By Names and Images: Bringing the Golden Dawn to Life

I feel this book plays a singular role within the GD tradition, and it's so good that it came to be published after a long delay. This book was very much missing from my earliest days of exploring GD, when I knew there was something inside the tradition that spoke to me, but couldn't complete the connection. Even after reading somewhat widely within Regardie, who seemed the most humane, humorous, appealing and thorough of these writers, I was unable to get "inside" rituals like the LBRP and eventually abandoned them because clearly, I was working in shallow waters with scant understanding and not going deeper. More importantly, it's obvious that people are drawn to GD for disparate reasons, but I've never read any straight talk on the difference between these desires and how they affect one's practice. In short, I wanted GD to work solely on my own consciousness, to clear it, and for it work in a service-to-others capacity, but could not find any clear route to this within GD. Peregrin seems to focus on this orientation -- the purification of consciousness more or less -- as the center of GD, and does so with what is clearly a lifetime of knowledge and comparative experiences poured into one book.I previewed this at length in Google Books before coming to conclusion that this was *the* GD book I've been looking for and realizing I needed to own, study, read and re-read in its entirety. I find this book completely unlike the modern GD texts I've read, which seem to treat GD more like a hodgepodge of techniques while lacking depth and seriousness. Yet, I also feel this has a more explicit heart than the classic texts. Even the rare cautions found here are valuable. I really feel it's alone in this field and hope that anyone considering a serious exploration of GD, especially by themselves, will find this early on.

I haven't read anything by Peregrin Wildoak before, but I liked "By Names and Images" very much and will watch for future titles from this author. This is a particularly good book for students who are approaching Golden Dawn ritual for the first time, because it takes some of the most challenging Golden Dawn rites and practices and puts them in a personalized, easy-to-understand context.While Peregrin Wildoak clearly has an affinity for the practical work of the Golden Dawn, I'd caution students to take some of the author's theories with a grain of salt. For example, the author states that the use of Judeo-Christian god-names in Golden Dawn ritual might be offensive to goddess-worshipers, and seems to suggest that the divine names in these rituals can be casually replaced; this point of view seems to completely miss the Golden Dawn's Qabalistic perspective on the godhead-- namely, that God is both masculine AND feminine, and that the spiritual aspirant must embrace the divine in ALL of its aspects. The divine names invoked in various Golden Dawn rites were selected with great care and specificity, and the serious practicioner shouldn't haphazardly replace them without having both good reason and a clear understanding of any change's Qabalistic implications. While the author is undoubtedly correct in stating that certain Golden Dawn rituals are suitable for adaptation (or even wholesale appropriation) for use in ceremonial worship services, this isn't something that should be done lightly or without a great deal of consideration. A more traditional Golden Dawn approach would be to invoke, say, the goddess Isis through contact with the Qabalistic Sphere of Yesod, or the goddess Venus through contact with the Qabalistic Sphere of Netzach-- balancing feminine aspects of deity with masculine aspects of deity, and always remembering that ALL is really ONE, anyway. It seems strange to me that a book titled, "By Names and Images," would seem to miss the deeper significance of the divine names and images invoked in the context of Golden Dawn ritual. There are several other places in the text where the author clearly either misunderstands aspects of Golden Dawn Qabalistic philosophy, or chooses to dismiss this point of view due to a personal bias against it. This doesn't mean that Peregrin Wildoak is "wrong" in some of his assertions, but readers should be aware that there are other perspectives to be considered.That note of caution aside, however, "By Names and Images" has a lot to commend it to beginning students. While Peregrin Wildoak's Qabalistic theory may occasionally be at odds with traditional Golden Dawn systems of magic and mysticism, his approach to Golden Dawn ritual as a personal, living system is right on the money! This book is the latest in a series of books which attempt to break down the complex symbolism and imagery of Golden Dawn ritual, explaining the deeper significance and meaning of each step, and putting each portion in a context where it can be understood and appreciated by the would-be student. Wildoak's continual reminder to FIND THE INNER MEANING OF THE RITUAL should be an essential part of any student's individual practice, and Wildoak does an excellent job of guiding the student step-by-step through several GD techniques, in an effort to reveal their rationale, purpose, and deeper significance. I concur with Wildoak's suggestion to experiment, following one's intuition, and taking careful note of the results. The whole idea here is to help the student internalize this work, making it a part of his or her being, instead of simply repeating a few words by rote memory with little practical understanding of that ritual's "what's," "why's," or "how's."I can imagine that "By Names and Images" will remove several obstacles for solo practicioners who may be struggling to grasp the deeper meaning of Golden Dawn rituals, allowing them to stop READING ABOUT Golden Dawn spirituality and finally start LIVING IT. At several points as I was reading this book, I had to stop and ask myself, "Do I agree with that? Is this right?," which was a valuable exercise in and of itself! "By Names and Images" would also be an excellent book for group discussion, because there are many ideas here which would benefit from collaborative discussion and analysis-- and in this context it might even be an invaluable resource for small working-groups which are thinking about operating as a Golden Dawn-style lodge. While "By Names and Images" occasionally delves into an unconventional approach to Golden Dawn ritual and magic, it's a fresh and new approach to this subject matter and deserves to be considered in this light.Blessed be!

