Let’s Talk About Your Reading Habits…
So a 
while back we had some good discussions over on the Strategic Sorcery group about what books people were reading, and after we got all the occult/magic/spirituality stuff out of the way I asked what non-occult books people read in the last year. While many people came forth with some great books more than a few people commented that the number of non-occult/magic/spirituality books they had read was ZERO.
This is not good.
Don’t get me wrong, as an author of occult texts I am thrilled at your continued interest in reading my books and the books of others like me, but a literary diet of only occult/magic/spirituality books is not a health diet at all. Worst yet, its actually counter-productive to success in those fields.
NON-FICTION
The saying “you are what you eat” extends not only to literal food, but knowledge that you consume. Reading consistently on a given subject not only gives us new information about that subject, but also keeps us motivated and thinking about it.
If you are trying to improve your finances or start a business you should be reading as much about money and business as you are about magic. Probably more. But because magic is the zone of whats interesting and comfortable, a lot of people just keep reading more and more books on magic, or looking for the one spirit that will just take care of this pesky money issue.
Same is true for health – it is wonderful to wield a solar talisman, but if you actually know about diet, health, exercise, neurology, psychology, and a host of other topics it will give that talisman something really firm to work with and keep you thinking on it and working on it.
Love. Man I can’t even tell you how much your love magic would be helped along by some social graces and reading books by and about the other sex (or same sex).
Even if your only interest is illumination and magic for the sake of magic, books on history, neurology, folklore, health all will place your magic and mystic efforts into greater context and offer support in ways that you just will not find from the Occult section of the bookstore alone.
FICTION
Even some people who have a varied diet of non-fiction forgo fiction entirely, seeing it as a distraction or purely recreational pursuit that they simply do not have time for. I find this heartbreaking.
Fiction offers a whole different way of knowing than non-fiction does. It hits the brain in a way that builds empathy and understanding, and aids you in placing all the facts and practical ideas from your non-fiction reading into context. Reading narratives enhances connectivity in the brain, improves social perception and improves ones “Theory of Mind”. If you want to understand why people think and act a certain way, fiction can often be more revealing than strict non-fiction.
Fiction also improves our own ability to tell stories, and can give tools for processing problems and misfortunes that occur to just about everyone. Conflict is after all at the heart of most stories.
DEVELOPING A READING STRATEGY
I don’t just choose the books I want to read, but also a strategy for reading them. My reading has a 40/40/20 split.
40 percent of what I read is occult/magic/spirituality non-fiction. I just finished the Biography of Ra Lotsawa the famous Tibetan Sorcerer and will be moving on to The Oracle Travels Light by Camelia Elias.
Anther 40 percent is non-fiction that is not from the Occult section. It may tie into my magic, as most things do, but is not from that part of the store. I recently finished Essentialism by Greg McKeown and will be starting Manning Up by Kay Hymowitz or Super Better by Kate McGonigal depending on my mood.
The last 20 percent is fiction. I used to have a 33/33/33 percent split in my reading, but lately my fiction intake has been slower than my non-fiction intake. I finished Armada by Ernest Cline a couple weeks ago but just started The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker a couple days ago.
So tell me…. What are you reading?
