Book Review: Feral Magick Unleash Your Inner Animal Self by Denny Sargent

 

Book Review

Feral Magick Unleash Your Inner Animal Self

By Denny Sargent

Publisher: Weiser Books

Published Date: July 7th, 2025

184 Pages

 

Do you remember as a child, imagining yourself as an animal and playing in the woods?  What about making animal sounds?

Denny Sargent’s guide to Unleashing Your Inner Animal Self will have you reconnecting with your own Feral Magick again as you flip the pages in his new book.  A PNW resident and world traveler, he connects the traditions of Shamans from around the world to a new term, Neo-Animism, “the belief that nature spirits are not just real but are also accessible if you open your reality framework and truly see Nature, as many of the tribal peoples…do” (Feral Magick, Preface XV).

Chapters 1-5 walk you down the path of reconnecting to your wild Primal Spirit through your senses.  Chapters 6 introduces you to Communicating with your Spirit-Kin Animal.  Chapters 7-8 outlines tools you can use to practice Feral Magick.  Chapter 9 gives you steps to connect with the Genius Loci of the land.  Chapters 10-14 let you wander through understanding Spirit-Kin Animal Spirits deeper to bring healing, wonder and wisdom.  Chapter 15 explains Shapeshifting and Chapter 16 offers some practical tips for intuiting your own Feral Magick Spellcraft.

If you have a lingering feeling that everything is alive, this book is written for you.  Denny’s somatic approach to trance states will have you howling like a wolf, hissing like a snake, or chirping like a bird as you honor and connect with your Spirit-Kin Animal Spirit.  There is a robust review of wolves, crows and ravens, snakes, and lions with traditional Spirit Guides mentioned like bears, frogs, otters, badgers, whales, sharks, hawks, and foxes.  As you read this you will get the sense of tapping into your own DNA’s connection to all living things.  He respectfully shares his stance on sourcing materials to avoid violence and extraction.

A practicing Animist myself, I shared many personal connections to this book.  Whether you have been initiated into the wild for a long time or a short time, this book will get you motivated to go into the woods and be feral again.

About the Author:

Denny Sargent (aka: Aion 131, Hermeticusnath)

A Seattle writer, artist and university instructor whose extensive global travels and esoteric studies informed the backbone to numerous published books. Involved for decades with numerous esoteric traditions, the author has published works on Alternative Religions, Hermetic Magick, Taoism, Animism, Shinto and Tantra.

Published books include: Global Ritualism, The Tao of Birth Days, Your Guardian Angel And You, Clean Sweep, The Book of the Horned One, Naga Magick, Dancing With Spirits, Werewolf Magick & Dog Magick.

He regularly presents lively online workshops and lectures and previously hosted at conventions and gatherings. Currently residing in the PNW, the author invites and welcomes conversation on all manner of subject matter.

About the Reviewer: Cody Johansen

I am a husband, father, farmer, and friend. I live on the banks of the Magic Skagit River, ancestral lands of the Upper Skagit people. I practice rune reading, tarot, land magic, and work with many spirit guides. My life began Pagan but I veered off into the Christian church in college. I found my way back to my Pagan and ancestral roots in 2005 and have journeyed along this path since then.