Pagan Studies - Reviews
Where Do Demons Live?
Where Do Demons Live?
Everything You Want to Know About Magic
Frater U.:D.:, Llewellyn 2010
4/5 Broomsticks
In Where Do Demons Live? Frater U.:D.: assumes the persona of “Aunt Klara”, an agony aunt for occultniks to deliver lectures on magickal combat, magickal music, and the models of magick (with a focus on the elusive cybernetic model). The twenty-eight mini essays presented here originally appeared as a part of “Aunt Klara’s Temple of Solace”, a column written for the German periodical Anubis, collected here in their entirety. The result — reminiscent of Aleister Crowley’s Magick Without Tears — is a collection of refreshingly direct advice on all things magickal.
For example, when “Thomas B.” inquires as to whether a master is necessary, Aunt Klara responds sagely that “[n]o master can relieve you of the basic practical work that you will have to do, and no teacher can protect you from having to just dive headfirst into the cold water so that you can learn through ‘trial and error’.” She concludes that “[i]t is not a master that you need. What you really need is the courage to finally tackle the situation yourself.” Sensible and to the point.
However, while the responses are always level-headed, they’re not as complete as they could be. Such is the case when Aunt Klara proclaims that Satanism has “nothing at all to do with magic” — which isn’t strictly true. Further, whereas Nietzsche gets a mention, Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, and Michael Aquino, founder of the Temple of Set, are omitted entirely and the opportunity to set the record straight about modern Satanism is lost. Overall this is a great little book, and Aunt Klara’s no-nonsense approach will undoubtedly be beneficial to anyone wanting a straight answer to questions common to magicians of all disciplines.
NICO MARA-MCKAY.
Witches&Pagans #23 - Law and Chaos
