Review: ABYSS: Daemonolatry Hymns for Ritual and Meditation

ABYSS is a CD produced Abyss and Reckless Recluse that I found though the good people who brought us The Complete Book of Demonolatry, DB Publishing. Just reading on the inside sleeve that the lyrics come from S. T. Dukante-Mallory, the daughter of Richard Dukante, and M.D. Delaney, a generational Demonolator and the author of Sanctus Quattuordecim. The vocals were provided by S. Connolly, the author of the above mentioned Complete Book of Demonolatry.

They are 12 tracks on the disc and it is only 13 minutes long but it finally allowed me to hear some hymns and some Enns in a voice other than my own! Oh, all the lyrics can be found in The Complete Book of Demonolatry

Positive: For something made in a home studio, I was impressed with the quality of the sound as well as most of the music and the vocal works. I liked how most of the hymns have a version with music and without music. I say most because 'Ave Rege Leviathan' is a choir piece and so has no music accompanying it. I totally loved the fact that there is a track with the elemantal Enns on it, finally I get to hear what they sound like (I will be updating my pronunciation guide soon)

Neutral: I didn't like the backing music to track 6 for Meleus De Quo Maga, the drum beat was too loud compared to the vocals for my taste.

Negative: A track list wasn't included so I had to make one up myself. Here it is for those who want it:

Track 1: Rite to Lucifer with music
Track 2: Rite to Lucifer without music
Track 3: Meditation with music
Track 4: Meditation without music
Track 5: Ave Rege Leviathan
Track 6: Meleus De Quo Mage with music
Track 7: Meleus De Quo Mage without musci
Track 8: Liturgy of Love with music
Track 9: Liturgy of Love without music
Track 10: Earth Meditations with music
Track 11: Earth Meditations without music
Track 12: Elemental Enns (Belial, Lucifer, Flereous, Leviathan, Satan)

Overall, I love this CD! I hope to hear more from Abyss in the future.

I rate it: 9.0/10

Book Review: The Art of Creative Magick

Yet another title from author S. Connolly, this one directed towards all magical paths and not just Demonolatry. It can be still used by Demonolators, in case you were wondering. In a nutshell this book is a book of permission, permission to do magic as you want to do magic and not being constrained to other methodologies. On to the review:

Positive: This book reads really easy and I found myself devouring it very quickly. It is divided into sections: 'Symbolic Aspects', 'Spiritual & Belief Aspects' and 'Purposeful Aspects'. The first section covers your ritual space, decorating it, rituals tools and creating talisman, amulets and sigils. The next section covers beliefs in magic, creating a person pantheon and invoking your god(s), with the last section covering rituals and spells.

As said before, this book really empowers its reader to do what feels right for them and create their own form of magic.

Neutral: There is no 'Contents' page and I only noticed that when I was writing this review.

Negative: I don't see this as negative, but I can see how some would: Creative Magick encourages people to practice magic in a way that works best for them. I'm sure some practitioners would see this as bad,

Over all, this is a small book that is big on advice.

I rate it: 8.0/10

Book Review: Sanctus Quattuordecim

Sanctus Quattuordecim, as you linguaphiles out there know, means (the) Sacred Fourteen. It is a book about sigils and as you can imagine, it has 14 of them contained within. These sigils have been supposedly passed on to the author's great-great-great-grandfather though ascension and are now being shared with us who have bought the book. On to the review:

Positive: 14 sigils might not seem like a lot but these sigils are pretty comprehensive in their scopes and help with everything from concentration and learning to purification and cleansing to separation and revenge. Along with each sigil is a list of correspondences from what Demons, plants, planets, colors, hour, day, numbers, stone, element, and metal are associated with each one.

Not just throwing out the sigils, the author also explains how they can be used. He mentions how to join or trine sigils, not just the ones discussed in the book. To finish it all off, he talks about 14 rituals that can be used with any of the 14 sigils.

Neutral: I'm not too incredibly happy with how the sigils are drawn in the book. They do show the sigils but they are kind of pixalated from being drawn what looks like freehand in MS Paint. In saying that, I probably couldn't have done better!

Negative: Nothing struck me negatively with this title. It was short but it was cheap so that didn't bother me.

Over all, the material in this book is designed to be used by people who already know the basics of Demonic Magic. You can learn all you will need to know about demonic magic in The Complete Book of Demonolatry and The Complete Book of Demonolatry Magic.

