The Ritual Magic Workbook: A Practical Course of Self-Initiation
Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki

Thorsons Publications 1991 , ISBN 0-85030-467-9

Miss Ashcroft-Nowicki, leading member of the Servants of the Light, uses this book to introduce the reader to rituals primarily meant to support the spirituality of her organisation, which may be termed as vaguely rosicrucian. The psychologized, passive "Golden Dawn light" style popular in the USA is watered down even more and reduced to almost exclusively quasi-religious and autosuggestive elements. What it all comes down to is that "The Ritual Magic Workbook" still contains rituals, but hardly any magic in the sense of initiatory insight, consciousness expansion and - here comes the bad word - power. Instead, exercises often less intense than a beginners' course in meditation are advertised with inappropriate phrases of mysteries.
Still, what the author has gained by paying this high price is considerable. She has designed a really gentle introduction into magical ceremonies that is beginner-oriented in the best sense of the word and can be performed even by absolute beginners without any outside help. The book is laid out as a course for finishing which the nominal time-frame of one year should easily suffice. Within this year, the reader learns basic techniques and an outline of said magical worldview and - which is probably the author's highest merit - is also forced to think a lot. With her strongly ideological approach, it is logical for Ashcroft-Nowicki to stress the importance of having a magical and spiritual worldview supporting the ritual practice. Especially for the beginners this book is aimed at, this is a lot more helpful than the usual "summaries" of the magical view of the world found in many beginners' books shortly before the long list of insufficiently-described rituals.
As opposed to these, the work being discussed here describes relatively complex rituals at considerable length. Although, as has been mentioned already, little magic takes place during the course of them, the psychodramatic effect especially of the rites in the last part of the book can be very interesting. However, the ritual instructions also contain much to be criticized. For one thing, the calls to the gods used are so long and so explicitly detailed almost all rituals will require learing the ritual texts for days, or using lecture notes. The other problem is that the author demands a long list of squeamishly detailed material tools, without notifying the beginner who cannot know better of the fact the rituals will also work without, say, the exactly prescribed form of the candle-holders. This drawback is what costs the fifth star. The fourth one would have gone out to a book less dogmatic in ideology and practice. Three stars remain, for a book that at least can still be recommended to insecure freshmen to western magic.