[.ca] The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation and ... (ISBN 0738702765)

My Top 10 Reasons I like this Book:
No long intro here, just my reasons for loving this book. 1. A book that finally teaches people that psychic development is the bases of ALL "magick." I quote my own teacher here "The moment someone learns and realizes that thought creates they become a magick user." 2. Though I am not into wicca, or rather wasn't, this book helped me to become interested becuase 3. it had an absolutely wonderful historical, well researched, section on witchcraft and 4. it present numerous wicca traditions/paths. Though not a lot was said about them (around a paragraph each), the author makes it very clear that he is an Eclectic "witch" and that if people want to choose one of the other paths they are welcomed to. They just have to do a little extra research on them. His course does start the beginning foundations for being involved in most any of them. 5. His writing is clear, clever, intelligent, and at times funny. It's very rare that I read a text book type of book and can say those things. 6. He provides an overview of the Calendar that most Pagans go by without getting into it in a heavy way. This will allow newbies to absorb and understand it and start to ask questions about it, which is the mark of good teaching. 7. He does NOT throw ritual magick at you. Based on my understanding it is rare that most covens allows a newbie to practice magick when they first join because of the consequences that could happen when someone does so without knowing what they are doing. Here he teaches how to do "mind magick" or rather what I learned of as psychic development techniques. Even so, it is much safer then some of the more advanced ritualized magical aspects and it's also much easier to understand. 8. There is a self test at the end of the book so you can measure how well you are doing as you go along. 9. The book is meant to act as a traditional year and a day study course that most adapts who are being initiated into covens go through. His second book (Coming in 2004) most likely will do the same for the 2nd degree. 10. Topics Covered include: History of Wicca, Wicca Paths, The Magickal Mind, Meditation, The Magick of Science, The Science of Magick, The Art of Defense, The Power of Light, Energy Anatomy, Journey Work, Spirit Work, The Inner Temple, Healing, and Initiation. There are 34 exercises that support the lessons and a companion CD (buy separately) which contains over half of those exercises done via guided visualization and lead by the author. oh and one more 11. He does not bash any of the wicca traditions or indeed any other religion. He realizes that he has no need to stoop to such low tactics. Indeed, if anything he will help those people of other religions who have a simi open mind to understand more about the wicca religion.

Some good points but.....:
As a beginner's book, this is a fine introduction, except.... Mr. Penczak continually uses the term entomology instead of etymology. Entomology is the study of insects! He means to use etymology, which is the study of names and their origins. I find it hard to take him seriously when he doesn't use the correct terminology. I even contacted Llewellyn Publishing about this glaring error and received no communication in return. You would think they would want to fix such a glaring error.

simply one of the best books out there:
This book is great but it is even better if you get the comanion cds .

The perfect book!:
Chris has written exactly what I have been looking for during my years in the craft. A book that starts at the beginning, with a clear history of the roots of paganism and later its conflicts with Christianity. It continues with well-defined and clearly structured chapters which include exercises to help you along the path of self-awareness. The text is always clear, the explanations simple, and you always find well thought-out arguments if arguments are needed. Never boring, always enticing me to continue on, with only the thought of "no, I ought to go slowly and learn each lesson well" tempering my pace, Chris has really managed something which I can only congratulate him for. Many authors have tried, but none have succeeded as well as Chris Penczak. His work is remarkable. Blessed be the day the Goddess inspired him to write.

A solid foundation:
For me, this book filled in a lot of gaps in all the other Wicca/magic 101 books. Those books would say "meditate on...", "raise power", "visualize your intent" without actually telling you HOW to do any of those things. Perhaps I'm just stupid, but none of those things are natural to me. Then I found "The Inner Temple of Witchcraft" and my questions got answered. This book makes me feel better knowing that I'm not the only one who can't figure out what it really is to "visualize your intent" right off the bat. It eases you into a meditative practice, visualization, affirmations, healing, chakra work, etc. He presents the skills as progressive lessons so the format is easy to follow. All the other magic 101 books say that magical skill comes with practice, but once again, this book is much more useful. Instead of just saying that you should practice, Penczak actually lists homework at the end of each lesson. Personally, this was exactly the beginner book I needed, one that sets up a solid foundation before rushing right into spells and Sabbat rituals.