such as Socrates dabbling into occultism.

Planetary magic, although not my favorite topic, was explained in a perfectly easy to grasp concept. Their strict timing perfectly laid out.

The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage: One of the authors touches upon a very complex ritual as detailed in the works of Abramelin. While I was not entirely aware of the operations and rituals (as I found the old work to be confusing), I found the piece concise, informational and straight to the point. It was a concrete dissection of the ritual of summoning the higher Angel, leaving almost no room for vagueness.

The ending chapter was a bit anticlimactic for me as the author splits between a series of stories and realistic facts. The story took me away from what was being discussed and it was a bit of an awkward passage into finishing the book. That was my only caveat.

I would have loved to receive the full copy for a more in-depth review but overall, it was an enjoyable albeit rushed experience. Don't get me wrong. The book is not half-baked but I flew through it and was left craving more.

What an amazing book. So many authors who have so much to teach. I learned so much. It is a one of a kind book with learned people who are willing to share. Thank you all so much. This is a book the should be on everyone 's book shelf as it is something the you will want to reread.. I appreciate the time and information that is in this book. I received this book from Net Galley and Llewellyn Publishing for a honest review that I will be recommending to all my friends.

This book is really fascinating and is a great reference source for the history of magical workings. It covers topics from several other authors and I really enjoyed this book. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

Just a remarkable book. Wonderful explanations of rituals and the history behind them. A great compilation and a must-have for anyone seriously interested in magick.

Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick features the work of many well-known and learned magicians. Each author writes on their own area of expertise within the interrelated domains of Hermeticism ceremonial magic, ritual, and western occult traditions as a whole.

With authors such as Aaron Leitch and Dr. David Shoemaker, I knew that I wanted to read this book from the moment I first heard about it. I myself spent roughly five years working with the ceremonial magical tradition of Thelema before ultimately deciding it was not the path for me.

After that, I returned to practicing witchcraft in lieu of Thelemic ritual. Yet, I’d be lying if I said that my ceremonial years taught me nothing, and, in particular, the astrological/celestial knowledge I gained during that period stuck with me.

So, despite being a witch, I approached reading Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick with enthusiasm. I have a great amount of respect for the writers of this book, many of whom I recognize as leaders in their particular magical specialties.

Since the mid-2010s, magic as a whole seems to be experiencing a renaissance. With this has come a great degree of new scholarship, new voices, and new perspectives in all areas.

I’m of the opinion that it’s high time for this resurgence to include the greater syncretization of “high” ceremonial practices and the so-called “low magic” of witchcraft. In this direction, I believe it’s beneficial for most witches to have some familiarity with ceremonial magic and its history.

I think this book is an especially timely avenue in that direction. Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick should have a place on many witches’ shelves, and provides much-needed historical context for the concepts it describes.

It’s unfortunate, but “complete” will always be a misnomer when we’re discussing topics like this. Still, this book does the best job at providing a “complete” look at ceremonial traditions that I’ve seen so far. Any number of the chapters in this book could easily expand to fill an entire volume all on its own.

Indeed, most of the authors featured have written their own separate books on their areas of expertise. These would make for excellent further reading for a student following the introduction provided by Complete Book of Ceremonial Magick.

Do not expect much practical instruction from this book, however. Almost all of the separate works it includes (by different authors) focus on contextualizing ceremonial magic from an historical perspective.

You will not find the plethora of exercises most have come to expect from occult texts. This doesn’t detract from the overall value of the book, though. As I see it, there are plenty of “how-to” manuals out there for both ceremonial magic and general occult practices. With so few texts really exploring the history and culture of these beliefs, this book fills a much-needed vacuum.

Several chapters are likely to be of particular interest to witches. The first one (written by Sam Webster) which focuses on historical precursors to the Western ceremonial tradition, will interest pagans due to its focus on pre-Christian magical traditions.

There’s even a chapter, by John Michael Greer, exclusively focused on ceremonial magic in polytheistic traditions today! While I tend towards a more animist than polytheistic perspective, I know many witches will love this part, and find it inspiring.

David Rankine’s chapter on Planetary Magic leaves little to be desired and functions as an excellent introduction to the proactive side of astrology. My own practice, albeit witchcraft-centric, draws heavily from astrology and the celestial spheres, so anything about that will naturally interest me.

Stephen Skinner’s chapter on spirit evocation will prove useful for anyone preparing to dip into the Goetia, but doesn’t discuss other spirits terribly much. While Goetic techniques will always be near and dear to my heart, after reading Skinner’s chapter, I couldn’t help but want his perspective on other spirits, too.

I give this book four out of five stars. It’s a great contextualization of ceremonial magic and will no doubt be wonderful for beginners. Witches who’ve little knowledge of ceremonial magic can easily pick up this book to gain much-needed historical, cultural, and conceptual information about the phenomenon.

I need to admit, though, that little in this book was new to me, and I don’t think it’ll be terribly helpful for those already knee-deep in ceremonial magic. Great as an overview, though, and plenty of supplemental texts exist to read next!

A selection of different information by a few authors. Nice collection of topics and people. Over 300 pages to get a lot of information.

Was very surprised to find this book written like a text book with footnotes, graphs, images, and highlighted sections. Anyone really interested in the history of magic would enjoy this book, otherwise it is a bit dry to just sit and read.

After reading this book I'm still not sure what Magick means or entails, without it being Ceremonial. But, I've learned quite a lot as is. It was a most interesting read and I, generally, love to learn all about the history of Mysticism.

Notes for publisher:
What disappointed me were; all the tables and figures that were scrambled into a mess (Kindle format); plenty of typos like Tuture instead of Future and at one point 33,000 BCE when I think they meant 3,300 BCE as mentioned before, also "serious" somewhere should actually be "series", there was also "skyring", when it should be "scrying" like the next author spells it (correctly); some sentences need a copyeditor as well (to keep it professional); and more mistakes with the format like the tables and figures I mentioned, but also footnotes that on Kindle end up mid-screen and random "v"'s that separate the paragraphs.

I had expected a bigger framework, and an even more in-depth study of all the magical workers over the world. If one is not already well-versed in the world of magic, mysticism or esoterica, I do not advice starting off with this book, though this sum-up was quite interesting nonetheless.
I'm most grateful for all the references to the original books and authors. That's what stuck with me the most, and in that sense it was indeed a complete book.

4.3 stars

I wish that this book was an actual master class in a university setting because there is A LOT of information here from authors that seem to have a plethora of knowledge to pull from. I was in awe of the amount of information in this book. I loved all the history that was included in this book and how each of these experts gave an analysis of the various texts and terms associated with magic. It was very well done.

Again, I seriously wished that there was a class that I could take or someplace that I could meet these individuals in person and just pick their brains. Anything metaphysical always intrigues me because there is something fascinating in the unknown. Even with evidence and, sometimes lack of evidence, that it makes it intriguing of the "how" and "why" something is. There is power in discovering the things that are tangible and the things that cannot be explained. I think that if I was around these amazing experts that I might just become even more of a believer than I already am.

It was an okay read and the information provided didn't stand out too much for me but then again I'm not a novice or beginner so this would be better for them. Otherwise I enjoyed the fact that many "experts" contributed to the novel by going in-depth with magick origins and practice. I must say it was informative and detailed, and because of that, I would definitely recommend this read for those who what to get a sense of where the practice originated from and to get a better understanding of of magick.

If you haven't read any books part of Llewellyn's Complete series, you are missing out on a wealth of information. I have several of them and this one is amazing for people interested in Magick. I've fairly new to this particular scene and have read several sources, but this book breaks down each subject extensively and provides a great depth of understanding.