The Elements of Spellcrafting: 21 Keys to Succesful Sorcery – Jason Miller
New Page Books, 2017, 9781632651204, 222pp.
“It doesn’t matter what I’m teaching them, or what level they’re at, this book will be essential reading for my students.”
When I said that, I realized in a lot of ways that is one of the highest compliments I could give a book. I don’t care what tradition they follow, this book will help.
The Elements of Spellcrafting is not your normal book on magick, and I don’t mean that as a cheesy hype line, it’s true. It’s one of the best books on magick I’ve read, and it contains no real spells or rituals, no meditations or exercises. It really is a book about magick, as a conceptual process, not as a how-to. It’s very much a meta-book in that sense, it’s advice on doing magick, that is intelligent and grounded. As my initial quote suggests, it doesn’t matter what someone is learning, what system, this book will help them think about their magick in a more effective manner. As such, this is not a book that can stand truly alone, if you don’t have a magickal practice, this won’t teach you one, but if you have one this will improve it.
The book contains “21 Keys to Successful Sorcery” as well as a bonus 7 keys for successful divination. These keys are advice, ways to reframe your magick, your practice, your goals. I’ve talked before about practical magick, the importance of doing magick for the big and amazing, but also the small and reasonable, how to reframe your magick to be the most efficient it can be, and that’s what this book is about. (Also another reason this will be required reading for my students is that many of the points Jason makes I already have to really hammer into some students, so a book to send them to will save me hassle)
Sorcerer Harold and Spirit Salphegor introduce each chapter
The 21 keys are divided into three groups of seven. Part 1 is “Setting up the Spell” and is all about the lead up to actually performing magick: how to create good magickal goals, opening your life up so it can be influenced, how to plan ahead and keep things flowing. Part 2 is “Execution” and is about performing the magick itself: practical use of magickal materia, enchanting big and small for the same goal, how to think about magick and the way it spreads and grows. Part 3 is “Advancing Your Craft” and that’s about looking at your magick and your life and taking it further: It contains how to honestly evaluate your success (something I often have criticised sorcerous folks in general for being horrible at), setting big goals and boosting your confidence through that, how to accept failed magick (and if you’re a sorcerer who thinks magick never fails either you’re not doing magick, or your goals are laughably small) and how to learn from those failures. Most chapters also end with a few related questions to get you thinking about your magick differently and beginning to see where and how you might be able to improve your work.
The book is written in Jason Miller’s normal straightforward and accessible style. It’s down to earth, but definitely not downplaying magick, it’s practical, but not limiting. Whether you’re a student or teacher, new or seasoned, if you want to become more successful and effective as a sorcerer I cannot recommend this book highly enough.