The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic: A New Translation Paperback – Illustrated, April 4, 2017

I like reading historical books. This book isn’t set to be a historical novel but it is.

I love this new translation. The book becomes instantly readable. A.E. Waite is infamous for his long winded meandering and almost unreadable victorian verbal masturbation. The message comes through much more clearly, and Greer's introduction is definitely worth reading. I still prefer the original translation of the Conjuration of the Four, including the prayers of the elementals, which I still use in ritual, but as a readable and re-readable version of Levi's Opus, this is a desert island book for me.

It’s a must have for any occultist. You may not agree with it, but it’s occult history.

In 1854, Elaphis Levi tried Necromancy for the first time, successfully raising Apollonius of Tyana, a famous magician of ancient times. During three weeks of preparation including dieting and fasting, Levi meditated on Apollonius and imagined conversations with him. The Ritual of Conjuration was performed in a specially prepared ‘Temple’ in which only he took part and consisted of 12 hours of incantations, after which the floor began to shake and a ghostly apparition appeared. Levi admitted to feeling extremely cold and frightened and when the apparition touched his ritual sword, his arm went suddenly numb. He dropped the sword and fainted. He claimed later that his sword arm was sore and numb for days after the incident. Levi was inclined to treat his experience as a subjective experiment, but observed that it had been sufficient to demonstrate the effectiveness of magical ceremonies. He also condemned their use as dangerous on moral and health grounds outside the hands of an experienced adept.”Ceremonial Magic” according to the rules mockingly laid down by Eliphas Levi, is another imagined alter-ego of the philosophy of the Arhats of old. In short, the prisms through which Occultism appears, to those innocent of the philosophy, are as multi-colored and varied as human fancy can make them.” – H.P. Blavatsky, “Occultism versus the Occult Arts” (article). While Blavatsky had a strong opinion of Levi's attempt to resurrect what he could of Magic, she still had high respect for him regardless. In a response letter to (BARON) J. SPÉDALIERI, a pupil of Levi's, Blavatsky said this as sentimental posthumous respect:" The late Éliphas Lévi was the most learned Kabalist and Occultist of our age in Europe, and everything from his pen is precious to us..."-BlavatskyMy conclusion: Read at your own risk. Do not feel guilty if you don't read it. Levi recommends the latter.

First of all, this is a really brilliant and highly recommended early exposition of occult philosophy, upon which almost all later works are based. (To my mind, all of the merit lies in the Doctrine, whereas the Ritual is just burning incense.) This is a fundamental text for anyone interested in the subject, comparable to the later work, The Secret Teachings of all Ages, by Manly Palmer Hall, which is also highly recommended.But I do not find that this present translation offers any improvement upon the classic translation by A.E. Waite. Waite was a very serious scholar of occult philosophy. He designed the most famous modern Tarot deck (known as the Rider-Waite deck) and wrote the Key to the Tarot, as a companion volume. He also wrote the impressive tome, The Holy Kabbalah, and translated Levi’s Doctrine and Ritual of Transcendental Magic. By contrast, Mark Anthony Mikituk, the principle translator of the present volume, proudly declares himself to be only a professional translator, with no knowledge of occult philosophy.This present translation is perfectly fine; I offer no particular criticism of it. But I really have to protest at J.M. Greer’s assessment of Waite’s translation as “profoundly unsatisfactory – pompous and turgid in style, full of errors . . .” Certainly it is pompous! But this pomposity is not only a faithful rendition of Levi’s own grand and pompous style, but it is abundantly appropriate for the whole approach! Levi is an Original Magus who writes on his own Authority, and I thoroughly enjoy his style! Greer also denigrates Waite’s notes, principally because he (Waite) points out the significant errors of Levi’s work. Much as I admire Levi’s work, we do not have to consider it Holy Writ, exempt from any scholarly criticism! Precisely because Levi writes from his own wisdom, it may be full of errors, but those errors are not those of the translator, but of the Author. It is up to the student to discover the truly incredible wisdom conveyed in Levi’s monumental work. I also find Waite’s notes to be very useful. The notes by Greer and Mikituk are also useful for those not schooled in the classics, but on the whole I would rather have Waite’s notes than Greer’s.In sum, I do not find anything about this new translation that represents any improvement upon the classic rendition of A.E. Waite, who is justly appreciated and renowned as an impeccable scholar of occult philosophy.

If you set this beside the Waite Translation you see the importance of understanding words, and the use of a dictionary.This is a very readable translation of Transcendental Magick. Mr. Greer is a fine translator and genius magickal operator.

Reader's may find some gems here.

This book goes well beyond the expectations of the product description & i highly recommend this seller as well as this book. If you study any mysticism through religious beliefs such as kabbalah, Egyptian book of life, free masonry or just want to learn a more practical approach in mysticism, I feel this is one of the best books to own. It quickly became one of my favorites.