The reviews are coming in for Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy and so far the book has been well-received. One of my goals was to write up the system in a way that appealed to practitioners of both grimoire and Enochian magick, and from these two reviews it seems that I’ve succeeded.
The first thing that impressed me about the book was to be found in the first page following the table of contents, (always a good sign when you find yourself agreeing with the author before the third paragraph) and that is that Scott differentiates between Ceremonial and Ritual Magick, which is something he and I have in common, and also where we diverge from the majority. Though out definitions are different, I like that he too makes the distinction where most just lump both practices together and use the terms interchangeably.
Another point of convergence between Scott’s beliefs and my own is in the correct pronunciation of the Enochian tongue. As I’ve mentioned before, I am no Enochian scholar or adept and defer gladly to most of the authors who’ve written on the subject, but I just can’t agree with the elongated Golden Dawn style pronunciation.
The rites he presents herein are easy to follow and, much to my liking, do not require one to have attained the understanding of the Enochian system that accompanies lifelong study. Part of what has stopped me from delving into this system despite its power is that it is overwhelmingly complex and I simply lack the time to study it in depth. This is a book that will enable those interested in the field of Magick to dive on in, and do so in a far more logical and true manner that works such as Schueler’s, bringing us one step closer to the Magick OF John Dee, as opposed to the modern adaptations which bear little resemblance.
– Michael Cecchetelli, author of “Crossed Keys” and “Mardukite Magick”, from The Lion’s Den
Michael Cecchetelli is a well-known practitioner of grimoire magick and his Crossed Keys, “Being a Chimeric Binding of Both The Black Dragon and the Enchiridion of Pope Leo III,” was published by Scarlet Imprint in January.
Scott Stenwick has given us a worthy addition to the contemporary Enochian corpus in “Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy.” The first book to outline a system of practice for working with the Planetary system of Dr. John Dee and Sir Edward Kelley, the “Heptarchy” is both a succinct explanation of the source material and a clear outline of how it can be used by Enochian research groups today. Author Stenwick’s eclectic style reflects an approach to spirituality that is in wide use among contemporary Enochian magicians, bringing together practices dating back to the sixteenth century and earlier, and twenty-first century approaches that have grown out of the work of late modern esotericists like the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley. At the same time, Stenwick is careful to make clear which parts of his book postdate the work of Dee and Kelley, and to offer suggestions for practitioners who prefer to work in a more traditional methodology.
Although there are a few rough spots–the book would benefit from the services of a careful editor to fix the odd typo and massage the occasional weak phrasing–these are minor matters. This is, after all, intended to be used as a contemporary grimoire, not an academic opus.
In fact, such lapses are few and easily ignored, and are very much outweighed by the book’s many strong points. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in Enochian, next to those of Lon Milo Duquette, Colin Campbell, Aleister Crowley, Joseph Peterson, Aaron Leitch, Teresa Burns, and others.
– R. Christopher Feldman, author of “A Question of Authorship: John Dee, Edward Kelley, and the ‘Angelic Conversations.'” from Amazon Reviews.
Christopher Feldman is a well-known Enochian practitioner, so between these two reviews I seem to have hit my target audience pretty well. I have a lot of respect for all those authors he lists, and it’s quite heartening to see my new book compared favorably with theirs.
Michael and Christopher, know that you have my thanks. I’m glad to hear that both of you enjoyed the book, and I look forward to many more reviews to come. Hopefully those will be just as good as more people read the book, explore the Heptarchial system, and report their findings.
My article “Remembering the Satanic Panic” has been published in Occultist magazine. The article first appeared over on Augoeides, and it talks about some of the nonsense that was going on in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s when Christian fundamentalists were running around claiming that huge Satanic cults were running America. Obviously, this was not the case. There have never been more than a few thousand Satanists out there, and most of them are just atheists who like spooking people.
Scott Michael Stenwick 