About the Book
Magick in History and Practice for the Hands-On Seeker
Acclaimed historian and esotericist Mitch Horowitz explores the practice, theory, and purpose of magick. Mitch considers magick as a response to personal needs and its potential promise and pitfalls, including:
A Brief History of Magick. Mitch defines and discusses magick from antiquity to today and how magickal practice weaves through mainstream and occult traditions.
Magick and Ethics. What are the possibilities and perils of externalizing individual will? How do concepts of nonattachment relate to the magickal path? Mitch considers the complexities facing today’s seeker—and a vision of ethical reciprocity.
Modern Magick. Mitch considers enduring practices including sigil magick, sex transmutation, spellwork, talismans, and out-of-body experience.
Mind Metaphysics. Mitch explores the metaphysics of thought causation, including the ideas of mystic Neville Goddard, mind theorist Emile Coué, and cosmetic surgeon Maxwell Maltz.
The Question of Divination. Mitch examines extraphysical sources of insight including astrology, Tarot, intuitive sensitivity, and the I-Ching, asking whether such approaches withstand scrutiny and how they are practiced.
Is Magick Necessary? Mitch explores the causes of magick, relating it to quantum mechanics, string theory, inter-dimensionality, and psychical research. Can extraphysical capacities be summoned without rite or ritual?
“Horowitz's reflections are grounded in his history and a life of personal experimentation. He is not proposing yet another ‘system,’ nor asking the reader to believe or agree with him; instead, his invitation is to follow him to the fringes of reason and try things out for oneself.”—Ferdinando Buscema, Boing Boing
About the Author :
One of today’s most acclaimed voices of esoterica, mysticism, and the occult, Mitch Horowitz is a PEN Award-winning historian whose books include Occult America, The Miracle Club, Daydream Believer, Modern Occultism, Happy Warriors, and Practical Magick. A former vice president at Penguin Random House, Mitch has written on alternative spirituality for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, Time, and The Wall Street Journal. A frequent presence in national media, Mitch hosts Discovery/HBO Max’s Alien Encounters; plays himself in Shudder’s V/H/S/Beyond, a 2025 Critics Choice Award nominee for Best Movie Made for Television; and hosts SpectreVision’s podcast Extraordinary Evidence: ESP Is Real. His work is censored in China.
Review :
“An ambitious, fascinating, and provocative volume written for those who do seek to use magick. Beyond all else, it aims to convey the quintessence of a seasoned practitioner’s personal understanding of why magick works and how you too can succeed at it. To make this quintessence more digestible, as a respected occult historian, he has provided the reader with a great deal of fascinating context . . . There may be books with similar titles, but none will challenge or provoke like this one . . . Horowitz isn’t just a scholar, he’s a vetted practitioner whose insights and historical depth invite you to transcend your previous magickal limitations to cocreate the life you most desire.”—Jordan Gruber, Quest magazine
“Mitch is an extremely prolific author and historian who writes about consciousness, the occult, and a lot of other mysterious topics modernity seems either unable to integrate or outright rejects. Lest you be unnerved by the Crowleyan title, Mitch’s writing stands out for its fundamentally sober, journalistic engagement with the material…the book’s an impressive blend of interrogated history and hands-on, practical techniques. In this era of worsening economic and social brutality, I believe his focus on and methods for more meaningful living are valuable.”—Will Solomon, Counterpunch
“Easily one of our most sophisticated public intellectuals on the parapsychological tradition”—Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought, Rice University
“I burned through it in a day. I absolutely devoured this book because I loved it so much. I love all of Mitch Horowitz’s books but some of them I’ve read and I'll never read again. Some I refer to. This one has gone straight into my little pile of books I am constantly going to go back to. It’s an exploration of the practice of magick but delivered in an incredibly clear way…And he has done it beautifully…It’s simultaneously very accessible, very practical, very stripped down, but also very inclusive…Essentially he’s taken a really deep look at ritual magick, chaos magick, the practice of magick through the centuries and he's worked it all down to one book that’s got unbelievable practicality and ease of execution…You can understand it from day one as a beginner; you can understand it as a seasoned practitioner…It’s absolutely great. I cannot recommend it enough…And I like the man. I like the way he lives his life. I like the way he conducts himself. He lives his stuff.”—Danny Buckler, The Right Side of Mad, YouTube
