{"product_id":"the-black-arts-50th-anniversary-edition-isbn-9780399500350","title":"The Black Arts (50th Anniversary Edition)","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe Classic Study of the Occult Reintroduced in a 50th Anniversary Edition\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Black Arts\u003c\/i\u003e is a fascinating and wonderfully readable exploration of the practice, theory, and underlying rationale of magick and occultism in all its branches, including witchcraft, spells, numerology, astrology, alchemy, kabbalah, tarot, charms, and summoning and control of spirits. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis edition features a 50th anniversary introduction by historian of alternative spirituality Mitch Horowitz, who frames the book for a new generation of readers.“We are all black magicians in our dreams, in our fantasies, perversions, and phobias... In \u003ci\u003eThe Black Arts\u003c\/i\u003e, Richard Cavendish has not only gathered many fascinating facts from the past and from our own time; he has also presented the philosophy of the black magicians and gives many excellent interpretations of their symbols and rites. He has done all this in such a concise and readable style that the reader is hardly aware of how much effort has gone into this work and how original are many of its ideas and interpretations ...Works such as Cavendish’s are a reminder that we are living in an era of amnesia. We have forgotten those vital truths that man once knew and by whose strength he lived.” —\u003cb\u003eIsaac Bashevis Singer, \u003ci\u003eBook Week\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “In \u003ci\u003eThe Black Arts\u003c\/i\u003e, Cavendish captures the human striving and universality behind the magical search. He also demonstrates virtuosity for explaining ancient and more recent rituals, rites, and esoteric philosophies with splendid clarity … It stands nearly alone as a simultaneously comprehensive and inviting guide to the world of pre-modern esoterica.”—\u003cb\u003eMitch Horowitz, from the new introduction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eRichard Cavendish\u003c\/b\u003e (1930-2016) was a highly regarded and widely published British historian of magic, myth, and the occult. Educated at Oxford, Cavendish is best remembered for \u003ci\u003eThe Black Arts\u003c\/i\u003e (1967) and for editing the acclaimed 24-volume \u003ci\u003eMan, Myth \u0026amp; Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural\u003c\/i\u003e, published from 1970 to 1972.Chapter One\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The World of the Black Magician\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The driving force behind black magic is hunger for power. Its      ultimate aim was stated, appropriately enough, by the serpent in      the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were afraid that if they ate the      fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil they would die.      But the serpent said 'Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know      that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and      ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil'.* In occultism the      serpent is a symbol of wisdom, and for centuries magicians have      devoted themselves to the search for the forbidden fruit which      would bring fulfilment of the serpent's promise. Carried to its      furthest extreme, the black magician's ambition is to wield      supreme power over the entire universe, to make himself a god.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Black magic is rooted in the darkest levels of the mind, and this      is a large part of its attraction, but it is much more than a      product of the love of evil or a liking for mysterious      mumbo-jumbo. It is a titanic attempt to exalt the stature of man,      to put man in the place which religious thought reserves for God.      In spite of its crudities and squalors this gives it a certain      magnificence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The great fascination of magic is in the type of thought on which      it is based. Magical thinking is not random, it has its own laws      and its own logic, but it is poetic rather than rational. It leaps      to conclusions which are usually scientifically unwarranted, but      which often seem poetically right. It is a type of thinking which      has been prevalent all through the history of Europe, which lies      behind huge areas of our religion, philosophy and literature, and      which is a major guide-post to the regions of the spiritual and      the supernatural, the regions of which science has nothing to say.      There is no necessity to accept it, but it rings many a far-away,      summoning bell in the depths of the mind.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It is natural to think of magic as a thing of the past, which must      have withered to dust under the hard light of modern science and      scepticism, but, in fact, this is not the case. Magical thinking      is still deeply embedded in the human mentality. Magic has been      practised throughout European history, down to and including the      present day, and it has attracted more interest and support in the      last hundred years than at any time since the Renaissance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e No one is a black magician in his own eyes, and modern occultists,      whatever their beliefs and practices, think of themselves as      high-minded white magicians, not as sinister Brothers of the      Left-hand Path. In October 1964 the Los Angeles police arrested      thirty-nine gipsies on charges of fortune-telling. The gipsies      immediately accused the police of violating their religious      freedom. They were not telling fortunes, but giving 'spiritual      readings'. 'Gipsies are born with the power to look into the      future. It's part of our religion. We are members of the Palmistry      Church.' About a year earlier the British witch covens celebrated      one of their great annual festivals, All-Hallows Eve, with rites      involving the magic circle, the magic knife, incantations, nudity      and frenzied dances. One of the St. Albans witches, naked except      for a string of beads, is reported as saying, 'We are not      anti-Christian. We just have other means of spiritual      satisfaction.