What Magic Is This?

Perhaps the most notorious esoteric secret society of all time, the Rosicrucians still inspire enormous amounts of mystery and interest to this day. Yet what is going on with the Rosicrucians exactly…

For more than 60 years in the late 19th century and early 20th century, a New Religious Movement known as Spiritualism swept across the Western World. Everyone from famous authors to housewives took …

As far as books of Magic throughout history, perhaps the most notorious of these is The Picatrix. Originally titled in Arabic as Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm or the Goal of the Wise, it is a very large tome of Ta…

You enter a darkened room. There's beautiful artwork on the walls, many books, and the place is absolutely filled with decks of cards of all kinds. A single figure sits there, shuffling a small deck …

The image of a witch or a warlock creeping through a dark forest collecting herbs, leaves and branches and stuffing them in a pouch is one that we are all familiar with. And with good reason! Materia…

There is no other author whose works have been brought up both on the show, and in the show notes more than Gary Lachman. Gary has stated that his work is about the Evolution of Consciousness and man…

The concept of "Magic" within the Jewish world is a complex and fascinating one. Many people when they look at the Western Esoteric and Magical tradition will say that many of the elements of it take…

Monoliths exist. The Occult and Esotericism in the West has many, but there are only a handful that almost everyone who calls themselves a seeker knows and will cite by name. One of them was written …

Through the ages, many branches of esoteric thought have spoken of a Perennial Philosophy; an original wisdom from which all wisdom comes. For many, Ancient Egypt was seen as the place where a certai…

The movement of people from the German speaking areas of Europe to the Americas brought many things. In Pennsylvania, many new customs and traditions formed, including a sort of Folk Magic. Taking it…

Over the last 2 years, the one question I get asked more than any other single question from listeners is "How do I get started doing Magic?" To start the year off right, I would like to provide a fe…

In the last 30 years, a shining example of the delicious mix of Magic and Creativity within comic books has been exemplified by the creature that is Grant Morrison. It seems like every superhero that…

For many, the most influential and austere Grimoire of Magic from the Islamicate world is the Shams al-Ma'arif or the Sun of Knowledge. Inside this notorious book are many Magic Squares which combine…

Something which is often talked of in magical circles, but not greatly understood- is Gnosticism and those who were called Gnostics. These Gnostics were those that valued personal experience of God; …

Something which touches every person on this planet is illness; at some point each and every one of us will get sick. How we heal and what medicines we use has changed drastically throughout the ages…

It's hard not to bump up against the Great Beast at some point when doing magic in the 21st Century. So many aspects of Western Occultism owe Crowley a debt in some way or another. Yet as time goes o…

The statement "Aleister Crowley was a complicated figure" is a vast understatement. Depending on who is delivering the message, he can be either a wise teacher pointing to enlightenment and truth, or…

Without a doubt the one figure that comes to mind for many when the word Occult and/or Magic is mentioned- is Aleister Crowley. He is a monumental figure and the modern occult still resides in his sh…

Happy Crowleymas! A short episode detailing what's going to be happening over the Next month on What Magic is This?  Grab your robes and Books of Law, we're going over the one Magician that everyone …

If Western Magic is to have one document that many consider to be foundational and essential- that would be the Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. The Three Books are Agr…