{"id":317,"date":"2011-01-08T11:47:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-08T11:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/the-book-of-english-magic\/"},"modified":"2011-01-08T11:47:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-08T11:47:00","slug":"the-book-of-english-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/the-book-of-english-magic.html","title":{"rendered":"The Book of English Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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Perhaps it is because I started reading it on vacation in New Orleans, but my first impression of The Book of English Magic<\/i><\/a> is that it is a magical travelogue \u2013 a guidebook describing the important places to go, history to investigate, people to get to know, and sights to see. It doesn\u2019t give you an in-depth look at any of them, but it does tell you enough for you to figure out what you want to do first and what can wait for later.<\/p>\n

The Book of English Magic<\/i> was written by OBOD<\/a> Chosen Chief Philip Carr-Gomm<\/a> and Sir Richard Heygate, who this review<\/a> says is \u201ca documentarian and author who studies \u2018alternative worlds\u2019.\u201d It begins with the preface \u201cof all the countries in the world, England has the richest history of magical lore and practice.\u201d The first chapter covers magic\u2019s \u201cancient roots\u201d but it explores those roots through early antiquarians such as John Aubrey<\/a>, who first surveyed Avebury<\/a> and the study of ley lines and dowsing. The history of the Druids covers in 14 pages what Professor Ronald Hutton<\/a> covered in a 491 page book<\/a>. The chapter on Anglo-Saxon magic leans on Tolkien. <\/p>\n

Other chapters cover the Arthurian legends, shamanism, alchemy, Freemasons and Rosicrucians, and such magical notables as John Dee, Aleister Crowley, Gerald Gardner, and Ross Nichols. <\/p>\n

Each chapter includes a description of the material it covers, sidebars on key people involved, interviews with contemporary experts and\/or practitioners, suggestions to \u201cread about this period in fiction,\u201d recommendations for things to do and see (some of which are best suited for those who actually live in England and some of which can be done anywhere) and a listing of books and websites for reference on the subject.<\/p>\n

This is a perfect book for someone who has tired of introductory \u201cWicca 101\u201d books and who wants to learn about the many sources of contemporary Pagan and magical beliefs and practices. For many years I\u2019ve recommended Hutton\u2019s Triumph of the Moon<\/i><\/a> for this, but I\u2019ve had few takers \u2013 it\u2019s a serious work of serious history and it isn\u2019t particularly easy to read (literally \u2013 it\u2019s set in what looks to be an 8-point font). The Book of English Magic<\/i> is far more reader-friendly and far more beginner-friendly.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t think it\u2019s for beginners only. Because of its breadth, there is something here for everyone. I\u2019ve been doing this for 18 years now and there was plenty that was new to me \u2013 most notably the chapter on Dr. John Dee, the astrologer and confident of Queen Elizabeth I. And I found several places I wish I had gone when I was in London in 2007, most notably Treadwell\u2019s Books<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Book of English Magic<\/i> was a pleasure to read and will remain on a close shelf for ready reference.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps it is because I started reading it on vacation in New Orleans, but my first impression of The Book of English Magic is that it is a magical travelogue \u2013 a guidebook describing the important places to go, history to investigate, people to get to know, and sights to see. It doesn\u2019t give you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Book of English Magic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Perhaps it is because I started reading it on vacation in New Orleans, but my first impression of The Book of English Magic is that it is a magical\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/the-book-of-english-magic.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Book of English Magic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Perhaps it is because I started reading it on vacation in New Orleans, but my first impression of The Book of English Magic is that it is a magical\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/the-book-of-english-magic.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-01-08T11:47:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_cpRXT6ZSHTw\/TSiiWImUOLI\/AAAAAAAAAkA\/f6T2rxJuQYg\/s320\/Book+of+English+Magic.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/the-book-of-english-magic.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/the-book-of-english-magic.html\",\"name\":\"The Book of English Magic\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-01-08T11:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-01-08T11:47:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"Perhaps it is because I started reading it on vacation in New Orleans, but my first impression of The Book of English Magic is that it is a magical\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/the-book-of-english-magic.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/the-book-of-english-magic.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/the-book-of-english-magic.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Book of English Magic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. 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