Introduction to Magic: Rituals and Practical Techniques for the Magus

Introduzione alla magia #1

by Julius Evola, Gruppo di UR, Guido Stucco (Translator)

The rites, practices, and texts collected by the mysterious UR group for the use of aspiring mages.  • Rare Hermetic texts published in English for the first time.

• Includes instructions for developing psychic and magical powers. 

In 1927 Julius Evola and other leading Italian intellectuals formed the mysterious UR group. Their goal: to bring their individual egos into a state of superhuman power and awareness in which they could act "magically" on the world. Their methods: the practice of ancient Tantric and Buddhist rituals and the study of rare Hermetic texts. So successful were they that rumors spread throughout Italy of the group's power, and Mussolini himself became quite fearful of them. Now for the first time in English Introduction to Magic collects the rites, practices, and knowledge of the UR group for the use of aspiring mages. 

Included in Introduction to Magic are instructions for creating an etheric double, speaking words of power, using fragrances, interacting with entities, and creating a "magical chain." Among the arcane texts translated are the Tibetan teachings of the Thunderbolt Diamond Path, the Mithraic mystery cult's "Grand Papyrus of Paris," and the Greco-Egyptian magical text De Mysteriis. Anyone who has exhausted the possibilities of the mundane world and is ready to take the steps necessary to purify the soul in the light of knowledge and the fire of dedication will find a number of expert mentors here.

Genres: Occult, Spirituality, Philosophy, Witchcraft, Esoterica, Nonfiction, Magick

416 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1955

About the author

Julius Evola (19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974), born Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola, was an Italian philosopher and esoteric scholar. Born in Rome to a family of the Sicilian landed gentry, Evola was raised a strict Catholic. Despite this, his life was characterised by 'an anti-bourgeois approach' hostile to both 'the dominant tradition of the West—Christianity and Catholicism—and to contemporary civilization—the 'modern world' of democracy and materialism'.

By turns 'engineering student, artillery officer, Dadaist poet and painter, journalist, alpinist, scholar, linguist, Orientalist, and political commentator', he has been described as a 'rare example of universality in an age of specialization'. Yet behind it all lay a singular emphasis on, and pursuit of, a 'direct relationship to the Absolute'. For Evola, 'the center of all things was not man, but rather the Transcendent.' This metaphysical conviction can be seen to have determined both Evola's stance on socio-political issues, and his antipathetic attitude towards 'all professional, sentimental and family routines'.

The author of many books on esoteric, political and religious topics (including The Hermetic Tradition, The Doctrine of Awakening and Eros and the Mysteries of Love), his best-known work remains Revolt Against the Modern World, a trenchant critique of modern civilisation that has been described as 'the gateway to his thought'. Since his death, also in Rome, his writings have influenced right-wing, reactionary and conservative political thought not only in his native Italy, but throughout continental Europe and, increasingly, the English-speaking world. Nevertheless, he should not be considered primarily as a political thinker, but rather as an exponent of the wider Traditionalist School that encompasses the work of such individuals as René Guénon, Titus Burckhardt and Frithjof Schuon.

Reviews

[Bjørn]

This was for me the most difficult book by Julius Evola (though the book is written by several persons, including Arthur Reghini). I read the book from page to page and when I finished I felt that I have understood perhaps sixty percent (at most!) of what was written. There was some kind of veil here that I was not able to penetrate, so I will definitely return to this book and read several chapters again. However I was able to extract some really valuable information from the book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the esoteric. Often when one finds books on this topic one ends up with some New-Age mumbo-jumbo. This book contains nothing of the sort.

[Johnny Danell · Rating 5 out of 5]

At this point in my life, this is the best book I have ever read! This is the good stuff, "our gold" so to speak. Read and behold true masters at work, this book is enlightening to say the least, it is also a pleasure to read. Evola (and his companions) are pointing the way at TRUE metaphysics. My VERY highest recommendations!

[no.stache.nietzsche · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read, at times very enjoyable and straight forward, at other times impossible arcane and dense. This is unavoidable due to the nature of the work, which is a compilation of articles written by various contributors to a periodical edited by Evola for a few years in his 20s. So there's a lot of topical pieces on certain subjects, some running themes, and some publications of source texts. Some of these pieces were entirely lost on us, but others of the more introductory nature were very helpful. Maybe not the best actual introduction to magic, but not a bad text to read in the early stages of one's exploration of the topic, especially if one is otherwise familiar with Evolian Traditionalist perspective, or generally predisposed to the rw side of spiritualism.

[Simone Zanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non do quasi mai le 5 stelle proprio per riservarle a libri che mi colpiscano e mi facciano vibrare come questo.
Emozionante, istruttivo; una parola...magico. Ho finito di leggerlo ma di fatto è qualcosa che terrò sempre sul comodino; come guida, verrebbe da dire come abbecedario.
Sono infinite le riflessioni che impone la sua lettura che possono sfociare in un viaggio stupendo dentro se stessi.
Lo consiglio? No. Questi sono libri che si devono sentire e non possono essere presi in mano su sollecitazione di terzi.

