Magick Matters

“The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win” by Maria Konnikova

"It's true that Maria Konnikova had never actually played poker before and didn't even know the rules when she approached Erik Seidel, Poker Hall of Fame inductee and winner of tens of millions of dollars in earnings, and convinced him to be her mentor. But she knew her man: a famously thoughtful and broad-minded player, he was intrigued by her pitch that she wasn't interested in making money so much as learning about life. She had faced a stretch of personal bad luck, and her reflections on the role of chance had led her to a giant of game theory, who pointed her to poker as the ultimate master class in learning to distinguish...>>

“AWE: The Automatic Writing Experience” by Michael Sandler (kindle ebook version)

"The Automatic Writing Experience, AWE, is like having the world’s greatest coach right in your back pocket. Ever grabbed the steering wheel, and yanked it to the side, just in the nick of time? Or ever picked up the phone to call someone, only to find they’re already there! Inside of each one of us, is an inner wisdom just waiting to come out. It’s the voice that had you turn the wheel or pick up the phone. And this inner knowing has the answers to your most pressing questions. Where do I go? What do I do? Why am I even here? Or even how do I get out of this mess? The answers are closer...>>

“The Devil and His Advocates” by Erik Butler

"Satan is not God’s enemy in the Bible, and he’s not always bad—much less evil. Through the lens of the Old and New Testaments, Erik Butler explores the Devil in literature, theology, visual art, and music from antiquity up to the present, discussing canonical authors (Dante, Milton, and Goethe among them) and a wealth of lesser-known sources. Since his first appearance in the Book of Job, Satan has pursued a single objective: to test human beings, whose moral worth and piety leave plenty of room for doubt. Satan can be manipulative, but at worst he facilitates what mortals are inclined to do anyway. “The Devil made me do it” does not hold up in...>>