Arcane Lore [Paperback]

The author intersperses his colorful digressions with a large numbers of selected quotes from a surprising number of sources. I found it all quite amusing, and am now reading it for the second time. He certainly has a *unique* perspective!

While several extraordinary ideas are eludidated in detail -- and which are well worth reading -- I remain skeptical of certain statements made herein, and was put off a bit by the wildly fluctuating tone, which seemed to vary between manic and condescending. It was funny though, and that appeared to be the author's intent. Depending on your particular mindset, you'll either laugh out loud or else be up all night cowering under the covers with all the lights on. It was a good book -- just don't take it too seriously.

First, even though you are on a dark path, and your review reflects an obvious negative bias, I appreciate the fact that you read my book and saw fit to give it three stars. Now for the corrections!

You state that the "actual content written by the author is very small compared to the number of quotes" and claim that "some chapters are merely an introductory paragraph to the quotes that follow." You know that this is untrue. Arcane Lore is 344 pages long, and while yes, there are many quotes, the majority of these pages are filled with my own words. The shortest chapter, "The Invisible," is only two pages of text followed by four pages of quotes. Most of the other chapters are much longer. For examples, the two most important chapters in the book (Ch. 11 & 12) are 40 and 34 pages in length, respectively, each followed by several pages of relevant quotes, as it is beneficial to be able to see things from multiple perspectives in order to properly grasp certain difficult concepts.

You further state that I "occasionally take an almost Judeo-Christian tone" and allege that I speak out strongly against the "seven deadly sins." This you know to be a lie. Not ONCE in this book are the "seven deadly sins" mentioned! You did blatently lie about this.

You then state that I listed a number of persons "whose views differ from mine" whom I would like to have shot. Before I respond to this grossly misleading allegation, I must ask if you, or those you associate with, engage in the predatory criminal behaviors which I condemned? Yes, I suspected as much. Just so there is no more confusion about what I said, let me transcribe it for you here:
"As I said before, there is no such entity as 'Satan,' and I am by no means a Christian, yet no other term seems appropriate for certain highly negative individuals. I half-jokingly refer to these individuals as 'Satanic' due to the fact that words have power, and no other word adequately conveys the repugnance I feel when I have the misfortune to gaze upon one of these odious creatures breathing my air. They . . . ought to be dispatched with a small caliber hollowpoint to the brain stem whenever they're recognized -- but, unfortunately, such activity is strictly prohibited, and the world is a far worse place for allowing these creatures of darkness to propagate like a malignant growth within our society. . . . If an individual is chock full of venomous hatred and always chooses to behave in an unethical and self-indulgent manner, then they qualify as 'Satanic' in my opinion. Of course, as with everything else, there are varying degrees of this pathology."
I made it VERY CLEAR in this chapter that a practicing Satanist is NOT a "Satanic" (more accurately, "demonic") individual if they do not engage in predatory criminal behaviors!

Finally, you state that "Those looking for a well-outlined 'system' will be disappointed" -- and I agree! Ritualization promotes stagnation -- reject the dogma and find your own path! This book is presented simply as a magickal PHILOSOPHY rather than a stale and meaningless list of "step-by-step instructions." Open your eyes, absorb what is useful, and do what feels right for YOU. Mastery is something you need to achieve on your own through years of experience -- no-one can teach it to you, and you sure won't find it in this, or any other book.