The Beginner’s (and Expert’s) Guide to Magick

Magick is a beautiful form of power, and weirdly enough, it works. If that thought excites you, things will go your way.

If you’re new to magick, or to The Gallery of Magick, welcome. There’s so much you can achieve, and magick is all about getting results and living a big life.

If you’ve been doing magick for thirty years or more (like me!), it’s exciting to look back at the core ideas. This guide is for beginners, but remember that every time you do magick, it’s an opportunity to learn about magick. And that makes experts into beginners all over again.

It also means the very first time you do magick you might get a fantastic result. And that makes you an instant expert.

What is magick anyway?

With magick, you can attract and manifest what you want and remove or change the things you don’t like. You can change yourself, you can affect other people, and you can increase your chances of success, good fortune and all kinds of opportunity. It’s not like being given a bag of wishes, but it is like being told you can twist fate and fortune to get more of the life you want while refining yourself in the process. We believe in personal empowerment through supernatural means to uncover and obtain your true desires.

What does it feel like, doing magick?

The first time you do magick, you might feel anything from silly to frightened. Whatever you feel is down to you, because I promise that there are no angry spirits there waiting for an opportunity to jump out on you. Well, even if there are, the magick has been designed to send away anything that you don’t want to be around. A ritual can feel heady, strange and mystical, or dull, stupid and like you’ve wasted your time. Try not to worry either way and just keep at it. If you try finger-painting as an adult, that can feel weird too. Whether you’re a brilliant painter or terrible at drawing, getting out the finger paints makes you feel anything from stupid and foolish to ambitious and creative. Magick’s a bit like that. But the results of magick are better than finger painting.

Will I have to dress up and say weird things?

You might have to say some things that sound weird at first, but you get used to that. If you want to wear robes, light candles and burn incense, you can head off to the local occult shop and get all the goodies you want. But we don’t use anything like that, and the books show how tiny changes in how you feel during a ritual are a thousand times more effective than any of the costumes and props. You will find your way, and you might find a way you like to dress, a time and place you like to be. Or you might do magick anywhere and everywhere. It’s up to you.

Do I have to make myself believe in magick?

Don’t force yourself to believe that it will work. But if you’re reading this, it’s probably because you do believe. Just a tiny bit? Something you’ve seen or felt (even if it was long ago) means you do believe that you can change the world in a supernatural way. A great way to start is to use magick for just a few things (not loads and loads of things, trying to change your whole life at once). Do this with some things that are easy to obtain, and some that are more out of reach. Have calm confidence. Act as though you believe in magick.  Do the magick. Forget about the magick once it’s done. And then when it works, celebrate and do some more.

Is magick dangerous or evil?

It’s not dangerous. If you think it’s evil, nobody can change your mind. If you fear magick or think it’s against your religion, we can’t convince you of anything. But we know people from many faiths, and many atheists, who work with magick and see remarkable changes. Some magick that we publish includes work with demons. If that’s not to your liking, steer clear. But sometimes, using this kind of magick is better than letting the evil of others continue to cause harm. Moral questions like this are for you to answer. But magick’s certainly not dangerous if you read carefully and act sincerely. The internet will tell you it’s dangerous, just as it will tell you that everything is dangerous, but if magick was so deadly, would there be so many of us thriving with the occult? Magick can help you live a beautiful life.

Is it fair for me to have more than other people?

If you live in a country such as the US, and if you’re above the poverty line, you probably have more than most people in the world already. What we think of as struggling would seem like riches to most people in the world. The distribution of wealth is not fair, whether you use magick or not. Magick enables you to get more wealth if you want, which may mean others get less. But you’re not robbing from one other person; you are taking a bigger slice of the pie. It’s up to you to decide how much you want. And one thing’s for sure; if you are charitable, you can do more good creative work, and help more people when you are wealthy.

Won’t there be backlash, bad karma or some kind of payback?

No. If there was, we really wouldn’t live like this. If you’re afraid of magick, it’s best to try something else, but people who use magick find it’s safe and there’s never any kind of punishment for getting what you want. Our world is full of inequality and imbalance, so it’s wrong to assume that things naturally balance out. They don’t – just watch the news; evil often goes unpunished and good people suffer unfairly, without anything being balanced out. Imbalance is the way of the world, and it’s the same with magick. If you gain an advantage with magick, you gain an advantage and that’s all there is to it. Consider yourself fortunate and use your gifts well.

Isn’t your magick all materialistic?

The first books Damon Brand published were about subjects like money and seduction. He was trying to show that magick works on real-world problems that matter to real people (not just snooty members of High Magickal Orders who take themselves far too seriously). He was also showing that all magick is spiritual in its own way. Magick changes you too, so even if you’re doing money magick, you probably find that you begin to see the world in a new way. You see potential. The potential to cause change through your decisions and simple rituals. Most people find that as they gain more and more, they become more generous and open to the world. Also, many of our books aid direct spiritual exploration and empowerment.

Will this make me go all weirdly spiritual?

Not unless you want it to. But if you’re going to explore the spiritual side of yourself, magick can help you find out who you are, what you want, and what you want to do with your life. That is one of the most significant powers you can ever have.

Will this magick solve all my problems right away?

We wish, but no. Results can come quickly, and there are thousands of stories telling us this. On the day this guide was written, here’s what one reviewer wrote about Archangels of Magick: “I’m in awe. I did one ritual the day after the book came out and got results the next day.” But if you always expect it to be that good, that fast, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Magick is like getting an excellent telescope. It works brilliantly when there’s a clear sky. On cloudy nights, not so much. The books guide you to clear skies.

