The Sorcerer S Handbook

Discover the power of magick with a book that changed the world, telling it all without the usual occult jargon. After sparking advancement on the "magickal path" for thousands of seekers in over two decades, Merlyn Stone's original underground classic "Book of Shadows" returns, revised and reissued, for a special 21st Anniversary presentation.

With this no-nonsense, practical guide, you can acquire the appropriate tools and find out how different kinds of magick work, how to use them properly, and how to protect yourself. Access your latent psychic ability, and perform rituals to find a soul mate, increase success, heal ailments, affect the weather, and more. With plenty of practice exercises and test sessions.

This alphabetical reference guide offers in-depth information on topics, terminology, and key figures from the history of sorcery and magic. Sorcery—the art of manipulating the supernatural forces that control the universe—has a long, rich, and fascinating legacy reaching back to ancient times. Any student or practitioner of this strange art will need a roadmap to its unique vocabulary and secret history. Drawn together from many different sources and presented in this book in simple terms are thousands of fascinating items relating to sorcery. Entries are arranged alphabetically and cross-indexed to provide ready access to the wide variety of materials associated with sorcery. Sorcery, as used in this book, embraces the precepts and practices through which men and women have sought to manipulate their universe.

The New York Times bestseller, now fully updated to include the complete seven-volume series. Who was the real Nicholas Flamel? How did the Sorcerer’s Stone get its power? Did J. K. Rowling dream up the terrifying basilisk, the seductive veela, or the vicious grindylow? And if she didn’t, who did? Millions of readers around the world have been enchanted by the magical world of wizardry, spells, and mythical beasts inhabited by Harry Potter and his friends. But what most readers don’t know is that there is a centuries-old trove of true history, folklore, and mythology behind Harry’s fantastic universe. Now, with The Sorcerer’s Companion, those without access to the Hogwarts Library can school themselves in the fascinating reality behind J. K. Rowling’s world of magic. Newly updated to include Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Sorcerer’s Companion allows curious readers to look up anything magical from the Harry Potter books and discover a wealth of entertaining, unexpected information. Wands and wizards, boggarts and broomsticks, hippogriffs and herbology, all have astonishing histories rooted in legend, literature, or real-life events dating back hundreds or even thousands of years. Magic wands, like those sold in Rowling’s Diagon Alley, were once fashioned by Druid sorcerers out of their sacred yew trees. Love potions were first concocted in ancient Greece and Egypt. And books of spells and curses were highly popular during the Middle Ages. From Amulets to Zombies, you’ll also learn: • how to read tea leaves • where to find a basilisk today • how King Frederick II of Denmark financed a war with a unicorn horn • who the real Merlin was • how to safely harvest mandrake root • who wore the first invisibility cloak • how to get rid of a goblin • why owls were feared in the ancient world • what really lies beyond the Veil • the origins of our modern-day “bogeyman,” and more. A spellbinding tour of Harry’s captivating world, The Sorcerer’s Companion is a must for every Potter aficionado’s bookshelf. The Sorcerer's Companion has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by any person or entity that created, published, or produced the Harry Potter books or related properties.

It began with a cannon blast. It ended with a world in chains. Rising from the darkness, a visionary order shakes back the cloak of superstition and raises the lamp of Reason. The fires of that lamp burn the magi of these Mythic Times, and now they unite to save the future of their Arts. Across the world, magick, faith and reason grapple in the twilight, while in the distance the witch-fires grow bright and hungry. Be a wizard. Be a priest. Be a dragon or dragon-slayer. Dance to the tune of a Renaissance revel. It's a hell of a time to be alive. The source on the craftsmen and engineers of the Dark Fantastic world.

"From the director of the famed MIT Media Laboratory comes an exhilarating behind the-scenes exploration of the research center where our nation's foremost scientists are creating the innovative new technologies that will transform our future"--