Gary St. M. Nottingham - Ars Geomantica: Being an Account and Rendition of the Arte of Geomantic Divination and Magic

Foundations of Practical Sorcery

We live in an age where we are awash with information on allsubjects, and to this the magical artes are no exception. Whilst the student ofmagic can easily access all manner of electronic files there is nothing quitelike a book.

A book can not only be picked up and read, but will, in manyinstances, over time, become a friend, guide and teacher who has assisted thereader on their journey throughout their life. Quite simply books can changelives and this is why those who have been in positions of power through thecenturies have tried, and often failed, to keep knowledge out of the hands ofeveryday folk. This is perhaps primarily because they feared the power of thebook to cause change, and change is what the seven books in the Foundations ofPractical Sorcery series will cause.

Today the magical artes have never been so accessible,although that doesnt mean the demands that the arte makes upon thepractitioner have been lessened in any way. While the arte is, in principle,for all, not everyone will have the self-discipline, the will and theimagination to succeed therein. However for those who do have these basicattributes or are prepared to acquire them there is much to be gained from thepractice of magic in all levels of life. For many people their ingress into thearte will be by books, and the exploration of and working with the informationthey contain. There is nothing like experience even if your magic proves lesssuccessful than hoped for: there is no such thing as failure in magic, becauseevery experience will, at the very least, teach the practitioner something,even if its just to try harder next time!

Of course some will have access to a magical group and theknowledge and collective experience to be found therein; but for many this willnot be the case. Magical groups regardless of hue by and large have much tocommend them, but not all of them do. I have in the past been approached bypeople who have gone through a coven system yet then been led to ask me to helpthem practice and study magic. It seemed their coven did not in fact practicethe arte; which left me wondering what was it that they did do. I am aware ofsimilar approaches made to other magical practitioners, which has left me concludingthat some magical groups and covens can actually be detrimental to anindividuals magical development and understanding - although this is certainlynot the case with all by any means.

Foundations of Practical Sorcery goes some way to rectifyingthis deficit in any students magical life. They offer clear magicalinstruction and accounts of magical acts to be performed, thus making the arteeasily accessible. The methods and techniques presented are all based upon myown personal knowledge and experience which goes back over forty years, methodsand techniques that have worked successfully for me and will do so for anyreader who applies them accordingly.

In many ways I was fortunate, during the autumn of 1972, tomeet a magical practitioner who taught me much regarding the arte, generouslyaffording me the run of their magical library as well. Having been schooledextensively in magical knowledge from my mid teen years I consider myself tohave been extremely fortunate and lucky to have had many experiences not easilyavailable to many people. Thus the present Foundations of Practical Sorceryseries is the distillation of four decades of successful magical workings.

Each of the seven volumes gives a clear account andrendition of one or another area of magical instruction that I have receivedand have been taught. They are presented to the reader in a clear and workablestyle which will provide them with a concise and firm foundation, allowing theserious magical student to explore the Western Magical Tradition, theinheritance of us all.

Gary St. M.Nottingham, February 2015