This is one of the best books I have found on the Golden Dawn system of magic. Many of the inner visualizations described in it are unique to this book. It is presented in a very clear and concise way so that the student can begin working with it immediately. It will, however, take time to get all of the visualization and inner techniques down, but that is as it should be. No book will make you a magician. Only your own work and dedication will. This book does provide you the keys you will need to supercharge your ritual work. It also provides a unique perspective emphasizing the non-gender of deity and how the Golden Dawn system can be applied to anyone of any belief system. Very good and highly recommended!

I had really high Hope's when I got this book. But I was a little disappointed. I thought it was very basic. From the reviews I thought it was going to be an advanced book. It's not. But that doesn't matter I love reading magic books. But this book is boring. I had trouble getting through it. It has some good stuff but nothing to write about.

I bought this book when it first came out but I never got around to writing a review. After this length of time others have commented (in detail) on the technical and practical aspects of the writing and the fact that the author's prior experience and personal journey does colour his writing. Those things all help to make the volume a very worthwhile read, but for me most enjoyment came from the uncomplicated approach to what is a very complex field and from the gender inclusive style of writing. This latter made the prose a little awkward in places but was none-the-less a very refreshing change. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Golden Dawn whether they be neophyte or adept because I think everyone can learn something from the author's down-to-earth approach.

This book is amazing. I am using so many of the exercises in here. Even the teachings are very easy to understand and help really bring together GD work and GD philosophy, however some folks will say that this is not PURE GD ala Chic and Tabby Cicero, but heh, the esoteric tradition is full of roads that can eventually lead to the Summum Bonum.

Peregrin Wildoak sought to write a book about the Golden Dawn tradition. That's great. Any other affiliations that Wildoak may have had should not have interfered with this task, right? Well unfortunately, and I don't know what exactly happened, but it appears that Wildoak has combined Wicca with a dogmatic style of the Golden Dawn to get some strange Goddess-worshipping mixture of militaristic methodology and stark warnings. That, combined with Wiccan biases thrown into the text in an insidiously subliminal manner that one must remain vigilant to throughout reading. There is however a coded portending of this unofficial merger on the back cover of the book wherein the publisher's logo is 3 crescent moons. I have nothing against Wicca or any sort of paganism or neo-paganism but when wanting information about Wicca I look for books about Wicca. When wanting information about the Golden Dawn I search for such things, and when wanting a mixture of both...well, I guess I have it now if I need it huh?For example, claiming that Kether corresponds to Gaia. Those ignorant to the spheres on the tree of life may be misinformed for decades!Additionally, the writing style is extremely patronizing and/or painstakingly simplistic, like the reader is considered to be either of low IQ or early teenage years. I find this insulting to my intelligence and woe betide anyone who attempts the mammoth undertaking of quoting a single idea from this work. Nietzsche is presumably turning in his grave at the verbosity.As the intensely cynical German and others pointed out in some of the more negative reviews, Wildoak makes an effort to virtue signal to "woke" people, neo-constructivist/postmodern/communist ideologs by constantly referring to the magician in 3rd person with the pronoun "her". I am in full concurrence with the German at the outrageousness of this and other little details and I find it telling of Wildoak's unconscious intentions and true spiritual development.The book is 360 pages thereabouts but could have been written in 180, about half the paper. It looks like it hasn't been edited.Another thing. The cirriculum that Wikdoak provides is more like a bunch of notes. Again, the book seems unfinished (like the cynical German pointed out) and poorly (or not at all) edited.It looks like when I was in the first draft of the book I wrote at 18 for catharsis that is yet unpublished because it has not been cleaned up.All that being said, I give 2 stars because there is some okay information in there (just make sure to verify) Would I recommend it to novices/beginners? No, because it simply has too much misinformation to be of value to them and they may start believing that esoteric Christians believe in a goddess which we simply do not! I think also that the claim of multiple decades within the Golden Dawn tradition is concurrent with Wildoak's Wiccan initiations therefore the implication that Wildoak has advanced majorly into the tradition is completely false and I am almost unsure as to why the book did not pruport to be what it is which is a text about the Golden Dawn with Goddess worship thrown in as seasoning.If WIldoak had been honest about her intentions I wouldn't have been able to fault her, but that is not her explicit objective. (though it is an implicit one) She could have combined Golden Dawn and Wicca despite the apparently irreconcilable paradoxes that exist. I mean heck, my public magical name is literally Frater 'TP - Brother Reconciling The Paradox. John Michael Greer made a fascinating book called The Celtic Golden Dawn which did a similar thing except Celtic tradition fits remarkably neatly. I think if Wildoak had gone down that kind of route it would have been a much better written and even a more interesting book.