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The most notorious and most brilliantly gifted of modern      magicians, Aleister Crowley, was regarded as a black sorcerer by      many other occultists, and his rituals are saturated with sex and      blood to an extent which, to put it mildly, scarcely fits the      normal conception of white magic. But he himself professed nothing      but contempt for black magicians. Among them he included Christian      Scientists and Spiritualists, as well as those of his fellow      occultists who disapproved of him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the same way, the writers of the old grimoires, or magical      textbooks, which instruct the reader in methods of calling up evil      spirits, killing people, causing hatred and destruction or forcing      women to submit to him in love, did not think of themselves as      black magicians. On the contrary, the grimoires are packed with      prayers to God and the angels, fastings and self-mortifications      and ostentatious piety. The principal process in the Grimoire of      Honorius, which is usually considered the most diabolical of them      all, overflows with impassioned and perfectly sincere appeals to      God and devout sayings of Mass. It also involves tearing out the      eyes of a black cock and slaughtering a lamb, and its purpose is      to summon up the Devil.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It is not merely that people are naturally disinclined to pin      nasty labels on themselves and that the human mind can always find      excellent reasons for evoking the Devil or killing an enemy or      causing harm and destruction. The magician sets out to conquer the      universe. To succeed he must make himself master of everything in      it-evil as well as good, cruelty as well as mercy, pain as well as      pleasure. Deep at the heart of the magical outlook is the pagan      but not ignoble conviction that everything has its place and      function in the order of the universe and that all types of      experience are potentially rewarding. The complete man, which is      what the magician attempts to be, is the man who has experienced      and mastered all things. This conviction is closely related to the      magical theory of the relationship between God, man and the      universe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 1. The Magician's Universe\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'The soul goes round upon a wheel of stars and all things return.      . . .Good and evil go round in a wheel that is one thing and not      many. Do you not realise in your heart, do you not believe behind      all your beliefs, that there is but one reality and we are its      shadows; and that all things are but aspects of one thing; a      centre where men melt into Man and Man into God?'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'No,' said Father Brown.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e g. k. chesterton The Dagger with Wings\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'Man is made in the image of God' and it has often been      sardonically observed that 'God is made in the image of man'. Both      statements are accepted as true in magic. Man can make himself God      because he has the divine spark within him. He is a miniature      image of God and God is man writ large. Aleister Crowley defined      God as 'the Ideal Identity of a man's inmost nature. Something      ourselves [I erase Arnold's imbecile and guilty 'not'] that makes      for righteousness' and 'the Great Work is the raising of the whole      man in perfect balance to the power of Infinity', at which point      he becomes God. Another notorious sorcerer, the great Renaissance      magician Cornelius Agrippa, writing about 1510, asked how it was      possible for a man to wield magical powers and answered, 'No one      has such powers but he who has cohabited with the elements,      vanquished nature, mounted higher than the heavens, elevating      himself above the angels to the archetype itself, with whom he      then becomes co-operator and can do all things.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This 'Ideal Identity' or 'archetype' is the fundamental unity      which magicians see behind all the apparently diverse and      disorderly phenomena of the universe. The world we live in may      seem to be a rag-bag of odd, fortuitously assembled bits and      pieces, but magicians believe that it is really a whole-like a      design or a machine-and that all its parts are necessarily      connected together in a certain way. Human beings are wholes of      this kind. A man is made of many different things-his body and      appearance, his mental and spiritual characteristics, his moods,      his humour, his different ways of expressing himself at different      times and in different circumstances-but these are all linked      together into one organism with one underlying personality. In      magic the universe is a human organism on a colossal scale. Just      as all the facets of a man's character and behavior are aspects of      a single personality, so all the phenomena of the universe are      aspects of some one thing which underlies and connects them. This      one thing is a being, a force, a substance, a principle, or      something which it is not possible to describe in words at all. It      is the One, or God.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Universe and everything in it constitutes God. The universe is      a gigantic human organism and man is a tiny image of it, a toy      replica of God. Because he is a miniature of the universe, by a      process of spiritual expansion a man can mystically extend his own      being to cover the entire world and subject it to his will. It is      because all things are aspects of one thing that all things are      grist to the magician's mill. The complete man, who has      experienced and mastered all things, has vanquished Nature and      mounted higher than the heavens. He has reached the centre where      man becomes God. The achievement of this is the Great Work, the      supreme magical operation, which may take a lifetime or many      lifetimes to complete.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In this unified magical universe mysterious forces are at work,      moving beneath the external fabric of things like the invisible      currents of the sea. Their effects are all around us, but most of      us do not recognise their true nature. The universe is man on a      huge scale and the impulses which move man-love, hate, lust, pity,      the urge to survive, the urge to dominate-are found on a much      greater scale in the universe. For instance, all things contain a      greater or lesser amount of 'life-force', an immensely powerful      drive which impels life to continue. It shows itself in the      instinct of self-preservation, in the urge to survive-the struggle      of everything in Nature to cling to life even in cruel and      hopeless conditions-and in the universal urge to procreate, to      ensure life's continuation by reproducing one's own kind.      