Pragmatic Magical Thinking - by Ari Freeman (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Reclaiming magic and magical thought in the modern, mainstream world

The modern Western world has often raised its eyebrows at magic, associating it with madness and superstition. However, this ignores the fact of the matter that magic is a universal human experience which has existed in a multitude of forms across time and space.

Now, in his groundbreaking book, Ari Freeman presents his argument that magic is still a human universal - we've just forgotten how to talk about it!

Laying out clear and concise arguments, Pragmatic Magical Thinking will enlighten readers to how magic can be a practical approach to achieving real world results, drawing on evidence from science, philosophy, history and anthropology.

For both beginners at magic, and the long practicing witch or wizard, Ari Freeman's book is a breath of fresh air for the world of magical studies, inviting readers to join him in placing magic in it's rightful place as a serious and mainstream subject of conversation and enquiry.

Pragmatic Magical Thinking covers a wide and comprehensive selection of subjects in relation to your magical education. These include, but are not limited to: magic and memory, spirits, belief, magic in everyday life, science and magic, religion and magic, Kabbalist cosmology and morality.

Review Quotes

"This intriguing book sets out to launch a conversation about how much of traditional occultism can be understood from within a philosophically literate modern worldview. Thoughtful and refreshingly open-minded, it's worth a close reading from occultists and rationalists alike."
John Michael Greer, author of The Occult Philosophy Workbook

"Ari Freeman has turned the tables. Pragmatic Magical Thinking has taken typical arguments and assumptions used to discredit magic, and used them to justify, explain and actually celebrate magical thinking."
Ramsey Dukes, author of The Little Book of Demons and How to See Fairies

"Using tools from science, philosophy, history, and anthropology, Ari Freeman writes on magic from a twenty-first century perspective. He debunks the scientific reductionist view of the world, he believes, and I agree, changing your mind, really can change your reality. Freeman makes his arguments elegantly in this deep, but accessible book. Recommended."
Elisabeth Brooke, author of Goddess Astrology and A Woman's Book of Shadows

About the Author

Ari Freeman is a writer, fortune teller, public wizard and autodidact. He has over twenty years of experience as a performing professional musician, and spent seven years as the apprentice to the Wizard of New Zealand, which involved discussing philosophy, politics and magic out on the streets with an enthusiastic general public. Freeman writes about magic and how it can be found in art, science, religion, modern society, as well as the occult and indigenous cultures. His goal is to bridge the gap between magical practitioners and skeptics, towards a world where we can all talk to each other. Ari lives in Christchurch, New Zealand.