Very grounded help for students. Peregrin manages to make complex subjects much easier to absorb through his clear writing. This is really an essential companion for anyone studying Magick, Hermeticism, Qabbalah, Tarot and the Golden Dawn. Cannot sing the praises high enough for this book.

I rarely write reviews much less critique the reviews of other readers. However for the sake of redressing the balance and having considered the analysis of the one star reviewer and having accepted that the remarks within the one star review do carry some weight I would definitely include Wildoak's book within those recommended by the one star reviewer. It follows that in my opinion the one star review is too harsh and I would suggest that people interested in this subject matter purchase this book and make up their own minds.

For me a one of best books about Golden Dawn techniques. This book explains not only technical site of rituals but a inner site. This book is less psychological and more magical :)

Peregrin Wildoak unternimmt eine bemerkenswerte Anstrengung, um dem Leser einige der inneren Aspekte des magischen Systems des Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn leichter verständlich zu machen und dieses System interessierten Personen nahe zu bringen, ohne es dabei allzu sehr zu vereinfachen. So versucht er, einige Hintergrundinformationen zu umfassenderen Werken zu liefern (einige Empfehlungen siehe unten), was durchaus lobenswert ist und womit er einen real existierenden Bedarf befriedigt hätte, wenn er erfolgreich gewesen wäre - was er leider nicht ist.Wildoak kann seinen Absichten und Ansprüchen nicht gerecht werden. Er liefert ein sehr unausgeglichenes Produkt, das sich mehr wie ein unvollendetes Entwurfs-Manuskript denn wie eine fertige Publikation liest. Während er in Bezug auf literarischen Stil recht angenehm und flüssig beginnt, degeneriert der Text bald zu eher skizzenhaften Notizen und immer unvollständigeren Informationen. Offensichtlich hat der Text nicht von einem Lektorat durch einen anderen Lektor und Korrektor als Wildoak selbst Nutzen gezogen. Das Buch beginnt zunächst scheinbar gut strukturiert, verliert aber in seinen späteren Teilen völlig Form und Fokus und zerfällt zu fragmentarischen Notizen, denen der organisierte Zusammenhalt fehlt. So sind seine aneinander gehängten Beschreibungen der Rituale und Zeremonien so unvollständig, daß sie für praktische Zwecke, wie der Autor es ja ausdrücklich beabsichtigt hat, für einen Studenten ohne gründliche Vorkenntnisse praktisch nutzlos sind - und ein solcher erfahrener Student würde sie überhaupt nicht brauchen.Sicher, es gibt in den frühen Abschnitten des Buches einige sehr elegant formulierte Teile des Textes; das macht es um so offensichtlicher, daß in seinen späteren Teilen die Sprache ungelenk erscheint, was den Eindruck verstärkt, daß man unvollendete und unvollständige Notizen zu einem geplanten Werk vor sich hat, die aber in dieser Form sicherlich nicht zur Veröffentlichung bestimmt sein können. Nebenbei bemerkt, sehr strapaziös für den Leser sind auch die weitgehend vergeblichen Bemühungen des Autors um geschlechtsneutrale Sprache, die abgesehen von ihrer Inkonsistenz oft die Grenze zum Lächerlichen überschreiten, z. B. bei der Erläuterung der Formel des kabbalistischen Kreuzes auf Seite 86: "Here we are