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Product Description
A good-humoured appreciation of the uses and abuses of magic, sorcery, and its spiritualist descendants. This is a guide to the realm of magic, with a long history from the birth of sorcery in Ancient Egypt to the infamous witch-trials in Scotland, including a comprehensive index from alchemy to zodiac. There is no better general introduction to magic, sorcery and the paranormal.
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TO-DAY is notable for a curious change in Western thought, or, properly, in a phase of Western thought, more appreciable by churchmen, theosophists, and other students of the Unseen than by the laymen. Read the first page
Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
TO-DAY is notable for a curious change in Western thought, or, properly, in a phase of Western thought, more appreciable by churchmen, theosophists, and other students of the Unseen than by the laymen. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the complete Romance of Sorcery by Sax Rohmer, as opposed to the individually published chapters from the book. The information about the various characters is the same sort of stuff you can find in any anthology of magic or biographies of the various figures included but what makes this volume worth reading is that it is by Sax Rohmer. The book reads with the style and pace of Rohmer's Fu Manchu stories and is much more enjoyable than some of the dull - and often ponderous and daftly-ominous - nonsense written on the likes of Nostradamus and Cagliostro. The stories of the various figures are detailed and the whole does what it sets out to do, which is to provide a comprehensive introduction to sorcery and the occult.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
A great read, but your wallet might disagree
12 Dec 2005
Format:Hardcover
Sax Rohmer is best known as the author of the Fu Manchu books, many of which have been made into films. However, he was also a historian of mysticism and the occult, and A Guide to Magic, Sorcery, and the Paranormal, which was first published almost 100 years ago, was the only non-fiction book Rohmer ever wrote. Through this work he wanted to tell the layman about his interest, and as a result of this he never digs very deep into his subjects, but throughout the book writes enough to make the reader interested and inspired to make his or her own research.
So what, then, is it that Rohmer writes about? Well, as the title says, magic, sorcery, and the paranormal, seen through a historical perspective, focusing on some of the most prominent characters ever to have explored the occult. Rohmer mentions, among other individuals, Michel de Notre Dame (also known as Nostradamus), Dr. John Dee, count Cagliostro, and founder of theosophy Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. It's very obvious that the book is indeed written to the layman, since Rohmer repeatedly assures his reader that he's not going to dig too deep into his subject matter, and except for a few instances he never offers any thorough description of rituals and methods.
There's not a complete lack of scepticism, but on the other hand, it's not very apparent, but then again, A Guide to Magic, Sorcery, and the Paranormal never claims to be a book by a skeptic for a skeptic. It's, just like the back of it says, an introduction to magic, sorcery, and the paranormal, but it's by far not the best introduction out there. There are tons of newer, better, and especially cheaper books available these days, but it was definitely worth reading and I truly did appreciate it.
But it's not a cheap experience, though. The price is quite high, and many people might find it a bit too much for a book that really doesn't have anything extraordinary to say. However, any serious collector of books about the occult should grab it immediately, and I'm very proud to have it in my bookshelf.
So what, then, is it that Rohmer writes about? Well, as the title says, magic, sorcery, and the paranormal, seen through a historical perspective, focusing on some of the most prominent characters ever to have explored the occult. Rohmer mentions, among other individuals, Michel de Notre Dame (also known as Nostradamus), Dr. John Dee, count Cagliostro, and founder of theosophy Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. It's very obvious that the book is indeed written to the layman, since Rohmer repeatedly assures his reader that he's not going to dig too deep into his subject matter, and except for a few instances he never offers any thorough description of rituals and methods.
There's not a complete lack of scepticism, but on the other hand, it's not very apparent, but then again, A Guide to Magic, Sorcery, and the Paranormal never claims to be a book by a skeptic for a skeptic. It's, just like the back of it says, an introduction to magic, sorcery, and the paranormal, but it's by far not the best introduction out there. There are tons of newer, better, and especially cheaper books available these days, but it was definitely worth reading and I truly did appreciate it.
But it's not a cheap experience, though. The price is quite high, and many people might find it a bit too much for a book that really doesn't have anything extraordinary to say. However, any serious collector of books about the occult should grab it immediately, and I'm very proud to have it in my bookshelf.
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