Magical Identity by Taylor Ellwood

May 13, 2014 at 12:22 pm (Academic/Journalistic Approaches, Experimental magic, Magical Theory, Metamorphic Magic/Conscious Evolution, Psychology)

Magical Identity: An Exploration of Space/Time, Neuroscience, and Identity
Taylor Ellwood
Megalithica Books, 2012
252 pages

Reviewed by Selah

Taylor Ellwood’s Magical Identity is a important book for an occult library. Instead of giving us ways to change the world, it furthers the discussion he started in Inner Alchemy to how we can change our inner world (aka our selves)). In his introduction, Bill Whitcomb says, “Much of Magical Identity is concerned with identity; defining the other, defining the self, and redefining the boundaries between the two.” Ellwood’s main focus is how identities are made and how the occult magician can harness neuroscience, psychology, and elements of space/time to re-create oneself. Sounds rather big, right? I went into reading the book hoping that the book would help me change the way I saw myself.

Unfortunately, Taylor’s writing is way too academic. The book bogs down the practical exercises in with tons of in-depth theory. There are paragraphs that run on for a long time and it took a lot of time to get through them. Sometimes Ellwood’s definitions don’t align with what he is saying. While he mentioned that he contradicts himself in this book, I feel that a book needs to have a solid ground to help the reader along. It also doesn’t help that he tries to be all inclusive and overuses he/she or him/her.

There are a lot of great exercises in this book but you have to wade through many pages of definitions, lecture, and clunky sentences to understand how to apply the ideas to one’s life.

Three pawprints out of five.

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A Magical Life, Volume 1 by Taylor Ellwood

January 2, 2014 at 9:11 am (Alchemy, Experimental magic, Magical Theory, Metamorphic Magic/Conscious Evolution, Pop culture, Sex Magic)

A Magical Life: The Magical Journal of Taylor Ellwood Volume 1
Taylor Ellwood
Megalithica Books, 2013
344 pages

Reviewed by Nicky

A Magical Life: The Magical Journal of Taylor Ellwood, as the title suggests, is a compilation of the first three years of Taylor Ellwood’s magical blog. The blog covers events from his personal life, discusses books he is working on and includes musings of a spiritual and philosophical nature. This particular volume includes posts from 2008 until 2010. The book is divided into three parts, one per year with each entry or post divided by date and subject.

I began reading Taylor’s blog a small while ago and so was interested to read earlier entries. I am pleased to say that, overall, I was not disappointed with this book.

On a personal level, the reader could clearly see Taylor changing as he wrote. His demeanour differed noticeably when working with different elements, as he himself pointed out. When working on the element of Love, he was more emotional. When working with the element of Emptiness, his energy seemed slower and more depressed. When working through Time, it became more frenetic. It was fascinating to see how apparent these changes were. Even so, Taylor never hits you over the head with his emotional or spiritual development, it’s simply something that seeps into his words. The fact he was able to convey so much so subtly is the sign of a skilled writer.

On a philosophical level, Taylor’s musings often made me stop and think. Throughout the blog, Taylor often discussed relationships and honesty, analysing his own relationships and offering opinions based on what has worked best for him. I found his post on love magic toward the end of the volume especially worth reading, as well as his discussion of sex magic versus sex for sensation or distraction. I also agree strongly with Taylor’s assertion that to receive something, you must give something in return. My absolute favourite post came toward the end, entitled The Proof of Your Success. I highly recommend it.

Looking outwardly, Taylor included some great social commentary on the Pagan community and its general beliefs and practices. I found his thoughts on Aleister Crowley and the power – or, perhaps, lack thereof – of the Gods to be particularly pertinent. The post on President Bush as a negative manifestation was especially intriguing and his assertion that politics, that activism, can be something that is worked on internally rather than externally resonated deeply with me.

With all that excellent content, this book still had some areas that could have been improved.

One thing that slowed my reading down is that subjects jump a lot. Although the book maintains a consistent overall feel throughout, often I’d read something about a personal event, then go to something deeply philosophical, to something very spiritual, to something very practical. I felt I might enjoy it more if reading it as originally posted on his blog, where I could use tags and archives to follow my interests. The arrangement of the book sometimes gave me the feeling of “mood whiplash.” Sometimes it would take me a while to “recover” before I could read the next post.

Some posts were difficult to understand out of context. A paragraph or editor’s note here and there may have helped explain the context in these instances. I’m sure long term fans would get it but “newbies” such as myself may be confused.

Finally, this book is also a very meaty, dense book. I welcome any and all in depth content for Pagans but it did take me a long time to get through it. I think this was partly a formatting issue. The volume might have been better as a “best-of,” with a selection of the strongest posts or presented as a volume per year or two years; an entire three years in one is a lot to take in.

Overall, this is a very good book. It’s full of lots of great insights and it was lovely to watch emotional growth that has been deliberately sought after. Though this is not at all a light or quick read and there are some mood whiplash issues, it’s definitely worth a read.

Four and a half paw prints out of five.

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