addressing the unnamable ONE Being und placing our life in THEIR hands ... to be guided and moved by HIM, to serve HIS ends ... to serve GODDESS." (Hervorhebung durch Großschreibung vom Rezensenten).Auch sollte sich der Leser bei den angegebenen hebräischen Namen und Formeln bewußt sein, daß sowohl das Hebräische selbst als auch seine Transkription und Übersetzung oder Etymologie von Fehlern nur so strotzt; offensichtlich sind diese hebräischen Textteile einfach nur aus anderen Publikationen ohne Verständnis der Sprache abgeschrieben worden, einschließlich der bei einem solchen mechanischen Abschreiben aus Unkenntnis resultierenden Fehler, und es wurde kein hebräischer Muttersprachler zur Korrektur von sprachlichen Punkten oder ein jüdischer Kabbalist oder Rabbi zur Korrektur dogmatischer Punkte konsultiert (z.B. liegt der Autor völlig daneben und ist für den Leser irreführend in seiner Erklärung von "Amen" und scheint nichts über sein Notarikon zu wissen).Aus der Lektüre seines Buches läßt sich der Eindruck gewinnen, daß Peregrin Wildoak ein ambitionierter and talentierter Autodidakt ist, der viel über Magie gelesen hat, dem es jedoch an Erfahrung in Bezug auf seine Magie sowie im Hinblick auf die Anforderungen einer Publikation, wie er sie beabsichtigt hat, fehlt. Es gibt weitaus bessere Werke, die viel erfolgreicher die Bedeutung der inneren Vorgänge bei den Ritualen und Zeremonien des Golden Dawn verdeutlichen und die dem Leser/Schüler eine wirkliche praktikable Anleitung bieten (wie zum Beispiel Donald Michael Kraig  Modern Magick: Twelve Lessons in the High Magickal Arts  (in dieser Hinsicht unübertroffen in seinem thematischen Umfang und seiner praktischen Nützlichkeit), oder Thomas Christopher  Kabbalah, Magic & the Great Work of Self Transformation: A Complete Course , Chic und Sandra Tabatha Cicero  Self-Initiation Into the Golden Dawn Tradition: A Complete Curriculum of Study for Both the Solitary Magician and the Working Magical Group , und natürlich als Kompendium Israel Regardie  The Golden Dawn: The Original Account of the Teachings, Rites & Ceremonies of the Hermetic Order (Llewellyn's Golden Dawn Series) , und sogar die Temple of Witchcraft Serie von Christopher Penczak, insbesondere sein  The Temple of High Witchcraft: Ceremonies, Spheres and The Witches' Qabalah (Penczak Temple Series) , der zu Unrecht von Teilen der "ernsthafteren" magischen Gemeinschaft geringgeschätzt wird).Insgesamt ist das Buch enttäuschend, es scheint überstürzt und in einem unfertigen und unreifen Zustand veröffentlicht worden zu sein. Dadurch leistet es dem magischen System des Golden Dawn einen Bärendienst und ist damit nicht empfehlenswert zur Aufnahme in eine magische Bibliothek. Ich bedauere, sagen zu müssen, daß für mich dieses Buch letztendlich eine Verschwendung von Geld, Lesezeit und Regalfläche war. Modern Magick: Twelve Lessons in the High Magickal ArtsKabbalah, Magic & the Great Work of Self Transformation: A Complete CourseSelf-Initiation Into the Golden Dawn Tradition: A Complete Curriculum of Study for Both the Solitary Magician and the Working Magical GroupThe Golden Dawn: The Original Account of the Teachings, Rites & Ceremonies of the Hermetic Order (Llewellyn's Golden Dawn Series)The Temple of High Witchcraft: Ceremonies, Spheres and The Witches' Qabalah (Penczak Temple Series)