All three books of Francis Barrett's superb compendium of occult thought are presented in this single volume, complete with the original charts and illustrations. Commencing with Magic, we are offered a comprehensive accounts of its capabilities and the tools needed for its use. Natural magic is defined, as are the many philters and potions which may be created and imbued with its essence. Various historical examples of magicians who had, for good or ill, gained public notice for their practices are given. The later chapters meanwhile concern the properties of magical stones such as the legendary Philosophers Stone, and the arcane arts of combining creatures of nature, and the sometimes monstrous results. The Magus itself is termed the Celestial Intelligencer; beginning with a basic account of the four elements, we traverse each in more detail before delving into the more esoteric practices. The symbolism of numbers and of the astronomical bodies of the heavens are detailed, sometimes with charts.

The Book of the Law, the holy text that forms the basis of Thelema, was transmitted to Crowley by the entity known as Aiwass in Cairo, on three successive days during April 1904. Acting as a medium, Crowley recorded the communications on hotel notepads and later organized his automatic writing into a short, coherent document. Aiwass/Crowley presents The Book of the Law as an expression of three god-forms in three chapters: Nuit, Hadit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit.

Stephen Skinner has been interested in magic for as long as he can remember. He wrote, with Francis King, the classic "Techniques of High Magic" in 1976. He followed that with "Oracle of Geomancy and Terrestrial Astrology" which has become the standard work on Western divinatory geomancy. Books on Nostradamus and Millennium Prophecies followed in highly illustrated editions. Stephen is also the author of eight books on feng shui, including the first one written in English in the 20th century. In the 1970s he was responsible for stimulating interest in John Dee and Enochian magic by publishing the first reprint of Casaubon's "True and Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Yeers between Dr John Dee and some Spirits", and Dr Donald Laycock's key reference book on the angelic language "The Complete Enochian Dictionary". With David Rankine, he discovered what happened to Dee's most important manuscript, his personal book of angelic invocations which he kept in Latin, and how it was preserved and developed in the 17th century into a full working Enochian system. Only ten percent of this material reached the unpublished archives of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and even this was then suppressed by the chiefs of the Order, so it did not appear in Israel Regardie's monumental work on the Order rituals and documents. They have also traced the routes down which were passed the classic techniques of invocation and evocation from late mediaeval grimoires, through Dee's magic, via Ashmole, and the aristocratic angel magicians of the 17th century, and Frederick Hockley to the senior magicians of the Golden Dawn.

Since the Genie is the "ghost" writer for the book, it is appropriate to let the Genie say a few words about himself:

"I am a genie. You may wonder what that really means and how I come to write this little book. Well, fi rst of all, I am not from or of your world. I live in a dimension of fi re and light. I am basically a fi re spirit. Just so you know, we genies are alive. We don't experience life as you do, but we are living, thinking creatures.

"You humans take us genies for granted. Most of you have very little idea of the tremendous service that we provide for your kind. Everything in your world that is of a fi ery or electrical nature is administrated by a genie or djinn assigned to that function. Without us, your world as you know it would cease to exist. Even the very sun that is the source of life and nourishment for your planet is a mighty Djinn."

From within the book, the Wizard Merlyn has a few thoughts about the book that he would like to share:

"Know, my little friend, that what you hold in your hands is a key to the mysteries of life, and that it has greater depth and importance than you initially can discern. Through these pages you have been given permission to enter other realms, and-once you have entered in, and as you maintain the requirements of each domain-you may travel within again and again for growth, learning, healing, inspiration and creation."