I rate it: 8.5/10

Book Review: Ater Votum

I've seen the book before online as a pdf and liked what was in it enough to buy a physical copy (there is something to be said to having something in your hands instead of on the screen). It says right on the cover that it is 'a daemonolatry pray book' but I found out that is was a little bit more

Positive: Twenty three prayers, one page of blessings, eighty four proverbs and the Al-Jilwah with commentary - all packed in within the covers of this book. It is a tiny little thing, the Ater Votum, but it took me some time to read it. Nearly everything gave me pause as I stopped to think about it.

I was really impressed with the Proverbs, which are supposed to be have found carved on Egyptian temples. These gave more the most pause as their meanings slowly soaked in.

This was my first time reading the Al-Jilwah, but it is far from my first time hearing about it. I'll save getting into for a later post, but I do have to say that is did provoke a thought or two. The commentary from S. Connolly gave greater dept to the text in my opinion.

Neutral: A few of the prayers didn't ring for me, but I doubt all the prayers will ring for all the people

Negative: I'm really pushed to find anything negative about this book. I guess at a stretch I could say that it was too short!

Overall, I've found a book that I'm going to find myself going back to, not for information, but more for inspiration. I like that in a book!

I rate it: 8.5/10

Book Review: Demonolatry Rites

This is a short little book that arrived today in the mail from www.lulu.com. Demonolatry Rites is, as you can guess, a book that contains rites, or rituals, from demonolatry. It is collected and edited from the lovely S. Connolly who you might recognize as the author of The Complete Book of Demonolatry. On to the review:

Positive: For such a short book it packs a punch and doesn't waste time getting to it. A two page introduction is all that is that is standing between the reader and twenty rites. I think that is worth repeating: twenty rites!

This book reveals a lot of information from many Demonolators private collections, everything from rites to the elemental Demons, creating talismans, curses, ridding yourself of previously held religious dogma to rituals to help you find love, protect your car and find lost items.

My favorite is called 'Pillars of the Sisters' and is a seven day rite to seven Demonesses. It is beautifully imaged and beautifully written.

Oh, and the book includes two Appendices that has some of the information held in other books that is great to have on hand in this one.

Neutral: There is a rite called 'To Learn Magick' that was just a tease. All the information to perform the rite is there but it was very short.

Negative: Nothing really except for my own petty want for more!

Overall, Demonolatry Rites is a great book that holds greater knowledge. I'm rating it in context: it is a book of demonolatry rites only, not something to for someone who knows nothing about demonolatry at all.

I rate it 9.0

Technorati Tags: Demonolatry

The Complete Book of Demonolatry

The Complete Book of Demonolatry marks my first order from http://www.lulu.com/, and I have to that I am satisfied with their service. I've mentioned elsewhere that lulu is a print of demand (POD)publisher so I was expecting a delay in getting the book since it had to be printed first. I ordered it on a Thursday night and it arrived a week later on Friday morning which made me quite happy. Anyway, onto the review:

Positive: The title of this book did not lie, this really is the complete book of demonolatry. It doesn't take it for granted that the reader knows anything about demonolatry so it starts from the beginning with a definition of demons and demonolatry, walks you through the history and then plunges right into the good stuff (not saying that the definitions and history isn't any good!) - the meat and potatoes of demon worship. The practicality of the book was quite amazing; an example - the book has a ritual where it has the practitioner sprinkle sand at the cardinal points and mentions that if you have carpet in your ritual chamber that it would be best just to sprinkle the sand into a bowl set at those points. I love it when the author of magical tomes live in the real world!

Neutral: The book delves a bit into Hermetics. While the author mentions that Hermetics is important in demonolatry, it still left me a little perplexed. I didn't quite get it but it wasn't too put out since the book directed me towards some good resources to learn more.

Negative: I don't have the book in front of me as I write this review so I can't give specifics, but I'm pretty sure I spotted one typo somewhere near the end of the book. If you are like me and are not bothered by one typo then just forget about this section.

Overall, this title was a great read packed with more information that I thought possible.

I rate it 9.5/10

Technorati Tags: Demonolatry

My book wishlist

I thought I'd compile a list of the books that I want to buy, mainly on the subjects of Demonolatry and Satanism. I'd like to buy at least one book every payday so I can expand my library and learn more than I can online. If you have any comments on my list, please don't hesitate to post them. If you really think I should move a book up my list or drop it completely, then I want to hear from you.

