For centuries, familiars have assumed many forms-the heavenly lover of the shaman, the wise imp of the witch, and the elemental companion of the theurgist. But the time-honored practice of summoning a magical assistant has been mostly forsaken due to the false perception that it is both difficult and dangerous. Now, renowned occultist Donald Tyson shares his revolutionary system for safely and successfully summoning, directing, and dismissing a familiar. Accessible to dedicated beginners, these techniques do not require expertise in formal ritual, astrology, or the Kabalah.
Revealed here for the first time is Tyson's unique system for generating spirit sigils based on a set of symbols called Power Glyphs. Familiars summoned by this method become valuable assistants who will do everything in their power to fulfill your goals.
Biography
Donald Tyson is a Canadian from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Early in life he was drawn to science by an intense fascination with astronomy, building a telescope by hand when he was eight. He began university seeking a science degree, but became disillusioned with the aridity and futility of a mechanistic view of the universe and shifted his major to English. After graduating with honors he has pursued a writing career. Now he devotes his life to the attainment of a complete gnosis of the art of magic in theory and practice. His purpose is to formulate an accessible system of personal training composed of East and West, past and present, that will help the individual discover the reason for one's existence and a way to fulfill it.
REVIEWS
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2007
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2016
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2011
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2012
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I like "Familiar Spirits" because it is easy for the practioner with minimal experience in this field to read and comprehend. The book is not full of complex formulae and theory to baffle the novice. The power sigils described in the book correspond to the English alphabet, so no knowledge of Hebrew, numerology or magic squares is required to use them.
The author well explains the common types of spirits humans may come across, whether they are aware of it or not. However, Tyson is very opinionated and doesn't always give adequate justification for why he feels or thinks a certain way. For example, he doesn't believe ghosts are actually the spirits of dead people but spirits who choose to imitate them. He also cautions people to avoid the color black because of its associations to evil in traditional magic. However, Tyson later contradicts himself by stating that the room where the evocation ritual takes place should be devoid of all light except for the altar candles. Tyson also tends to leave out details. For example, he states that the practitioner should face south during the evocation but fails to explain the significance of this direction, as it has nothing to do with the elemental composition of the spirit or its purpose. When Tyson teaches how to choose a magnetic attractor for the spirit vessel, he cites basic correspondences for elementals, but fails to explain how to choose an attractor for a spirit that may have a mix of elements (e.g. 30% earth -30% water - 20% air - 20% fire). However, he covers himself by stating that decisions made in the process of creating a familiar should be based on one's intuition, as well as traditional correspondences.
Another issue I had with the book is that the majority of spirits described in the examples appear to be more servitors than companion spirits, aka familiars. However the evocation ritual calls for extensive preparations: a well-made shrine, spirit vessel, key, daily offerings etc. Why go through so much trouble for a servitor, who may only have one task to perform? Because of the extensive work involved, Tyson fails to include how to set an 'expiration date' for the servitor. Instead, he explains, that to banish a spirit, all items associated with the spirit to be destroyed. I think a simpler method of creating a servitor should have been included in this book.
As others have said in the commentaries, this is a good introduction to interacting with spirits but it is inadvisable to rely on this book as a sole source of information on the subject.
The author well explains the common types of spirits humans may come across, whether they are aware of it or not. However, Tyson is very opinionated and doesn't always give adequate justification for why he feels or thinks a certain way. For example, he doesn't believe ghosts are actually the spirits of dead people but spirits who choose to imitate them. He also cautions people to avoid the color black because of its associations to evil in traditional magic. However, Tyson later contradicts himself by stating that the room where the evocation ritual takes place should be devoid of all light except for the altar candles. Tyson also tends to leave out details. For example, he states that the practitioner should face south during the evocation but fails to explain the significance of this direction, as it has nothing to do with the elemental composition of the spirit or its purpose. When Tyson teaches how to choose a magnetic attractor for the spirit vessel, he cites basic correspondences for elementals, but fails to explain how to choose an attractor for a spirit that may have a mix of elements (e.g. 30% earth -30% water - 20% air - 20% fire). However, he covers himself by stating that decisions made in the process of creating a familiar should be based on one's intuition, as well as traditional correspondences.
Another issue I had with the book is that the majority of spirits described in the examples appear to be more servitors than companion spirits, aka familiars. However the evocation ritual calls for extensive preparations: a well-made shrine, spirit vessel, key, daily offerings etc. Why go through so much trouble for a servitor, who may only have one task to perform? Because of the extensive work involved, Tyson fails to include how to set an 'expiration date' for the servitor. Instead, he explains, that to banish a spirit, all items associated with the spirit to be destroyed. I think a simpler method of creating a servitor should have been included in this book.
