Manifesting Prosperity: A Wealth Magic Anthology

by Michael Szul on 2008-05-20 15:04:16
tags: magic, taylor ellwood, wealth magic

First, let me applaud Taylor Ellwood for his attempt at breaking through the "poor pagan" stereotype. I've always been rather curious about the perceived correlation between the occult and being poor.

It's true that most pagan systems come from the lowlands, and most of these belief systems termed as "pagan" originally come from poorer cultures and what modern science would erroneously call the "superstitious beliefs of primative cultures;" but this still doesn't explain the monetarily poor attitude of the supposed "high" magics - magic from the highlands symbolized by the Western occult tradition.

Even with today's growth of chaos magic there seems to be a real stigmata placed on money, and an occultists right to earn money. It's strange. And at first, I thought it was only me that thought this was strange.

Luckily, Ellwood breaks through with this anthology aimed specifically at overcoming that stereotype - which seems to be no more than a mental barrier. Nick Farrell, Wes Unruh and Taylor Ellwood both supply us with outstanding essays on the subject of money and magic. In fact, I had to chuckle a bit at Ellwood's essay because many of the concepts and ideas were very similar to the ways in which I feel magic has enhanced my career.

The anthology is capped off nicely with a concluding essay by Lupa about investment and magic. But you can scratch magic right out of that sentence. Even without an occult mindset, Lupa gives some sound advice on investing and contributing back with renewable resources.

The best part about this anthology - and perhaps all Taylor Ellwood edited anthologies - is the diversity of beliefs in the writers. It's almost guaranteed that when you read one of these anthologies - no matter what your belief system - you'll find something that pertains to you. And that's a refreshing quality amongst today's collected works.

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Comments

Also, it was copy edited by Key64 Editor in Chief Nick Pell. woot

Yeah, it’s a really good book. I’ve put some of the ideas into practice and have found that they are working very well for me.

by UlyssesLazarus on 2008-05-22 19:11:18

I’ve wrestled with this notion a bit and I suspect that it comes from the very old notion that asceticism is a pre-requisite for illumination. Although this concept is most associated with eastern schools, it’s worth relating to the western religious doctrine that the material world is fallen and little more than a sinful distraction on the way to heaven. Frankly, I would expect this angle to be readily dispelled by Crowley’s notion of the new aeon being representative of the spiritisation of matter (which itself may help explain the deep fetishism of objects so common to the modern world), in opposition to the old aeon’s degradation of matter and exhaltation of the transcendent.

by chris23 on 2008-05-22 23:48:07

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