Truthfully no classical grimoire is truly a “beginner text”; they are dense and old and require careful and educated reading and application. You will pick one, it will be your first, but there’s none that will really be a welcoming and “safe” text for someone who isn’t already well versed in basic metaphysics and magical techniques. In most ways Classical magic is an intermediate to advanced level practice. It’s also why many people on here doing Classical magic aren’t interested in providing “beginner resources” to idle questions, or post 101 info on our blogs. We just aren’t doing beginner-level work
There’s nothing wrong with being a beginner, it’s just not where someone doing a sixteenth century book of magic is at in their practice. There is no “Classical magic 101” text, besides maybe taking some of Jason Miller’s online courses (which are well worth it and would prepare you decently). Instead of impossibly searching for “baby’s first grimoire”, you should focus on developing fundamental skills that will assist you in Classical magic, then just pick one that appeals to you. You should solidly have foundations under your belt such as:
Multiple divination methods
Psychic development, including lucid dreaming, astral projection, and scrying
Defensive and protective magic
A well-developed, practically-oriented spirit court
Experience in fasting and abstinence
Rudimentary knowledge of basic correspondences pertaining to plants and planets, for instance
A basic understanding of practical metaphysics (Why techniques work as they work)
Daily magical routines to keep your skills sharp and fresh
If you haven’t yet developed all of these skills, you really aren’t prepared to do more complex books of magic that also require research and understanding of historical context coming from the time they were written.
It’s fine if you’re a beginner and interested in doing Classical texts but do yourself a favor and get basic fundamentals under your belt first. That should be at the top of your agenda. Without them it’s just going to be an unfruitful and frustrating, or dangerous, endeavor.
I think Tumblr also needs to get over the mindset that everything should just be immediately accessible and doable to them as well. You gotta learn to walk before you can dance. Slow your roll and set yourself up for success rather than trying to (sometimes in a lazy and entitled way) skip the work we all have done so you can immediately do something “cool”.
This is also why advanced practitioners are frustrated with questions such as these.
annaxmalina
andulkaphoto
dailybridgerton
kianamaiart
kaledo-art
blakekathryn
tangentwithtanner
jacobvanloon
turnnoffyourmind
