Werewolf Magick: Authentic Practical Lycanthropy by Denny Sargent

Werewolf Magick: Authentic Practical Lycanthropy Reviews

• 
  Steve Cran

  Prepare to unlock your inner beast. This book on lycanthropic Magick will show you how. Wolf have been venerated at deity since man;s beginning in some for or other. Some of the original Greek Gods were depicted as wolf like. The founders of Rome were raised and suckled by a she wolf. Lupercalia would have priests or Lupercal dress up in wolf skins and strike women with whips in order to unsure fertility. Hekate, is depicted with a wolf;s head. Odin is a wolf god who can shape shift into anything. He has two wolves that accompany him. Apollo himself was depicted in wolf like form. The first werewolf might have been in Mesopotamia where in a follower of Ishtar was turned to a world for entreating her too much.
  
  Over the centuries there have been many werewolf cults. The warriors would don the skins and shapeshifter metaphorically into wolves. These warriors were dedicated to Odin in the North of Europe. The book delves into the history of werewolf cults and wolf magic. The book then goes into rituals designed to help you find your inner wolf . Remember that we human evolved from wolves and dogs at one point and we are accessing our animal brain. The exercises then tell how to raise wolf power and finally shape shift into a wolf. Now mind you , people do not physically turn into wolves this is a spiritual change. Sort of like going on beast mode.
  
  This energy is later raised and focused toward growing your fetch and feeding it. The fetch or your double can be sent to do errands, give you information or house your consciousness . Other rituals include spells for obtaining love, money and finding other werewolves.
  
  Denny Sargent culls many of his techniques from shamanism and European witchcraft. There are lots of yips and howls on this paradigm. While one is not forced to use them I would have found some words in place of growls more beneficial.
• 
  Larissa Lee

  Actual Rating: {2.5/5 stars}
  First Glance:
  As a therian and animist, I enjoy any opportunity to delve into magic related to shapeshifting and spirit work. This book clearly focused on wolves, which happen to be one of my favorite animals, so I decided to ask for a first look. I received an advanced readers’ copy (ebook) through NetGalley. As usual, I get paid nothing to give my honest opinion.
  
  Positive Bits:
  The overall idea behind werewolf magick is that we need to (and can) embrace our wild side and go a little feral if we want to really connect to our own power. I’ve written and participated in several different versions of this kind of magic, where you reach deep down to find your inner wildness; it’s a powerful piece of energy work.
  
  The author clearly runs with this wildness, as the majority of the rituals included are wordless. Howls and yips and growls are the only magical words used, and I think that’s a smart approach. It makes it a little harder to plan your ritual, as there are no cue cards, but sound is a good carrier of energy regardless of its form.
  
  I appreciated the notes on animal parts and meat usage throughout the book. As someone who prefers to be an ethical omnivore rather than a vegetarian, I respect the balancing act it takes to honor the animals who obviously had to die in order for you to eat or wear them. There are different ways to approach animal parts (fur, bones, or meat) and they all start with an acknowledgement of death and your role in the process.
  
  Less Enjoyable Bits:
  I’ll admit that this book is too eclectic for me. There are repeated notices that the author makes no claim at being a shaman, which is all well and good. But then there are random pieces of the Greco-Roman pantheon, modernized versions of old Nordic ritual, and a surprise visit from an Egyptian god. Throughout that mix, we have Gaia used as a name for the Earth as a being (but not as Gaia, the Greco-Roman goddess) and a liberal smattering of mantras from Hindu practices (without any explanation about their source or purpose). The author could’ve used a bit more explanation between rituals to tie together his eclectic pieces, but they were presented as disjointed mosaic pieces.
  
  In the history of werewolves presented, the author travels a familiar and well-worn path of pretending that witches (and, therefore, werewolves) have always existed and were hunted down during the Burning Times. And yet, enough witches and werewolves hid to bring their practices to us today. The truth is, we’ve recognized as a community that the “history” we were taught was a tool to loan authenticity to new practices. After all, everyone respects an ancient teaching, right? Each example of werewolves in the past is dubiously tied together in a string, and it’s supposed to guide us from ancient werewolves to today’s shifters in an unbroken line… that I’m not buying.
  
  Based on personal studies and experience, I found his entire section on Fetches to be misguided. Take it or leave it as you will, but I find that a Fetch or similar thoughtform isn’t an alter ego (wolf or otherwise) of myself. Rather, it’s a separate and directed entity. The author treats the animalself (his word for your animal side) as both a part of you and something apart from you, depending on the working presented. I feel there’s no ambiguity in what is Self versus what is outside of Self, and this makes the entire use of animalself as a Fetch an impractical process – one that I would expect to cause you some discomfort, if not exhaustion. There’s a reason we practice magic with the help of external energies and items other than ourselves.
  
