[Book Review] The Dark History of the Occult: Magic, Madness, and Murder

                I have just recently finished reading A Dark History of the Occult by Paul Roland. I bought this book many years ago for its enticing cover and taboo subject; however, I didn’t read it for a long time despite being drawn in within the first line. Hell, the first 3 pages were genuine and immediately challenged my recently denounced Christian faith. As to why it took me years to pick up again, I can’t say, but I’m glad I did.

                The cover is beautiful and spans the eons of humanity’s existence, immediately foreshadowing the rich history of the occult. The size of the book, untraditional by standard, suited the subject matter, which was another subtlety that I liked. With impressive content and the expertise to back it up, Paul had enticed me into purchasing the book.

                The content itself is executed in 5 Chapters *(plus an introduction). It identifies “Satan”, the history of magic and a brief comparison of some main religions, witchcraft, and more. I must admit, with such an ambiguous subject to be covered in 203 pages (not to mention large pictures), I was worried Paul was going to skimp over vital information that experts sometimes forget to explain or present the information in a haphazard way. To my delight, he didn’t do either.

                The Dark History of the Occult challenged some of the darker corners of my life that I hadn’t illuminated with reason, such as what the manifestation of evil was and symbolism in Christian concepts. Once he had brought what I knew under a microscope and enabled me to objectively view the subject matter, for I do like to keep an open mind to different views, he explored the occult in-depth.

                The history is rich, and I discovered many things I wish I wouldn’t have about the Catholic Church, but such “righteousness” *(some would call evil), must never be forgotten. Even progressing through modern times, Paul explained modern influence of the occult. My favorite part was in rock and roll, but the early 1900 stories of Crowley were fun to read as well. He also convinced me to read H.P. Lovecraft’s work ‘Necronomicon’.

                There's so much about this book that I'm excluding, but I can promise you, all of it is interesting. If you're wanting to know more about the neo-Pagan movement or just want to expound on your knowledge of religion, I highly encourage you to read The Dark History of the Occult (subtext Magic, madness and murder). The link to the book and where to purchase it can be found here:

 http://www.amazon.com/The-Dark-History-Occult-Madness/dp/0785827137/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1411627731&sr=8-1