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I am probably not a good one to do this, but lets see if I can help a little.

First, drop the K. The people that know why it is there can sometimes get irritated by it. Alistair Crowely was a big fan of numbers, and thus he liked the K. It is also used by Thelemics.

You do not have to be of any particular religion to do magic. However, certain gods and cultures do not like/want outsiders involved, so know which God or Entity you are dealing with, and research the heck out of it.

The biggest thing I can tell you to get started, is research mythology and history. Those will help further than a book by someone like Silver Ravenwolf who seems to ignore both. And please stay away from authors who talk about witches being burned at the stake in Salem. No one was burned, and the people that were killed were Puritans. And it was more political/financial/stupid kids that were the reasons.

This is a tricky question, partially because a set definition of magic is impossible to come by. But the way you're asking it it looks like you want names and classes. So first of all, stop thinking in terms of D&D. razz

Secondly, magic in my opinion is just magic. It all does whatever it's supposed to - what you do to acheive those ends is where the boundaries get drawn. But because there are so many ways of doing things it's impossible to attempt to describe every single one. I suggest looking into a few practises that you find interesting and exploring how they work. Then switch to something else and you may realise how vast and undefinable the genres of magic actually are.

These two questions mostly go together. The answer is: read. Read whatever you can get your hand on, and then perhaps start putting some of it into practise. For good books to start researching, perhaps take a look at the link/books sticky at the top of the guild forum.

Um, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this question. Do you mean before you do a working, before you start doing anything else at all or do you mean about tools and stuff?

Concentration really seems the answer to your question, as vague as it may be. I've always found concentration to be the key to a successful working.

Yes. It's dangerous. You can do serious damage. You have to shield and take care of yourself. It's like anything, really: Be careful.

That really depends on what you're doing...

Yes. But look in to whatever type you intend on practising first. Some traditions require you to be in a coven.

I don't think so, but some may disagree with me there. Hell, I don't even think you need a religion to practise magic.

Well I think you pretty much covered it there.

Really, questions are great but it's only when you start delving into it and practising that you learn properly. The questions are only really meaningful when you've become able to answer them yourself.

-what are all the types of magick

As Pelta alluded to, this is a tricky question. I've seen all sorts of different ways of categorizing magic. It's a way to wrap your head around it; a construct to assist understanding. Perhaps the closest you're going to get to classifying 'types' of magic is to look at the LAWS of magic. Check out Isaac Bonewitz's "Real Magic;" one of the earlier chapters details the laws of magic and these guidelines can be useful for those wanting to put a structure of some sort onto magical practice.

-where should i start

"Real Magic" isn't a bad starting point. When starting on something, typically I just read everything and anything to get a sense of what is out there and discern out the sources that are more useful to me from those that are less useful. Check out some of the history behind magic; look at its origins and use in ancient Pagan cultures and its revival post-Rennaisance. Get some electronic PDFs of grimoires from occultists like Agrippa. Look for theories on the modern usage of magic; I ran across some interesting ones recently.

Also, start basic. Basic basic. Basic energy work, basic meditation (or anything that teaches you good focus/concentration), basic magical laws, basic energy anatomy.

-what should i do to prepare to practice magick

Probably depends on what you're doing. As a general rule, relaxation and focus (or concentration, as Pelta put it) are good starters. It's also good to know what you're doing in advance and to have the will to do it. Make sure to consider the consequences fully; how it might affect both you, your environment, and other people. Wishing for money might just kill your beloved parents and get you an inheritence; not exactly the kind of price you probably wanted to pay.

-are there any precautions i should know about?

See above. whee

-what are the risks of practicing magick

Personally I haven't run into any problems. Perhaps the amount of problems you experience is related to how dangerous you think magic is and how paranoid/fixative you are on risks? I don't think it's particularly dangerous but then I don't ask for things that are stupid and carefully evaluate consequences. I don't bother with shielding or warding. I simply have trust in what I'm doing and hold a positive attitude.

-can it be done solitarily?

Why not?

-do i need to be apart of a riligion to practice magick?

I think that magical systems (keyword = systems) are pretty religious in that those who hold them are zealously devoted to them and they function as a structure for their general worldview and outlook on life. It isn't that way for everyone though. A magical system can be compounded with another religious practice just fine and not serve as a keystone of your worldview.

-and ANYTHING else a beginner would need to know to get started.

Put off the urge to label experiences too quickly. You might start to pigeonhole them instead of experiencing them more viscerally. Terminology is often quite imprecise and unstandardized; asking for clarifications and definitions of what people mean by a particular word is always a good thing. For instance, what the hell do we even *mean* by magic? There are quite a few answers to that one alone!

Ceremonial Magic is a form of ritual magic derived from Jewish and Christian lore and culture.


There are two types of Norse/Germanic magics. One is the runes and is a symbolic form of magic (you create or inscribe symbols and redden them with blood). The other is seidhr/spaecraft, which is a form of healing/harming/travelling magic that includes some sort of drug and some sort of song. We know very little about either.


Demons may be created from older traditions as a form of adulteration, but that doesn't mean all demons are gods.


How are you defining Wicca?


What did he do? "protection ritual" is all but meaningless.

ok so far I have the following written down.

Books/Authors
Scott Cunningham (stay away from Wicca books)
"Real Magic"-Isaac Bonewitz

Websites
www.sacred-texts.com

"Types" to Research
Asatru
Runes (symbolic) (Germanic/Norse)
Seighr/Spaecraft

Are there any other good books/websites that explain the bascis of magic?
Also are there any other Germanic/Norse based practices?
If you could list other "types" of practices and their roots/origion?

The Wiccan rede has nothing to do with spellwork and has nothing to do with the consequences of a poorly thought out working, There is no prohibition on such working as you have suggested... Also, the OP has not stated an interest in Wicca