  Is it worth the coin? No – there are other resources on wolf mythology and shapeshifting that can be found, and I would pick up something more focused if I were studying either topic.
• 
  Carrie (The Butterfly Reader)

  2.5 stars - Thanks to NetGalley for this title in exchange for an honest review
  
  You ever finish a book, close the page and place it on the shelf, and think to yourself, you know, I'm glad I read that book but it wasn't for me at all? Well, that's how I felt with this one. I've never read a book about werewolf magick before so when I saw it, I just knew I had to give it a go. Werewolf magick is not for me at all. Some parts of this book just had me blinking and wondering how it even worked but it takes all kinds to make the world go round.
  
  It's well written the author seems very down to earth, very in touch with his animalistic self. Sometimes it's good to simply focus on our base needs most problems can be found in these simple areas we often overlook. That was something I took away from this book personally.
  
  So if you're into werewolf magick, are just curious like I was, I do say give this a try, you might learn something nifty.
• 
  Scott Wilde

  This was the best book I've ever read on werewolf magick.
• 
  Eliza

  Animals and animal magic interest me. I consider myself a spiritual therian, and my theriotype is the Asian small-clawed otter. Animals have always been important to me in many different ways, including magically.
  So, naturally, any book on the subject piques my interest. I’d been looking forward to this new book by Denny Sargent, Werewolf Magick, for quite some time.
  
  I’m sorry to say that I found this book somewhat disappointing. The book begins with the author describing his own journey into animal (specifically wolf) magic.
  
  That part was interesting, even though it was prefaced by a strange disclaimer about not eating raw meat.
  
  Sargent acknowledges that much of the book comes from first-hand experiences and unverifiable personal gnosis, which is refreshing in books these days. Still, beyond the author’s autobiographical parts, I didn’t get a lot out of this book.
  
  While there’s not really many books in print about therianthropy specifically, most books on animals and animal-related magic at least mention it briefly. Not so with Werewolf Magick.
  
  The author never mentions otherkin or the concept of therianthropy, though his subject matter pairs well with that sort of belief. Instead, he refers to practitioners of his own variety of “werewolf magick” as “wers.”
  
  I thought this was a little awkward. Since I received a review copy, it’s possible that this was simply a reoccurring typo for “were,” which makes more sense.
  
  The author has obviously done his research - he mentions Lecouteux and a few other sources. He must be aware of therians, and while there’s few books as sources on that, internet resources are plentiful.
  
  Given that therianthropy exists as an established concept, I found it odd that he wouldn’t mention it, particularly since so much of what he’s written resembles and relates to the therian experience. It just seems like a particularly glaring omission.
  
  I wanted to like this book. The focus on wolves at the exclusion of other animals put me off. I also found a lot of the exercises would really only be helpful if you had an affinity towards wolves.
  
  The author refers to the “animalself” but focuses exclusively on the wolf, going as far as to argue that it’s natural for humans to identify with wolves. This is true of a lot of witches and pagans, but hardly all. I would have liked more material in the book addressing other animals and their magic.
  
  Overall, I’ve got to give this book two stars out of five. It has numerous issues, but I could see someone who does connect well with wolves finding it useful. I myself was just disappointed.
• 
  Jenna Deaton

  This book managed to far surpass anything I had expected when I read the title Werewolf Magick. Focusing on ritual and reflection to connect with one’s inner beast this book is a beautiful blend of magic information and application.
  
  What I liked
  1. Exercises were provided directly after pertinent information so it provided.
  
  2. The idea of working with rather than against the power of one’s inner beast harkens back to Carl Jung’s shadow work concept in a rather enjoyable way.
  
  3. Werewolf magick and lore isn’t something there are a lot of pagan books written on so this will fill a gap in many esoteric collections.
  
  What I didn’t like
  
  1. I would have liked to see a little more werewolf lore and maybe reflection work connected to each cultures lore surrounding the beast.
  
  2. Some of the book feels like a rehash of 101 books I have already read for other magical topics. This will be good for new workers but really slowed down my reading experience:
  
  Who would I recommend this book for ?
  
  Practicing witches both new and old who have not worked much with the archetype of the inner beast may enjoy giving this book a read through.
• 
  April Taylor

  There are three types of people who will be the most likely to read this book:
  
  1. Those who have a genuine belief in magic and also want to learn how to incorporate werewolf symbology into their rituals.
  
  2. Those who enjoy werewolf myths and legends (like myself) and are drawn in by the awesome cover and the section on werewolf cults throughout history.
  
  3. Those who truly believe they have the spirit of a wolf or werewolf inside them.
  
  I was drawn to this book based on a lifelong interest in werewolves, ranging from ancient myths to modern cinematic depictions. Although I do not believe that werewolves are real in any sense, I also thought I owed it to my 8-year-old self (who wanted so badly for werewolves to be real) to check Werewolf Magick out.
  
