Scales of the Black Serpent - Basic Qlippothic Magick

First off let me say that I am a big fan of Michael Ford's works. I also have a big interest in the Qlippoth, but it is a very hard topic to find even general information, much less how to put it into magical practice. So naturally when Ford released a book on Qlippothic magic I was very excited.First the good: This book is very accessible, it doesn't require you to go buy all these obscure materials nor does it tell you to practice it on a certain day on a certain hour. While it suggests certain basic ritual tools, the invocations and meditation are all you really need to grow a connection to the demonic forces of the Qlippoth (I highly recommend "The Rite of the Qlippoth", a guided pathworking CD made by the same author). The invocations are short and simple, but powerful and meaningful nonetheless.Now for the bad: While all the content in the book is good, it is abysmally lean. The whole book is only a measly 88 pages, and even then it uses large font and alot of white space. The meat of the book is mostly in its invocations, there are virtually no sigils or ritual structures to work with. Even its theory portion is very incomplete. The Qabalah/Qlippoth is an extremely deep and complex subject, one that can't be adequetely explained in a few pages. While the teachings presented in this book will be helpful to the beginner, they will still have many unanswered questions about the roles of each sphere and how they relate to each other, which is very important. However the author does refer to his other books quite a bit, like he expects you to read them in order to fully understand what he's talking about in this particular book. I guess it's just another way to milk the customers. Regardless, Michael Ford is hands down the best teacher of the left hand path and infernal magic in the world today, so it's very dissappointing that a man of his apptitude wouldn't put more into a book on a subject so deep. Basic Qlippothic Magick is an understatement, more like Barebones Qlippothic Magick.I still recommend Scales of the Black Serpent to those who want to seriously explore the powers of the Qlippoth but don't know where to begin, simply for the lack of usable material on the Qlippoth availible. But don't expect anything more than a very basic starting point.UPDATE: If you want a more balanced and philosophical view of the Qlippoth I'd highly recommend "Qabalah, Qliphoth, and Goetic Magic" by Thomas Karlsson. More expensive but alot more bang for your buck.

For those who are curious these books are printed by LULU,not his well known book publisher just a heads up! Howeverif your like me and you actually want to own his works thisis a Great Buy!

I really love this book. Great start on the Qliphoth. Dislike the incomplete lessons and refer you too his other books to get the rest. I think its worth it tho because he knows what he is talking about and like his style of writting and explaining...O yeah, and who gives a damn about editing? A real magician would understand him reguardless! Michael W Ford is very legit on this subject.

I bout the book as reference material, and was pleased at how well put together it is

THE BOOK WAS EXCELLENT AND GOES INTO DETAIL THAT IS A LOT OF HIS BOOKS BUT THIS BOOK TALKED ABOUT THE QLIPPOTH IN EVEN MORE DETAIL.

Scales of The Black Serpent is a important part of my LHP practice, all the information you need to work with the Qlippoth in a easy to reference form.

Good material but incomplete. The author definitely wants you to buy his other works. He makes sure they link.

It was pretty informative.

amazing adition to my library very well made what I like to call specialty books that cover one specific topic amazingly accurate and authentic as well

Grundlegend ist alles auf der Kabbala oder Qlippothic aufgebaut! Hier wird sehr deutlich beschrieben, wie man sich dieses vergessene Wissen zu eigen machen kann! Am besten gefällt mir das Ritual "The Invokation of a fallen Angel"! Ein sehr hilfreiches Ritual auch für spätere Rituale bei seinen Werken! Einfach genial und ein Muss für jeden ausübenden Magier oder Hexe auf dem Pfad zur Linken Hand oder den luziferischem Weg!

Excellent book highly recommend