Quareia - The Apprentice

This opening volume, Quareia the Apprentice, is the first of three parts in a magical training program whose later parts are called Initiate and Adept. Each part contains ten modules, and each module is made up of eight lessons. The publisher describes the full course as roughly half a million words per section and as the most thorough and current magical curriculum available anywhere. Its aim is to give students the knowledge to work with any form of magic while understanding how it functions, why it functions, and what lies behind it. The course also begins to lead practitioners along a mystical path that extends past religious belief, toward a state of mystical union with the surrounding universe.

Each lesson pairs its theory with a concrete exercise meant to build what the course calls the magician's 'magical muscle,' preparing students for the stronger forces they will meet in later sections. This is not a reference book to browse or a collection of spells to pick from. Understanding comes from studying the material in sequence and layering each practice on top of the last, so that the magic takes shape within and around the apprentice. The course is designed for self-study, with every step assigned in detail. By the close of this section, the apprentice should have the skills, understanding and strength needed for the next stage.

Josephine McCarthy, director of Quareia, wrote the entire course. She has practiced magic for forty years and has taught and written about it for more than twenty-five. Quareia is free and available online at any time, open to anyone who wants to join. It concentrates on core magical skills and does not adopt a single style, culture or religious framework as its foundation. Various traditions are examined and sometimes practiced in depth, but the school stands on its own method.