I've recently been acquainted with http://www.lulu.com/ and have found a lot of books that I can't find on Amazon.com, however, the books that I can find on amazon tend to be cheaper and will ship immediately. I guess I should mention that lulu.com is a POD, or print of demand. If you don't know what that means, POD's don't keep stock of the books they have but rather print off a copy when it is needed. That is my understanding at least.

Anyway, here is the list:

The Complete Book of Demonolatry by S. Connolly

I've already purchased this off of lulu and it is being shipped at the moment. I'm excited to receive it since it is supposed to have all the information someone new, like me, needs to know about Demonolatry. I've actually searched for other books on Demonolatry and I can't find anything that is more complete that this title. I guess in this case the title says it all! The stats say it has over 402 pages and weighs in at 1.2 lbs. so it is hefty enough for me to believe that it is chock full of goodies. Its average rating is 5/5 on Amazon and 6/7 on lulu.

Hexagradior - The Bible of Magic by Nemo

This book says that it explains the essence of magic, how some magic works and other magic doesn't. That sounds like a lofty claim but after looking through some of the reviews on amazon (it's rated 4.5/5) my curiosity has been aroused.

Demonolatry Rites by S. Connolly

Another title from S. Connolly, this time giving more Demonolatry rites. I'm interested in reading this so I can have a broader collection of rites so when I'm ready I can work up my own. This book only has 106 pages but it says it has 20 rites and is nicely priced.

Goetic Demonolatry by Ellen Purswell

I own a copy of the Goetia and I've always been intrigued; this seems to be the next step in learning how to work with the Goetic demons. This is a small book but it has a nice and small price tag too.

Sanctus Quattuordecim by M. Delaney

The description says it is as much as book on sigil magic and it is on demon magic. The chaote in my is very excited about that. This book seems to delve a little into generational demonolatry since it says that the sigils in the book were received 150 years ago by the authors family. Another small book for a small price.

Luciferian Witchcraft by Michael Ford

The product description says that it is a 'complete grimoire of Left Hand Path initiation'. That grabbed my attention right there. It has gotten 4.5/5 from 15 reviews. I've heard a few things about the author and so I wanted to check out at least one of his titles. I went with the best reviewed and biggest: this book has 504 pages and comes it at 2.5 lbs. I hope size counts in this case.

Grimorium Verum by Joseph H. Peterson

'Grimorium Verum is one of the most notorious handbooks of black magic', with an introduction like that how can I not want to buy it. I've not actually read a lot on this title as I have on others so I'm not that excited about it at the moment. Maybe once it moves up my list I might decide more on whether to buy it or to drop it. Any feedback would be appreciated!

That is my list so far. I'm sure I have missed a lot of titles that I should look into, but once some books start coming in I'm sure I'll be checking out their bibliographies for more books to read.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, if you have any comments on this list, positive or negative, please let me know. I'd like to save some money by not buying something not worth it.

Technorati Tags: Theistic Satanism Demonolatry

Book Review: The Complete Book of Demonolatry Magic

I recently acquired The Complete Book of Demonolatry Magic by J. Thorp. Apparently it has been taken out of print by the request of the author, so I'm counting myself lucky that I managed to get my hands on a copy. It is a very interesting book and well worth the $17 dollars I paid for it.

Positive: This book is chock full of information and I'm betting that I'll keep coming back to as a source of reference. It has over 28 rituals that cover a wide range, from money to lust, and from legal workings to hexing. The rituals begin by laying out what materials you will need and then give you the method to complete it. The book touches on a vast area of magical subjects including divination, sex magic, cursing, blood magic, sigils. The reference section contains the Enns for calling forth demons along with the corresponding sigils. By far my most favorite section was the one on how to make oleums and incenses, it included a long list of materials needed to make a lot of different oleums and incenses. It has inspired me to learn more.

Neutral: The book, while giving me a lot of information, left me realizing I have a lot of gaps in my knowledge of Demonolatry. This is by far NOT the authors/books fault but more my own for not buying The Complete Book of Demonolaty first. I'm operating on the assumption that most of the reference material in The Complete Book of Demonolatry Magic will be more use to me once I've learned more.

Negative: The author is far from the best writer on occult material. I'm not too fond on her casual tone and I loathes the grammatical mistakes that I noticed. Now I'm far from the best at grammar and my writing leaves a lot to be desired. I guess I expect more from someone who is published.

Despite any negativity I had with this book, I still found it accessible and worthy enough to read it completely in less than 2 days.

I rate it: 7/10

Technorati Tags: Demonolatry