Visual Magick: A Manual of Freestyle Shamanism

Having read several books on "high magick" I started looking for a good introduction to shamanism. This book was exactly what I hoped for: A detailed guide for an alternative mode of thinking, being and acting, written from the authentic life experiences of an avid life long practitioner. A big thing for me about magical books is what promises they DO NOT make, this book does not offer cheap transformations or measureable/material results. It lays out different paths for you to follow to develop the calling that you feel. I found it a very enriching read and reccommend it to anyone interested in the topic of shamanism. Shamanism this day and age has come to be synonomous with psychoactive substance use, this book has none of that, it is another thing I appreciate.

I was looking for a different perspective about modern shamanism, and after reading some reviews about this book, I decided to give it a try. Visual Magick is a treasure chest filled with pearls of wisdom like no other book I have read before. Fries' tone made me feel like I had walked right in the middle of a conference taught by him. He provides insights about several aspects of magick that are invaluable to beginners and seasoned practitioners alike. However, it may be difficult for beginners, since there is no general introduction to magick before starting with sigil magick in Chapter 1. This is how the book is organized: Preface Chapter 1 The Seed - How is the sigil made? Chapter 2 The Ritual - How do we transmit the sigil? Chapter 3 'Automatic Drawing' Chapter 4 Sigils, Sex and Beyond Chapter 5 Visualization - Waking the senses - Exercise one - Magick requires good imagination - Exercise one - in the wild Chapter 6 Access to Imagination - What have the astral doorways and the god forms in common? - Exercise two - banishing and invocation - My dream of being x - An Approach To Colour - Exercise three - what colours may reveal Chapter 7 Imagination and Prayer - Cup meditation - Invoking the elements - Invoking earh: an example - The cup meditation in a group Chapter 8 Mandala Building - A personal mandala - Connecting ideas to the plants - Tree and plant lore - Smaller plants Chapter 9 Spirits of Nature - Exercice four: creative hallucination - Exercise five: shape shifting - Earthing Chapter 10 Waking the Beasts - Exercise six - waking the beasts Chapter 11 Coming to Earth - What do you do with it? Bibliography and Index The book feels disjointed on first glance, but once I got past Chapter 4, I knew it wasn't an ordinary book. In this book, Jan Fries shares his experience and wisdom about his magickal practice. I definitely want to read it more than once to make sure I haven't missed something that may be important to me.

This is my first time reading a book by Jan Fries and let me tell you that I am hooked. This author speaks to me in a way that other authors just can't .Maybe because he is the only one that is writing the truth. His exploration into Visual Magick starts off with sigils, those seeds or pods of information that grow into or manifest into the fruition of our true will. Sigils were first popularized by Austin Osman Spare. The idea is to let the sigil, once you have made it enter into your subconscious or deep mind. From their the subconscious will work on it making your wish a reality, that is if it is in accordance with your true will. Sigil working may shake things up a bit. In order to become real the subconscious may force you to change, change your view about yourself or something else quite earth shattering. The ego, which likes to control, is quite uneasy with this. To get past the ego and let the sigil slip into the subconscious may require physical exhaustion or a crisis. I will take the exhaustion. The ego or conscious mind limits us in many ways. It block our creativity and deludes us into thinking we are less then what we really are. This is why ordinary people do extraordinary things when they are possessed by some spirit. In reality this just another one of their many selves stepping up to the plate. The ego loses control. The Gods,totems and demons are all reflections of our deep mind. They are not seperate from us. Jan Fries gives a thorough explanation on how to invoke a trance , do automatic writing, art and mandala making. This is the next level of chaos magic. It will open your mind and new vistas. I have got to read more of this author.

Bought it for the visualization part and got more content than just visualization. Some sigil techniques (some being very useful), some trance techniques, some mandala-building techniques, a bit of evocation, invocation, trance... It's very well-rounded, I liked it. If you're the type to go out into the woods and elaborate some frenzy rituals, you'll get more out of this book. Overall it's a good complement to other practical books, especially for its refreshing take on magick (and critique of "traditional" monotony)

It arrived quicker than I expected. Interesting read, some fresh ideas to me. Very satisfied.

Un libro de explicaciones claras y concisas de la práctica Neochamanica y algo de Magia del Caos.

I liked the authors style of writing and there are some interesting points in the book. It is a book that I am glad I read and you can not always say that about books

It has some interesting methods described in the book but I haven't been enthusiastic enough to try many of them out. Didn't really have the need to. I feel like revisiting this book now)