Is there one kind of magick that works best?

No. Some groups will tell you they know the best way, and The Gallery of Magick probably looks like one of those groups, but we just offer what we’ve found to be effective. We’ve now seen it work for many thousands of people. We have shown ritual magick methods using many techniques, from angelic magick to chaos magick. We have lots more to share, and fully respect that many other kinds of magick can and do work. We share what we think works best, with the minimum of fuss. People often ask, where does magick come from, and the most straightforward answer is that it comes from millennia of magickal practice. People have been doing this and getting results, mostly in secret and behind the scenes, for a very long time. If you’ve found magick, think of yourself as one of the lucky ones.

Do I have to ‘let go’ of desire, like with The Law of Attraction?

Not really. Strong desire is a great thing because if there’s one thing that makes magick fire up, it’s a sincere desire. But what you need to avoid is trying to force things. Doing too much magick, and mentally demanding that you get your result right now, in this way, at this time and place – that ruins magick. We often talk about ‘letting go of lust for result,’ but it just means you get on with your life in the ordinary world, and you let the magick do its bit. Don’t pester the magick with fears, doubts, and constant wondering about whether it’s working. Assume it has already worked and it will.

But can I be specific about what I want?

There is an art to magick, and you’ll get the hang of it quickly. If you ask too broadly, like, ‘I want to be happy,’ it’s not going to work because you’re not really asking for anything. The magick is too watered down. But if you say, ‘I want to inherit $50,000 from Auntie Jane within three months,’ you’re placing way too many restrictions on the magick, and Auntie Jane will not die just for your benefit. Restrictions like this mean magick has no room left to be creative. Magick is creative, so get out of the way and let it come up with solutions for you. The best approach is to ask for something that could happen, but that is currently out of reach, and allow it to come to you in any way it wants. That way you get pleasant surprises. The books all provide great detail on exactly how to do this, so don’t worry; it’s easy. (Oh, and nobody ever dies or gets hurt to bring you money, so you can forget about that superstition. If it were true, I’d have no relatives left.)

What if the magick seemed to work?

Accept that it was magick, even if it feels like a coincidence, even if it wasn’t quite what you asked for, and even if it came in a way that wasn’t what you expected. Do that, and magick works better next time.  Above all else, enjoy the result. Feel good and grateful that magick worked, and then magick works more often.

What if it doesn’t work?

Try again from a different angle. I remember when I first heard you could make a diamond fall in half if you just tapped it in the right place, in the right direction. A diamond can grind through hardened steel, but if you know just where to tap it, it slides apart. Reality is like that as well. Most of the time, if you ask for what you sincerely want, it works. If it doesn’t, small adjustments usually do the trick and the details are in the books.

How fast does magick work?

It can work in seconds, or years, but usually in days or weeks. But I think of it like this. Imagine if somebody gave you a Golden Magick Rabbit that could make wishes come true just by rubbing the gold on its back. But at the same time, they told you, ‘It might not work the first time. It might not work well for years. But you can keep it for the rest of your life.’ What would you do? I’d start rubbing the Golden Rabbit, knowing that eventually, I’d have this immensely powerful way of getting what I wanted. Lots of people get into magick, and it’s like they’ve been given the Golden Rabbit, but somebody forgot to tell them to be patient. They throw the rabbit away two weeks later. And that’s such a waste. But I also love hearing that for lots of people magick works first time, and then most of the time. When you discover magick, remember that life is long, and you have plenty of time to get this right. If you try to solve every problem today, it’s like rubbing that Golden Rabbit so hard that you scrape the skin off your hand and achieve nothing, and then you get angry at your blood-stained rabbit. Magick can work fast, but remember that you’ll get better and better at knowing when and how to use magick. Knowing what to ask for and when is the primary skill, and that will come to you.

Why does magick work?

Nobody knows for sure, but when you do magick and get a result, you get an exquisite feeling about why it works. If you only ever read books and make guesses about what it could all mean, you get caught somewhere between God and quantum physics. Do the magick, feel the change happen, and that’s a great starting point for finding the answer. Magick is not a box of miracles. Give it time, enjoy it, and let it become part of your life, easily and without pressure. And when you get into magick, you will see miraculous things happen.

How can I get good at magick?

Two simple ways. First, read about practical magick. Then do the magick. Read the books fully. Read as many of our blog posts as you can. And then do some magick. You don’t learn to ride a bike by reading the manual and then looking at your bike. Get on and ride!

Is this a comprehensive beginner’s guide?

No. It’s a really short and utterly incomplete guide to magick. It’s a starting point. The books, the posts and FAQs on this website, they will all help. And your personal experience – that’s the ultimate guide to magick.

OK, so which is the best book for my problem?

There’s a lot of magick to choose from. When faced with too much choice people cave in, read nothing and stay right where they are. We’ve published over twenty books, but it might be easier if you pick one of these and get started.

Sigils of Power and Transformation by Adam Blackthorne, for everything from self-confidence to luck, from healing to protection, and from inspiration and intuition to love.

Magickal Cashbook by Damon Brand, for bursts of money out of the blue.

Archangels of Magick by Damon Brand. There are rituals easy enough for beginners, with methods that can last you a lifetime. Our ultimate book of magick.

To wet your toes and see how simple magick can be, try Words of Power.

And remember. Magick works, but only if you do magick.