| REVIEWS Maat Magick, By Nema Reviewed By
Donald Michael Kraig About ten years ago, a bookstore in Hollywood, known for having one of the best occult sections (both new and used) closed its doors. Gilbert's Books had been a fixture on Hollywood Boulevard. For fun, Israel Regardie used to hang out there and listen to what people said about various occultists and the occult in general. Shortly after the bookstore closed, a letter appeared in Fate magazine claiming the reason that the store closed was there were no new good books on the occult and that everybody wanted only the old ones. This was untrue. I had spoken to the owner before the store closed, and he told me he just wanted to retire and couldn't find anyone to buy the entire store. I recently had a talk with a friend of mine in San Diego. We both noted that the number of new occult books we had been purchasing and studying had gone down in number tremendously. We agreed that there are more books being published but they are saying less. But unlike the writer of the letter to Fate, I'm not going to claim that readers only want old books. I believe that what people want is good books. I'd guess that the number of good occult books published each year stays about the same. However, since the total number of occult books that appear has grown over the last decade, the percentage of good ones published yearly has decreased. That's why, when good books do appear, it should be important to make note of them. I'd like to do so when I can. In this issue I'd like to tell you about one of my favorite new books, Maat Magick by Nema (Samuel Weiser, York Beach, ME; 1995). This is the first book by Nema, although she has been known for years in occult circles. She started her occult practices almost 25 years ago and her ideas and writing have appeared in many sources, from journals such as The Cincinnati Journal of Ceremonial Magick to the works of Kenneth Grant. Because of this, Nema has been one of the most influential occultists of the last quarter century although most occultists have never read her works. What Nema has done is influenced those who have been writers and teachers. They, in turn, influenced the rest of us. Perhaps the most important thing to say about Nema is that I've never met a more down-to-earth person than she. Whenever we have talked in the past I've always gotten the impression that there is no need to use fancy words or expressions when a simple, clear word does the job better. This is exemplified in her book. Maat Magick is divided into three sections. The first is one of the most brilliant expositions of the Kabalistic Tree of Life since Dion Fortune's Mystical Qabalah. But before some people run in horror from this (I don't want to learn about those Sephiroth and all that Hebrew stuff!), let me remind you of my previous paragraph. Her explanation is clear, precise and intuitive rather than stuffy and boring. In fact, if you didn't know that this was the Tree of Life, you might not realize that it was Kabalistic at all! In a sense, this is the Tree of Life for people who are not interested in words and what others have said, but rather for the ideas and sensations of what is truly there. If Nema had expanded this section it, by itself, could have been an entire book. The next section is to Nema what Liber Al vel Legis (The Book of the Law) was to Crowley. Just two years after beginning her studies she received a short book called Liber Pennae Praenumbra. And just as Crowley received his word of the Aeon (thelema) in his book, so, too, did Nema receive her word, Ipsos. Notice, however, that I said she received her word, not her word of the Aeon. This is very important to understanding the entire system of Maat Magick. For some time, occultists have said that humanity has gone through several ages or Aeons, roughly coinciding with the astronomical precession of the equinoxes. That is, an age changes about every 2,300 years, give or take several hundred years. Crowley proposed the idea that there was an age of Isis (typified by matriarchal system) followed by the age of Osiris (typified by patriarchal systems) followed by the age of Horus (the New Age?) which we now live in and which began (according to him) in 1904. Each age required its own particular type of magical techniques. Blending magical systems has always been a problem. I have frequently been asked if it is okay to study two or more magical systems at the same time. My answer remains that it depends upon the person. If you can keep the systems separate until you can understand the subtleties of each and not just apply a simplified understanding to join them, then the answer is yes. For many people, however, such simplification does occur, resulting in a dilution of the systems involved and the magick. For such people I suggest learning one system well, then studying others and adding to what you know. Several people and groups have been able to unite different systems into a coherent whole. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn under Mathers was able to do this. Crowley was able to do this. And in Maat Magick, Nema has been able to do this, too. But where Mathers and Crowley mixed things into an excellent stew, Nema has been able to unite them into a tasty broth with flavors from all magical systems yet with a taste all its own. Indeed, Nema proposes that there is no need to pick one system from one astronomical cycle. Instead, you can use trans-aeonic magick, taking from any and all systems and times. The last part of the book is filled with practical rituals and techniques. Each one seamlessly flows from one system to another, incorporating everything from Kabalistic symbolism to Wiccan ritual, from the need of no tools to more elaborate decor, from song to sex magick, from Eastern to Western magical techniques. Everything flows. It neither feels like things put together in some ill thought out hodgepodge of techniques nor a bland blending of simplified magick-for-the-millions. Maat Magick is magick! By its very nature you could incorporate all or part of it into what you are doing. I have already heard of groups starting up just to practice this system. Perhaps more important is this: Most occult books published today are based on what has been. Maat Magick only begins there, adding what currently is going on in the occult world and directing us toward what can be. Even if you don't practice the techniques or agree with her, understanding what Nema has written will help you forge your own path for your future. That, alone, makes this book one which occultists of any style should read. 1996, Donald Michael Kraig | 
