The Book of Pleasure

The source text of modern sigil magic — written by the artist and magician who invented it.

Austin Osman Spare's The Book of Pleasure (Self-Love): The Psychology of Ecstasy, published in 1913, is the foundational document of sigil magic and one of the strangest, most original works in the Western esoteric tradition. Spare developed a system of magical practice rooted in the unconscious mind, the death of belief, and the creative power of the self — decades before psychology had the language to describe what he was doing.

Inside:

• Spare's theory of the Kia — the absolute self beyond ego and belief
• The original sigil method: creating symbols from statements of intent
• The "alphabet of desire" and Spare's unique approach to magical language
• Illustrated with Spare's own extraordinary artwork
• The philosophical and psychological foundations of Chaos Magic

Difficult, visionary, and irreplaceable. The book that changed the direction of Western magic in the 20th century.