Book Review: Fluid Condensers by Aerik Arkadian

A few months ago, the nice folk from Crossed Crow books reached out again and asked if I would like to review another book- this time a book about fluid condensers. Intrigued, I of course said yes and was sent the book via snail mail to review. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I have only just finished reading the book:). The book I am referring to that took me way too long to read (purely my fault, not that the book was difficult) is titled "Fluid Condensers" by author Aerik Arkadian. So without further ado, here is my completely honest and unbiased review. For the sake of full transparency I will tell you that I am not being paid for this review (but I was sent the book to keep). I am simply a curious soul and want to know more and reading and reviewing great books is a good way to learn and maybe give some insight for anyone looking to purchase the book, either from us or another store :)

So before we get into the actual review- a little bit about the author.

Who Is Aerik Arkadian?

Aerik Arkadian is in his own words a "Musician, Witch, Writer, and Priest." So basically, a very creative magickal being! His website, which I will link here  for you to take a look at if you so desire, is full of great information and he also offers rune readings. 

Instead of writing a blurb about Aerik, I will link his about me page here so you can hear about him directly from the horses mouth! One thing I will say about Aerik is that he must be a decent human considering the fact that he mentions his love of pineapple on pizza in both the book and also on his about me page. Anyone who can appreciate the dichotomy of sweet and savoury on a pizza must be a top human in my books! 

Book Review: Fluid Condensers 

To start this book review, I will set the scene by saying that on page 1 the reader is already being warned about conducting some of the experiments contained within the book due to the risk of fire, electrocution and just plain old death - always a good way to start a book in my opinion ;)

I was also quietly pleased to learn that he too, upon hearing the term fluid condenser for the first time, thought that it was some type of lab equipment, not a magickal term. In fact when I heard that Crossed Crow books was sending me a book on fluid condensers I had to look it up because I thought they were sending me a hydraulic manual or something :) (and I am vey much not interested in reading a hydraulic manual). Just so we are on the same page, and to clear up any confusion,  on p 5 Aerik describes the term fluid condenser to mean "any substance or combination of substances, in any state of matter, that have a high capability to conduct energy between planes (i.e., the astral and the physical" in other words, a fluid condenser is any substance that stores and conducts energy (and it does not have to be just liquid, it can be liquid, solid or gaseous).

On p 9 Aerik lists the highest ranking fluid condensers as being gold (solid), blood or sexual fluid (liquid) and breath (gaseous). These choices are interesting considering that many traditions use gold in ceremony, sex/blood in spells and breath in prayer (another form of magick spell) without calling any of the materials fluid condensers ( I suppose this is why I have not come across the term fluid condenser before- and hopefully I am not the only one).

Chapter one of this book sets the scene and provides the basics on fluid condensers, and in chapter 2, Aerik provides a recipe for, and gives instruction on how to prepare your first  a "universal liquid" condenser. I will say that this is where this book kind of lost me. You see the recipe on page 12 calls for Gold Chloride. A substance that I am personally unfamiliar with (although folks who do a lot of alchemy are probably very familiar with it). Seeing an ingredient that I did not know and was not given any prior information on, left me confused, so I looked it up. It turns out that Gold Chloride was used in photo processing (i.e. before digital cameras) and it can also be purchased from medical laboratory supply shops. It also turns out that there are two forms of Gold Chloride- so which one is the recipe calling for, so early on in the book? This chapter cemented two things into my brain

1. I can see why people believed some forms of magick (i.e. alchemy and ceremonial magick, not green witchcraft) to be a rich mans hobby! This Gold
   
    Chloride stuff is not cheap (at least not here in Australia)!
2. The importance of explaining ingredients before asking someone to use them, especially if they are not a common ingredient. This I believe especially due to the fact that Gold Chloride is introduced as an ingredient to use before the warning is given in chapter 5 to avoid direct contact with it (although the warning is probably written on the bottle, and there is also an argument to be made here for personal responsibility to check ingredients before using them, but I digress).

