Freeman, Temple Zagudu (from Amazon.com), September 15, 2003
Totally practical and down to earth, this book is written by three experienced hands who have been working in the subject matter, and it shows. There are war stories and cautionary tales, and a detailed outline of what to do to create a servitor or other entity.
It should be obvious, but I'll repeat: this is not Magick 101. Therefore, it is not boring to those who have been around a bit and are ready to try something new, or ready to see someone else's take on techniques of which they may have already been aware.
If you're comfortable with invocation and evocation, have worked with sigils, talismans and the like before, and have made some inroads into effective magick for yourself, then by all means GRAB this book and enjoy it. If you're not quite ready for it, buy it while it's still in print while you work your way up to it. It does not contain instructions for basic operations, nor should it. It's about time some texts for grad students showed up!
Ted Andrews, Occult Author (from Amazon.com, September 8, 2003)
This book is great for people starting to learn how to create spirits, tulpas, and the like. Of course, it is not geared for the person who just started to learn magick.
Creating Magickal Entities walks you through the steps it takes to create your own entity. It goes on to explain how to work with your spirit to get things that you want. There is an interesting section on ethics that is refreshing to see in a book like this (it's not the typical three-fold law warning).
The book is written in a simple, down-to-earth way that kind of makes you feel that Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Ellwood, and Ms. Wagener are talking to you. This book is also written in such a way that just about anyone from any tradition could use some or all of the methods described in Creating Magickal Entities.
This is definitely a book to add to any magickal collection and to use as a lesson book.
Psyche, Webmistress of Spiralnature (from Spiral Nature, January 13, 2004)
Perhaps the only work of its kind solely dedicated to entity creation, Creating Magickal Entities offers step-by-step information and instructions on servitor creation. Everything from possible uses and precautions, practical advice and examples of entities previously created by its authors is discussed in depth.
While Creating Magickal Entities assumes the reader knows little about magickal entities, it is not designed to be an `intro to magick' type book. It offers little introduction to general magickal theory or technique; the authors expect the reader to know a thing or two about what they're doing beforehand - and it is highly appreciated.
A created entity is noted as being an extension of a thought-form, which is described as `a symbol that represents a concept or thought for the person...It is entirely in the realm of concept until the person makes the thought-form manifest into reality' (pg. 9). A created entity is defined as being a `vital principle held to give life to an immaterial essence, which has been created to have a self-contained and distinct existence with a conceptual reality, by the deliberate effort to personifying segregated thoughts and emotions' (pg. 9).
The basic methodology authors lay out for entity creation details that by `taking specific thoughts and emotions and identifying them with things like names, symbolic attributes, etc., we are better able to work with them in a conscious manner.' Advising that it is `very important that we wisely chose our thoughts and the way we understand them. If we do not understand our thoughts and emotions and try to use them for our own benefit, the results can, and more often than not, will be counterproductive' (pg. 11).
I do, however, have a few minor quibbles. While it is refreshing that the authors do expect a certain intelligence of the reader, footnotes may have been a good idea. For example, not everyone may be familiar with the Pythagorean system of numerology mentioned frequently throughout the book, and while a brief description is given in the glossary it wasn't noted anywhere prior to that. There are a few uncorrected typos, but they are infrequent enough to be of no major concern.
Beliefs common to chaos magickians such as `the important thing is to use whatever feels right to you, and works best for you' (pg. 47) are frequently stated, though there is no formal mention of chaos magick by name. Despite the subject of the book. Creating Magickal Entities does not use the chaos magick terminology. The words `servitor' and `sigil' are curiously absent from this work, words like `entity' and `programming symbol' are employed instead. While not `bad', it is curious that the have authors avoided these terms. Perhaps it is due to the negative connotation that chaos magick has, and the desire to appeal to a broader audience?
Several practical examples are given in the appendices, using various methods employed by the authors are likely to make for excellent reference for the novice entity creator.
Cunningham, Ellwood and Wagener offer a concise, methodical approach to entity-creation without pandering to the lowest common denominator. With practical advice and step-by step instructions, Creating Magickal Entities is well written, and highly recommended for magickians interested in learning more about servitor creation.
Carl F. Neal, Occult author
This book is long overdue. I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I read the last page. I could have read another 400 pages from these writers! Hopefully, more books will follow and I'll be able to do that.
The information is concise and easy to understand. I have to echo the words of the other reviewers and say that it is not for those new to magick, but it opened a thousand doors in my mind. Reading this book allowed me to connect the "dots" I've long known. Now I can see the larger picture and was able to easily add these techniques to my own magick practices.
Working with entities as outlined in this book is both simple and complex, as any advanced magick is. It is a book that reveals more and more truths each time you read it. I have heard rumors of an expanded version being written and I certainly hope that's true. But this version is worth twice the cover price and a must have for anyone moving beyond magick 101.
If you can't tell - I loved this book and am only sorry it wasn't written decades ago. Buy a copy now.
Lupa, occult author (from Amazon.com, September 3, 2005
I've worked with created entities/servitors before, but this book will definitely be an enhancement to my practice thereof. It's a section of magical practice that often gets overlooked in all but the most practical groups of magicians--for instance, you won't find it much discussed in books on Wicca/etc.
Still, magical entity creation is something that can benefit any practitioner; regardless of background. The three co-authors come from different backgrounds, yet manage to compile a nice collection of essays on the same subject.
"Creating Magical Entities" is a superb, step-by-step instruction manual on the topic at hand. Each portion of the creation processis detailed in its own chapter with a lot of thought given to options and ideas. There aren't pre-fabricated templates or formulae taking up space--every page is simply a reference for someone who already has the basics of magic down. It's introductory without being dumbed down.
Don't get me wrong--this isn't akin to those 101 fluff manuals. This is a book for those who are creative enough to not require spoon-feeding.While it is an introductory book to the topic, it is a solid and thorough exploration and will benefit magicians of all experiences. I myself have been practicing for nearly a decade, and I learned quite a bit from it and will be referencing it for my own works.
While it would have been nice to have had more anecdotes in the text instead of the appendices, it's understandable given that there were three authors, each apparently writing individual essays. The examples in the appendices are great ways to show the theories put into practice in a variety of manners. There's also the occasional typo, but I've seen much, much worse, and it only detracted from my experience in a minor way because I'm just anal-retentive that way ;)
Overall, I *highly* recommend this as an addition to any magic-worker's library. It's a perfect guide to creating servitors without all the fluff and excess *stuff* that so many occult books have. It's concise and without filler, and the material is incredibly thorough.
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