BECOMING MAGICK

David Rankine: Becoming Magick - New and Revised Magicks from the New Aeon,  2004

reviewed by Gisela Kranz

I always like the announcements from Avalonia on the members´ platform and occasionally ordered a book but until now I had not realised what the range of studies and insights of David Rankine, one of the  Avalonia editors, encompass. – Now and then I have read on elemental magic, on qabalah, on rune-magic, on Wicca or even Egyptian magic and I have tried some widely known authors like Dolores Ashcroft, Franz Bardon, Walter E. Butler or William G. Gray. As a reward for my strivings I attained – confusion!  What had the strikt rules usually insisted on to do with Lady Olivia´s vision of magis “co-creating with dieties”?  Didn` t some authors somehow sound like engineering by spiritual means? Must I surrender to one of these magical systems to proceed? Can I combine an attractive piece from one system with something from another or should I better not?   

In short, with such questions on my mind it was most inspiring to come across David Rankine´s “Becoming Magick” and his other books on magick. For complete overview just turn to the author´s site on amazon.

First of all I deeply appreciate what Rankine states in the introduction to his book: “ The importance of using magickal technique as part of one´s spirituality is that it enables the certainty of direct experience by providing the opportunities for personal mystical experience at many levels, rather than relying on faith. This enables each ! seeker to experience for themselves and create their own personal style, working the magick that is best suited to their own unique spirituality and path. The element of direct experience resulting from a dynamic spiritual life ensures we have responsibility for our own growth and actions – we have to dare to grow!”

After a short chapter on “What Is Magick & How Does It Work?” (p.13-18) Rankine sets out to underline “The Importance of Maat” (p.19-24) for any magickal proceedings and only thereafter he takes the reader to a great number of  magical exercises and meditations: ritual openings, mantra webs, Prime Qabalah, Kundalini rising, magickal ingestions and many other topics. There is even a chapter of how to incorporate an eventual state of illness into magickal practise, “Making Mysery Magkical” (p.131-134). Rankin says,”The book contains material that is the result of many years of working with different systems and techniques, and eclectically creating my own system. The system I have created incorporates elements from diverse sources, and is (obviously) eminently workable.” And I would like to add, it´s also eminently readable.

I was specially grateful to read chapter 4, “The 9 Gates & The Magick Sphere” (p. 27-32) finding some clues relating the attributions of the 4 elements plus Above and Below and the attributions of the planets with the directions. Elemental studies have always been difficult for me, Rakine´s  summary  of 5 pages gave me some dawning of understanding and new optimism to find out more.