Quanto sarà il momento, lo saprai. Sarà lui a venirti a cercare.

[Mahmoud Awad · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want to like Evola, I really do. Sadly, there's really no way to get past the fact that his insufferable LARPing conceals absolutely nothing substantial. Only the vocabulary and evident breadth of the UR Group's Classical education separates this kind of dross from the softcovers you'd find in the Self-Help Bin of a yard sale with the likes of Crowley or Rhonda Byrne. Any insights on alchemy, theosophy, eastern asceticism, etc. potential readers might desire in this book can be found in university textbooks without the haughty huffing and puffing of a crippled charlatan for 300 pages.

[Hande Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not for the beginners.

[Alienne Laval · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic as Science of the I. Or ego? The perspective is male, not to say masculine... it does not function from a truly feminine perspective, except you are an emancipated striver... This I was reading in Montenegro in German.

[Shad Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has nothing to do with Ebola's later thought besides the more mystical touches he adds to each book. Interesting if one is fascinated by the occult but there are better books on the subject.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely not an "introduction" to magic by any means. This book is recommended for those who are already following a path of their own, and whatever path that may be, the wisdom provided here will help them along their way.

Not all of this was useful for me, but the material that did resonate has been marked for continuous study. The Ur-group provides a very no-nonsense approach to magical technique and practice and the reader can take it or leave it.

[basematerialist mono · Rating 1 out of 5]

>MAGIC IS REAL N SHIT
IDEALISM: not even once

[ET · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sublime passages of death dealing grip. Always awaiting for another drip. Can be truly appreciated once you see beneath the dross known as "magic".
The Passages can be returned too again and again.

[Jesse James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this damn thing, holy shit. This was a very, very difficult read. I actually had to put the damn thing down around 20 and then 25% in, that's like twice! Because I couldn't understand what it was saying! I started over too! I guess I was just... well stubborn and also very intrigued.

I'll note quickly that even though the main author/compiler is Julius Evola, an Anti-Semite I believe, quotes and sources the Kabbala a Jewish text, and also sites references to several holy books, including the Christian Bible and Christian Mysticism, Islamic Mysticism, the Mahabharata (Hinduism) and the Tao Te Ching and many others.

I suppose some people are probably wondering why I am reading a book on how to perform Magic, well, it just comes down to that I was curious about the concept really. I had a few motivations, one of those was that I write Fantasy and have some Mage characters in mind and I wanted to do some research, figure out what the hell "actual" magic users DO. How they think and how do their beliefs work? I wanted to get inside the head of someone who practices Magic, and I actually started with a beginners guide to wiccan and witchcraft and that was very, very different to this book.

I discovered a couple of weird but very interesting things. Witches worship a "horned god" and a goddess, and accept a wide pantheon of deities, they'll worship Odin or Ra for example if they want. With Witches their "Magic" relies upon asking, or petitioning, deities and the universe itself to provide.

The Magus are a very different breed and have a more "Masculine" approach to Magic, they don't like the concept of asking the gods or "God" the source, whatever, to provide for them, no, they have a belief that power ultimately comes from within, from you, as you, or them, or every individual living on this planet or others are in fact divine beings suffering from amnesia. They literally believe man is god and has forgotten himself, so they don't "petition" or ask deities for power or for certain... effects, they simply "will" it, or so they say. They use rituals and meditations to help awake this power, and the amnesia, and they talk a lot in this about how much of a difficult task this is, and a lot of the stuff seems contradictory. Also, despite being marked as Satan Worshippers the Magus despise the Judaic "serpent," they even believe Witches and Witchcraft to be silly.

For example, you must "will" without yearning for what you are willing for, because to want or yearn is to drive it away, like a desperate clingy guy being rejected by a beautiful woman the universe reflects back unto you what you project, this is their belief anyway.

This was something cool to learn, because I always wondered if there was a difference between a Witch and Wizard. For a first thing, Wizard is old English for "Wise Man" and they were the original scientists back in the day. Wizards or Magicians invented written language, mathematics, engineering, alchemy which was a proto form of both chemistry and physics, and astronomy and astrology. These were all proto-sciences, and most would consider a lot of the wise men to be proto-depth psychologists too for the way they council kings and their fellow men. So these men were not entirely fools. To a peasant who could not even write I'm sure the guy with a beard who could do calculus would have seemed like a weirdo. I had wondered if Wizard was gender specific or if there was some other difference, it's kind of both, like it's actually a different kind of "Magic" more based on a fundamental form of study and also has a differentiation on gender. I have no idea if a woman can be a "Magus/Magi" though, I know men can be witches but it's unclear on this if women can be Magi. I believe it to be that they can't, but I am not so sure.

In all honesty, some of this stuff was actually not all that far fetched and rooted in some honest scientifically verified sciences of today, which makes sense considering that these men were what passed for scientists back in the day, other stuff was... well beyond the borders of the loony bin. This book invokes existential fears and dread on purpose, so such that I won't even go into. I understand why people steer clear of this. Perhaps you should too haha, just leave it alone.

10/10 I know how wizards think for my books now thanks.