Now, without being too judgemental, in chapter 5 "The Quest for Gold" Aerik proceeds to explain the differences (turns out it really doesn't matter which one you use) and provide substitutions for Gold Chloride if it is not within your budget. I personally would have found this book easier to read if this chapter came before the recipe, simply because not knowing led this rabbit down a hole to find out what this ingredient was and quite frankly got me a bit confused (if I was more intelligent I would have checked out the glossary term on p 265 that listed what Gold Chloride was and I would have noticed the chapter titles and read the blurb about gold in chapter 5 first instead of googling the term and getting confused :).

Initial confusion aside, what I really do appreciate about this book is the way that Aerik explains terms and processes in a simple and concise manner. In chapter 2 on liquid condensers he provides a great description of each of the elements, as well as condenser recipes for them. He also has very simple explanations on the differences between condensers vs potions, because while following the recipes you could be forgiven for thinking that you were simply producing a potion- but there is a difference!

Aerik also provides information regarding the planetary associations of the condenser ingredients. In fact despite the fact that this book is quite instructional and involves exercises that the reader should complete before moving on to the next section, it is surprisingly easy to read!

Not only does this book contain some fantastic condenser recipes, with mostly easily obtainable ingredients and substitutions, Aerik has also intertwined some historical information regarding the creators of the recipes, along with any associated books/texts the recipes have originally been drawn from. I personally found this to be quite interesting and it helps to give context to some of the ingredients listed. Not to mention it provides a new list of books that if you love this book, you can go on to read next :) I also appreciate that nowhere does Aerik claim that any of these recipes are solely his own. He gives credit where credit is due, which in the social media and artificial intelligence age is becoming increasingly rare. 

The book, even if you are not really interested in creating fluid condensers, still has a lot of good info . The author relates a lot of the magickal workings back to energetic timings, either astrological, lunar phases, or planetary days and hours. He also touches on many of the different facets of magick including energetic shielding of your condensers and how to create sigils. In chapter 11, Aerik provides insight into the tools used in magick such as the mirror, the scrying bowl, the wand & the bell, & gives instruction on how to activate and use them. Chapter 12 lists the methods of magick and includes concepts such as the creation of talismans, poppets, servitors, crystal grids etc. In fact for such a small book ('tis only 295 pages), Aerik has indeed packed quite a bit of useful information into it! Even the appendices at the back of the book contain a plethora of valuable information such as the condenser properties, planetary correspondences (containing information such as associated herbs, keywords, zodiac rulership, colours, days of week, shape and metal/crystal corrspondenses), and a guide to the elements, as well as information on the elemental pentagrams.  

So would I recommend this book?

In short, this book once I got past the initial confusion, was easy to read, well written, and full of information- not only recipes and exercises, but also historical information and book recommendations for further reading. If you are interested in alchemy, ceremonial magick, magick in general, or just curious about fluid condensers, I do whole heartedly believe that this book is worth a read- plus we have to support the pineapple pizza connoisseurs out there ;)

Are there any people I think would not benefit from this book? I suppose if fluid condensers are not a new term for you, you have been practicing alchemy and magick for 100 years, your name is Gandalf and you are well versed in the historic magickal texts, you might not need the information contained within these pages (ok maybe the 100 years and Gandalf thing does not need to apply). There is also quite a bit of visualisation required in the exercises contained within the book (as there is in most magickal workings), therefore if you are not a visual type person you might struggle- although you can definitely still use the information.

In summary, if you are a seeker of what lies beyond the mundane, I definitely think that this book is at least worth a browse. If like myself, you need ingredient context prior to starting the book however, I would personally start at chapter 5 (The Quest For Gold) and then go back and read through chapters 1-4 before continuing :) (but let's be real, that is probably just a "me" thing) 

Where can you purchase Fluid Condensers?

The best place to purchase this book, aside from through us if we get our little paws on it :), is directly through the publisher here.

Please note, we are not affiliated with either the author of the book, or the publishers. At the time of linking to these sites, the book is available, however if you notice any issues with any of the links here, please contact us and we will adjust and/or remove them to keep our articles relevant and up to date.