Postmodern Magic: The Art of Magic in the Information Age

by Patrick Dunn

Fresh ideas for the modern mage lie at the heart of this thought-provoking guide to magic theory. Approaching magical practice from an information paradigm, Patrick Dunn provides a unique and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738706639
• ISBN13: 9780738706634
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Best Contemporary Guide To Magic(k) Available

I don't like Chaos Magic, and for years I've seen this book on shelves and haven't purchased it because I suspected it was more of the same tripe that Peter Carroll popularized in the later decades of the twentieth century. I was so wrong. This book is solid gold. While there are some things in it I disagree with, Patrick Dunn presents the information every magician *must* have if they are going to be successful in their magickal endeavors. His style is smooth, entertaining, and he presents everything I wish I had known when I was starting out in my magickal career sixteen years ago. If I had started with this instead of Donald Michael Kraig's Modern Magick, I'm sure I'd be further along in my Work today. This book is not a genre-specific approach to performing magick, as it may appear to be. It provides the basic processes of every magickal path, a strong philosophical understanding of the information exchanged in ritual workings, and intermediate-to-advanced information as well. While I suggest it more to beginners, long-time practitioners will find nuggets of gold on every page as well. Reading this book spackled up the cracks in my understanding on some aspects of magickal theory that have eluded me for years. It's an excellent companion for Agrippa-esque ceremonial magicians, Solomonic practitioners, and even Golden Dawn or Thelema initiates looking for more practical information that won't be found in the dogma so prevalent in initiatory systems. And it's so much easier to read than Regardie or Crowley. This book has not received the appreciation it deserves in the occult community. I strongly recommend it to anyone who practices magick.

This Pagan book stands out in a crowd

Patrick and I have both taken issue with the shoddy scholarship in Pagan writings when we have conversed throughout the years. There are far too many instances of books which make claims where not only do they seem unreasonable, but you can not discern whether the author came to this conclusion from some other source, from personal experience, or simply to sell books. When I heard that Patrick was being published, albeit by Llewellyn, a company once known for publishing absolutely anything, I was thrilled. I rushed out and bought the book right away. I was not disappointed. His book is well documented, far beyond 95% of Pagan books on the market, yet it was not drowning in references to the point that any non-scholar lacks interest in reading the book. In fact, this book was difficult to stop reading. The information was relevant and stated in a manner which was rather easy to understand. As a reader of this book, I was drawn into the book and really felt as if I were a part of the conversation that the author was having with the reader. I say throw those crappy DJ Conway books off your shelf and replace them with Dunn. Llewellyn finally has a more high quality author to offer.

Most important stuff in one place.

I should have written this a long time ago. I got it the day I saw it and haven't been dissapointed. It has the backbone of modern magick with out all the fluff. I'm into those books. Straightforward techniques for getting things done. I love his technique for creating mes. I had an idea for a long time of creating a servitor in the form of a floppy disc (yeah, that's my age) and having it 'copy' some skill or knowledge and then downloading it into me. He actually did it and it's a great way of learning something. I also agree with him that some of the more dramatic chaos techniques aren't always the best way to accomplish something. Nothing wrong if that's what you want to but it's not the only way. He also does a bit of decent debunking (servitors out of control, auras as the human magnetic field, magic as the same as quantum physics) which I think is long overdue in the magic community. I particularly like his chapter on Magic in the streets and using glamours. Long a favorite subject, along with servitors. Also the understanding of how to call spirits in a calm, rational way rather than the traditional, almost hysterical method is something I've thought of before but this is the first time I've seen it put out so clearly. Personally, I like his sense of humor and the writing is much better than most, which does make sense given his day job. The best I can say about this book is that when I play my game of the ten magic books I can have if I had to whittle (way) down my collection it that this would definitely be one of them. Thanks Patrick.

The next Cunningham

I've been practicing magic for over 20 years. This book comfirms some of what I've been doing. Read over half the book in one day. Was making sigils by page 54. I love this guy. I think he might be the next Cunninghan.

Finally, a book that encourages you to think for yourself

From the beginning, this book captivates through ample use of humor backed with an informative, comprehensive dialogue that the author forms with the reader. Although it seems to be written for beginners, Postmodern Magic is open-ended enough to allow for the practicing mage to branch off and form his/her own ideas. Instead of lauding this book as a manual to be used for magical reference, I see it as a physical embodiment of an informal teacher/student discussion about magic. Many people have trouble "learning" from an instruction book; however, Patrick Dunn's Postmodern magic interacts with the student, encouraging personal growth and experience over "how things ought to be."