  Toward the beginning of the book, the author says: “One thing I can guarantee, you have never read a book quite like this.” This is a bold claim, but it’s definitely true.
  
  The writing is decent and easy to read. It does gets repetitious at times, so I ended up skimming past some of that. As to the subject matter... well, the werewolf cult history was fascinating. It was way too hard for me to take the author seriously otherwise due to his repeated commentary on werewolves being real (at least in the metaphysical sense), along with his constant urging to use a variety of growls, howls, yips, etc. as werewolf lingo.
  
  I know this isn’t what the author was looking for, but some of his stories made me crack up laughing. And in today’s world, laughter is a gift. For that, the folklore section, and the fact that the author can write, I’m giving this book 3 stars. If you’re into magic and open to growling naked in the woods while letting your wolf-self take over, you may be more impressed. On the other hand, if you’re a skeptic who can’t even allow yourself to be entertained by the topic, you’re going to want to steer clear, despite the awesome cover.
  
  Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.
• 
  Lori Schiele

  Sargent is a member/initiate of many pagan groups as well as an author of many books and articles on Paganism, folklore and magick. In this book, he offers "authentic shapeshifting rituals, spells, meditations and folklore" and "shows...how to awaken your inner wolf and transform into a happier, braver and freer person."
  I have to point out, when the author discusses shapeshifting using, what he calls, your "inner Animalself" (done partially by quieting your human thoughts--the ego and cerebral cortex--and tapping into the wild animal that still lurks in our DNA--in the "pre-language, pre-civilized lower cortex"), he does *not* refer to actually *physically* shifting. And he is not necessarily discussing mentally, emotionally, or even astrally, shifting into a werewolf. He is speaking of the animal that still resides deep inside each of us (not all are wolf, of course) and is, more often, closer to an actual wolf, altho it is up to, as I read it, the actual practitioner of the rituals and spells offered in this interesting and unique book.
• 
  Lora Milton

  "Embrace your monster." That line in the Preface really appeals to me. The author explains how he came to develop his own system of werewolf magick and though it may seem a little weird, it actually makes sense.
  
  This could have gone airy-fairy, but instead the author gives us history of Shamanic practices where the essence of animal mind gets induced by ritual. He emphasises that he is not a Shaman himself, but the history is well-researched and he relates some personal experience of meeting with genuine Shamans.
  
  I was impressed with the amount of research that went into the history of animalistic ritual in different cultures and the serious approach. I found it extremely interesting and may well refer back to it sometimes as an academic work.
  
• 
  Britt

  Ok, first off I will say I absolutely love wolves and have always been fond of and fascinated by this beautiful animal. The myths/lores of werewolves are interesting (no, I do not believe werewolves are real, but hey that's just me) and the idea of working these into tour Magick was quite intriguing to me.
  
  The book is a bit repetitive, which I didn't like, but if you are into Magick work and incorporating wolves and werewolves into your work then you may want to pick this little gem up!
  
  I will be going through this more in the near future because I just dig the material.
  
  Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
• 
  Israel Reed

  Very empowering and enjoyable guide to contemporary lycanthropy. Delivered in a very straightforward and practical way, it offers a great primer for those wanting to incorporate lycanthropy and werewolf lore into their spirituality. Some the rituals do seem quite specific to those with ample access to the outdoors and it would have been great to get more guidance on how urban practitioners could use this type of magick. I would have also liked it to go into a little more depth around werewolf mythology and lore in relation to the rituals presented. However, I'm very happy to add this to my occult library and I look forward to attempting some of these rituals in the future.
• 
  Andre

  While the topic of training werewolf shape-shifting, itself, is rarely depicted as much in detail as in this book in the magical sense, there is a topic is even more uncommon, where you are reading about ritual magick not to become or call in or out the werewolf, but of ritual magick for established werewolves. This will make your animal self as complex as your human self without your animal self ever losing its characteristics.
• 
  Natalie Malone

  This is an interesting book. One that I would love to check out at my local library. If you are into the a Occult than this book is for you. This book is about releasing your inner beast. In this particular story, his inner beast is a Werewolf. He gives you detailed chapters about what you need do. I personally thought this book was fascinating.
• 
  Chad Axe

  I like this book and I really like the author. This is the first systemized book on Werewolf Magick that I have encountered. The imagination literally runs wild. One thing, the practices are safe and natural...maybe a bit too tame but hey I ordered off Amazon.
• 
  Brandy Williams Author

  If you've ever wanted to run with the wolves, this book will tell you how to do it. Get in touch with your wild self and howl!
• 
  Kristin

  This was an okay read, but I got a bit annoyed with all the repetition at times. I did however enjoy the folklore section of the book.