The New Encyclopedia of the Occult

This is a great occult reference encyclopedia about the occult and literally contains everything you ever wanted to know about the occult and magick. I cannot imagine the amount of time that must have went into researching this book and Greer's writings seem incredibly accurate even about some of the less known items. The book also has a huge bibliography section which could be very useful to enlarge your magical library. I was so impressed by this book that I will be ordering another one of Greer's books next.

NO Pagan, Witch, Occulist, Magickian or Philosopher should be without this book. There is NO EXCUSE. This is the most phoenomenal book of its kind. JMG must have spent years creating this. I have never found a more helpful, clear yet complete guide for the Occult sciences and all things Pagan. This cleared more things up for me than many other books ever could. This is brilliant. Pick up a copy; you will be thrilled that you did.

If you have even a borderline interest in the mystic and the occult, and have been struggling with terms like Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, Tree of Life, Merkabah.. not being able to figure out what they were about, and more importantly, what was their connection and inner logic? Well, this book will explain and organize it for you in the first reading (i had a number of AHAAAA! moments during the first read), and then it will be a permanent reference source. Real nice book to own.

I'll join my fellow reviewers and say this book is excellent! It has the right philosophical standards every encyclopedia should have: Neutrality and a very slight skeptical nodd at the more controversial subjects (like the life of LaVey, things like womenbreast-divination and the more racistical occult philosopies). Unlike most other occult refference books it has a very wide time range, covering topics dating from the ancient past to postmodern suburbian Americanism. I won't bother to highlight interesting topics for they are too great in number but I can say that I like the special attention for geomancy (because you have to admit, this subject was getting a little bit dusty). I know Greer is an expert on geomancy, I think that's the reason. This is one of those rare encyclopedias that you will read in bed before going to sleep.

One of the most extensive publications on the occult, "The New Encyclopedia of the Occult" does an excellent job of explaining various words, philosophies, historical events, individuals, and practices of the occult traditions without pushing a personal agenda. This is what a reference work should be - a neutral exposition of the facts. Everything imaginable is covered in this exhaustive tome. For most entries there is also at least one reference at the end to point the reader to additional material on that entry. To give you an idea of the breadth of the information, some of the areas covered include magic, alchemy, astrology, tarot cards, palmistry, geomancy, the Golden Dawn, Rosicrucians, Freemasons, and religions like Wicca, Thelema, Thosophy, and paganism. "The New Enclyclopedia of the Occult" is a highly recommended read for anyone interested in a scholarly reference work on the occult.