Practical Astrology for Witches and Pagans: Using the Planets and the Stars for Effective Spellwork, Rituals, and Magickal Work
by Ivo Dominguez Jr.
Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Weiser Books
ISBN-10: 1578635756
ISBN-13: 978-1578635757
Product description:
Learn How to Use the Planets and Stars in Your Magickal Work
More often than not, people think of astrology as a tool for divination or the exploration of one’s personality. Astrology is considerably more than that. It is a sacred science, a highly descriptive symbolic language, and it is also a technology that can be applied to ritual, herbalism, the use of crystals, and much more.
But it can be daunting to take on the study of Astrology. After all, it’s a field so huge it would take several lifetimes to master it. And that’s why Ivo Dominguez, Jr., wrote this book–to provide practitioners of magick with a Pagan perspective on Astrology and the core concepts of Astrology that are most useful to building rituals and creating effective magick.
When we look at an astrological chart, what we are actually looking at is a map of the multiple planes of existence summarized and flattened into an understandable diagram–a kind of magickal cartogram. Now, what to do with this map? How can we best use it in our magickal work? That’s precisely what you’ll discover in the pages of this concise, focused, and expertly presented book.
My thoughts:
All in all, Practical Astrology for Witches and Pagans comes in at slightly less than two hundred pages. It sports several charts in it’s six Appendixes. You’ll find a number of charts throughout the 17 chapters of the book.
While I found some of it to be very interesting, I found much of the book to be dull, dull, dull, and did I mention that it is dull? That wasn’t my biggest problem with the book. I don’t remember one footnote in the book. No footnotes, no Bibliography, no Index, no suggested reading.
With the lack of footnotes, I had to wonder about the accuracy of almost everything that was written. If I want to do my own research where do I start? Who made the Astrology charts? Did Dominguez draw them? Did he get them from a Google search? How do these charts compare to other charts? Where is the work? Where did HE get this information?
No Index? Really? Make sure that you have plenty of bookmarks if you want to return to this book to glean something.
The man has a good reputation in the Pagan community, but I really can’t recommend this book. It comes off as dry and unfinished. I’m giving Practical Astrology for Witches and Pagans 2 stars out of 5. I’d give this one a pass and I suggest Planets for Pagans: Sacred Sites, Ancient Lore, and Magical Stargazing
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Weiser Books I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I bought it on Kindle, and was more than disappointed, it’s lazy and useless. I’m familiar with Electional based and to a lesser extent Planetary Gates & Spheres based magic, and this is just an other attempt to cash in on the growth of interest in Astrological Magic without writers educating themselves by reading the grimoires, learning traditional astrology, etc. You’d find better information about the basics on sites like Skyscript.co.uk, and they’re not about magic, just traditional astrology.
Worse, the use of the new cooked up term “Elder Planets”, I can’t believe this is even being used in place of Classical, and he even claims that Mars is not about War. Then there’s the modern rulerships schema that makes it even more worthless, you need the traditional essential dignity system to do awesome things. I plan to work on a negative but educational review after February and the best alternatives to look in to in a future blog, someone needs to speak out against the exploitation of these traditions.