The book is presented as a collection of essays covering topics such as shamanism, witchcraft, psychedelics, magic realism and more, to study magic and occulture.

The author is known for extensive writing about "occulture" – how occultism and hidden ideas interact with our general culture (literature, cinema, music, art etc)”. Source Magic explores how magic has shaped and been part of human activities as well as integration into science, art, philosophy, religion and more. The author begins exploring as early ancient Norse shamanism to modern day magic and occultists.
 
The book itself is broken down into 18 chapters covering the following:

  • Occulture and Beyond
  • We’re on the Road to Somewhere
  • Panic Pilgrimage
  • Into a Time and Space of Wordship
  • Temporarily Eternal
  • Tripping the Dark Light Fantastic
  • Mondo Transcripto!
  • The Prisoner Will Set You Free
  • “Our Life Could at Least be Doubled”
  • Embracing Magical Realism
  • Literchoor, Kulchur, and a Damned Fine Friendship
  • Spare Me a Pound
  • Some Thoughts on a Recent Paradigm Shift
  • The Magic of Individuation
  • Lux Per Nox
  • The Imaginary Is a Real Thing
  • Memento Mori Forever
  • The Quantum Quilt of Inspiration: Interview with Carl Abrahamsson

Like the authors' previous work, this book is a collection of essay style writing exploring the covered topics.

For readers who are interested in exploring the history of source magic and how it has been adapted into our society and culture, this book is for you.

~review by Amber Barnes

Author: Carl Abrahamsson
Park Street Press, 2023
pp. 256, $22.99

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