Magicians also see a force of violent destructive energy in the      universe, which is a greater counterpart of man's destructive      impulses and lies behind every form of savagery, bloodshed,      warfare and havoc. These forces are named for gods and planets.      The life-force is called the force of the sun, because the sun's      light and heat are necessary for the existence of all life on      earth. The violent destructive force is named for Mars, the Roman      god of war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The great moving forces of the universe are described and      classified in various ways. Magicians who follow the theory of a      mysterious body of doctrines called the Cabala list ten of them.      Until fairly recent times astrologers believed in seven major      forces, which they connected with the sun, the moon and five      planets. They now have nine or ten, adding Uranus and Neptune and      sometimes Pluto. Numerologists list nine forces, which they      connect with the numbers from 1 to 9.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The magician masters these forces by experiencing them, by      absorbing them into his own being and subjecting them to his will.      He can do this because the forces are inside him as well as      outside him. They are his own impulses magnified. The channel      between his inner impulses and the forces outside him is his      imagination, and a powerful imagination is his most important      single piece of equipment. His powers of concentration are also      vitally important. He must be able to focus the whole force of his      being on a single aim, a single idea. He trains his powers of      imagination and concentration to an abnormal pitch of efficiency      by various techniques. The importance of concentration in magic is      reflected in the old belief that you can recognise a magician by      the fixed stare of his eyeballs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e If a magician wants to turn the current of destructive energy      associated with Mars against an enemy, he sets his imagination to      work to construct an intensely vivid mental picture of the force.      Everything available to him which will contribute to this picture      is used-gestures and dancing, drink, drugs, sex. He chants      incantations which state the nature and attributes of the force of      Mars. He fills his mind with images of blood and torment, rage and      ruin and pain. If he is thoroughgoing the mimicry will extend to      actual bloodshed and the torture of an animal or another human      being. He unleashes all his own inner tides of hatred and violence      and the ceremony gradually works up to a frenzy of savagery in      which the force takes possession of the magician's entire being,      in which he himself becomes the force, controls it by his will and      hurls it against his victim.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Magicians believe that this ceremony, properly performed, will      have crushing and scarifying effects on the victim. The theory is      that any strong emotion of feeling carries a charge of force which      is likely to affect the person at whom it is directed. The effect      will vary with the strength of the feeling and the sensitivity of      the target. When you sense an emotion radiating from another      person and, as often happens, you seem to understand immediately      what that person is feeling, you are reacting to a current of      force whose nature you recognise instinctively, as if you were a      kind of radar receiver registering invisible waves in the      atmosphere. In magic a wave of powerful emotion is projected with      calculated intent by someone who has developed his powers to an      abnormal pitch, and according to occultists the results can be      far-reaching. An exceptionally gifted and powerful magician may be      able to kill by the sheer force of concentrated hatred, especially      if his victim is someone of unusual sensitivity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We recognise that in ordinary life someone who has a strong      personality can make himself obeyed by the force of his will. The      same thing is considered true in magic, but to a much greater      degree. Man is potentially God and the human will, wielded by a      magician who has learned how to concentrate and project it, has      potentially the limitless power of God. As the nineteenth-century      French magician Eliphas Levi put it, 'To affirm and will what      ought to be is to create; to affirm and will what ought not to be      is to destroy.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The great forces cannot be described as either good or evil. They      have a good side and an evil side, or in occultists' terms a      positive and a negative aspect. The evil side is the province of      powerful evil beings called 'demons'. (The good side,      correspondingly, is the province of the 'angels' or beneficent      spirits, but the black magicians are much more interested in the      demons.) The magical universe is like an ocean. The great tides      move through it invisibly and men are swept about by them, but are      sometimes strong enough and clever enough to master and use them.      And in the cold black currents which come up from the deeps there      are strange and sinister creatures lurking-evil intelligences      which tempt and corrupt and destroy, malignant elementals, astral      corpses, zombies, nightmare things which the malice of sorcerers      has created, the 'shells' or 'husks' which are the waste products      of the universal organism. This is a development of the belief      held by many primitive peoples that diseases are evil spirits. The      demons are the universe's parallel to the viruses, impurities and      waste products of the human body. Or from the psychological point      of view, they are the universal equivalents of the dark, cruel,      animal depths of the human mind.","brand":"Tarcher","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304340082917,"sku":"NP9780399500350","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780399500350.jpg?v=1767738393","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-black-arts-50th-anniversary-edition-isbn-9780399500350","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}