As others have said in the commentaries, this is a good introduction to interacting with spirits but it is inadvisable to rely on this book as a sole source of information on the subject.
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2016
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While I have not put this into practice, I appreciate Tyson's approach to the subject as he aims to show the reader how it isn't always necessary to follow a specific set of traditional guidelines to achieve the same results. I would have liked to have read more details on how specific attibutes (bodily features etc) came to him, though. Maybe one day this one will be reprinted with such additional details. I really like Tyson's works and respect his decision for not joining certain orders in favor of following his own path.
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2011
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Had lots of good info, but it made a simple thing complicated. I read the chapter on sigils twice before finally giving up in frustration. It had the usual Wiccan flavor to it,(which always makes things more work and trouble) that seems to be getting more and more difficult to find books without it.
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2012
Honestly, there are not nearly enough workable books available about familiar spirits out there and so I had high expectations of this one. However, after the first few chapters I was already taking issue with the author. For one thing, he presents his own opinions as fact far too often.
One such example is the author stating that ghosts are not really the spirits of dead people, but are spirits masquerading as your loved ones who have passed away. He doesn't quote from any other sources who share this opinion or give any background into how he came up with this idea. He also claims that, among any large group, that at least 2-3 people are currently being possessed by spirits. This rather came across as akin to the beliefs and paranoia of some Christian groups--that evil spirits are always looking to take possession of you. Once again, there was no other source he used to back up this rather outrageous assertation.
He also breaks down spirits into three groups, Good (angelic), Evil (demonic), and Neutral (earthly spirits that can be good or bad or mixed good and bad). This is not really the way of most modern Witches, some of whom don't believe in all Evil or all Good spirits. He also speaks about elemental spirits and how they aren't just one element or another (that's the elementals), but are spirits tied to various elements. That idea makes sense, but then he gets way too concrete by describing how these elemental spirits tend to appear...down to their hair color and shape of their faces. He also says that a familiar spirit who is an elemental spirit can have 50% water and 25% earth and 25% air to them. This is also a bit too concrete a way of looking at spirits.
The power glyphs seems a good idea, but more aimed at Magicians than Witches. The whole control aspect seemed to fall more into the former boat rather than the latter. I'd recommend this book far more to would-be Magicians than Witches any day. Witches generally do not seek nor have a controlling relationship with their spirit familiars.
He does have some good ideas about what to do with unwelcome spirits who show up and how to attract familiar spirits to you. He definitely got it right when he stated that the more important part about attracting spirit familiars is by the strength of your own desire, your emotions. There were also some interesting pieces about the Watchers, Lilith, spiritualism, and so on. Still, the book may be too confusing for a beginner and even a bit off-putting to some who do not share the worldview of the author and who are not into the framework of spirits that he presents as just a bit too concretized...especially when you are talking about Otherworldly beings.
An interesting book, but I'll keep on looking for one that is more useful and less opinionated.
One such example is the author stating that ghosts are not really the spirits of dead people, but are spirits masquerading as your loved ones who have passed away. He doesn't quote from any other sources who share this opinion or give any background into how he came up with this idea. He also claims that, among any large group, that at least 2-3 people are currently being possessed by spirits. This rather came across as akin to the beliefs and paranoia of some Christian groups--that evil spirits are always looking to take possession of you. Once again, there was no other source he used to back up this rather outrageous assertation.
He also breaks down spirits into three groups, Good (angelic), Evil (demonic), and Neutral (earthly spirits that can be good or bad or mixed good and bad). This is not really the way of most modern Witches, some of whom don't believe in all Evil or all Good spirits. He also speaks about elemental spirits and how they aren't just one element or another (that's the elementals), but are spirits tied to various elements. That idea makes sense, but then he gets way too concrete by describing how these elemental spirits tend to appear...down to their hair color and shape of their faces. He also says that a familiar spirit who is an elemental spirit can have 50% water and 25% earth and 25% air to them. This is also a bit too concrete a way of looking at spirits.
The power glyphs seems a good idea, but more aimed at Magicians than Witches. The whole control aspect seemed to fall more into the former boat rather than the latter. I'd recommend this book far more to would-be Magicians than Witches any day. Witches generally do not seek nor have a controlling relationship with their spirit familiars.
He does have some good ideas about what to do with unwelcome spirits who show up and how to attract familiar spirits to you. He definitely got it right when he stated that the more important part about attracting spirit familiars is by the strength of your own desire, your emotions. There were also some interesting pieces about the Watchers, Lilith, spiritualism, and so on. Still, the book may be too confusing for a beginner and even a bit off-putting to some who do not share the worldview of the author and who are not into the framework of spirits that he presents as just a bit too concretized...especially when you are talking about Otherworldly beings.
An interesting book, but I'll keep on looking for one that is more useful and less opinionated.
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