This is not a book of magic as spellcasting and it's not Wicca 101. This is a book for people who are serious about the challenging and rewarding path of The Great Work, the transformation of self through communion with the Divine.

T. Thorn Coyle is quite simply one of the most talented and sophisticated of Pagan teachers, and in this book she presents life-tested techniques with an attitude of both seriousness and joy.

This is a book about how to use magical-spiritual practices as the foundation for transforming the personality through meditation, purification, self-examination, facing inner demons and shadows, and cultivating an ever-deeper connection with the Divine. Although her perspective and theology are distinctly Pagan, most of the the techniques can be applied by people of other faiths, especially if one is willing to translate her terms into ones one more comfortable and familiar. Thorn herself frequently mentions practices from a variety of mystical traditions as possible options for approaching specific parts of the work.

Thorn's style is conversational but never condescending. She presents advanced spiritual concepts simply and clearly. In fact, this text helped me achieve several breakthroughs around topics I've studied before but never grasped until now.

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Thorn Coyle writes books which are generally lacking for magical practitioners, covering ideas and a tradition (originally Feri) often glossed over in what's currently on the shelf. Kissing the Limitless is a text meant for any person involved in magic(k) who wants to take their practice to a new level and truly "advance." And that advancing can be for anyone at any level of practice who is willing to make the time and effort to work through her exercises and take responsibility for what occurs.
The text is divided into three sections: The Star Goddess, The Divine Twins, and The Peacock Angel, spirits/deities from Feri. While each section is ostensibly meant for newer, intermediate, and advanced practitioners, the material in each is meant to build on the other and will serve anyone at any level very well.
It's heartening to have a Pagan/magical book which at no time talks "down" to the reader or repeats the same trope which can be found in a thousand other titles (or Geocities web sites). Coyle presumes that her reader already has some grounding in these ideas so she is not hampered by having to hash out yet another 101. The author also does a good job bringing in philosophical ideas and applying them to magical practice, which takes one's work to a level where it becomes interwoven with the practitioner's life. This should hopefully be the goal of anyone who practices magic in some form: making their life a seamless whole, and something which can better the world around them.

Kudos to Thorn for writing such an excellent book. ( )

Readers picking up Kissing the Limitless expecting lists of rituals and goal-specific spells written in the style of Feri tradition witchcraft will soon be disappointed, but its pages overflow with something far more valuable: Thorn's own strivings to deepen and expand her magical work, and the integrity and self-knowledge that such work has brought to her life, shine softly in every word. Each exercise she presents (in sections titled "Doing the Work") is embedded in thoughtful prose to provide context and insight into the practice. Discussions of ethics and theology impress upon the reader the importance of taking magic seriously, of acknowledging the power of self-awareness and self-possession to transform and create, and of cultivating a integrative attitude of love, gratitude and grace both towards that which is within and that which is beyond the individual. Exercises in "Reflection" invite the reader to engage in intense introspection, sifting through the unconscious to bring to light unacknowledged desires and fears and developing contemplative self-discipline, in order to prepare for "doing the work" of magical practice. At times, the line between "reflection" and "work" becomes blurry; simple rituals merge self-reflective musings with acts of will to manifest desires or articulate "inner demons."

Much of this work will sound familiar to those who have read about or practiced magic before. Some practices are occasional, designed to meet particular needs or round-out and strengthen certain areas of weakness ("Manifesting Home" and "Enspiriting Matter," for instance, are both incredibly useful exercises for connecting more deeply to domestic life and career choices). Others help establish a foundation of simple but powerful daily work incorporating breath techniques, energy-sensing and soul alignment. There is nothing shockingly original in the techniques themselves. I was startled to find, for example, that I had already intuitively developed a version of "soul alignment" for my own daily meditations, based on the Druid Prayer of Peace rather than the three "bodies" of Feri witchcraft. Reading Thorn's discussion of soul alignment, however, helped me to clarify and adjust my own practice, so that it could become both more challenging and more fruitful than before. And this is what her writing brings to practice: a new understanding, a broad perspective which places even the most familiar exercises in the context of a healthy, thriving spiritual life. Thorn examines, with depth and enthusiasm, practices that are usually summed up in one or two short paragraphs in the average Magic 101 book, and her exploration only helps to emphasize how complex and powerful these seemingly simple practices really are. Reading Kissing the Limitless, it is easy to imagine a musician delicately tuning her instrument until she hears the pure tones of perfect pitch, just as the spiritual seeker returns again and again to the same foundation in order to deepen and align with the "perfect tones" of the Limitless.

(For full review, check out Sky Earth Sea: A Journal of Practical Spirituality, Fall 2009: http://skyearthsea.com/ses/Index.html) ( )