Magical Knowledge Book Two: The Initiate (second expanded edition) is the second book of the Magical Knowledge trilogy, a series that takes the reader through the twists and turns of serious magical study and practice. Written by Josephine McCarthy, one of the world's leading magical adepts, The Initiate provides training in the necessary skills, contacts, and initiate-level practices for lone practitioners studying Western magic. McCarthy also details some of the rarely tackled issues and problems that face the serious student of magic, offering advice and reflections based on her forty years of practical work. This book follows no specific magical path; rather it reveals the layers of consciousness that lie beneath many paths, along with the various techniques, powers, and dynamics that underpin most Western Mystery schools and Western magical systems. Subjects covered include: inner contacts, working with angelic beings and deities, ancestral and faery work, magical protection, basic exorcism, dealing with magical attacks, the polarization of power, sigils, inner ritual structures, divination, and the magical aspects of death. This expanded second edition also includes a look at the historical roots of directional magic, and a magical short story that teaches the magical dynamics of the death process. Josephine McCarthy has been teaching Western magical forms in the US and Europe since the early 1990s and has authored numerous books on magic including The Exorcist's Handbook, Magic of the North Gate, The Book of Gates - a magical translation, and The Work of the Hierophant. She is also the author and director of the free and extensive self-study magical training course Quareia, which can be found online at www.quareia.com.