Month: May 2014
Hello. I am interested in the occult, though I am not a part of any specific organization, and only know a small amount about the many occult philosophies. I would very much like to learn more about ceremonial magic and the tarot. Do you have any suggestions for me as to where I could begin to learn more about the occult? Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Hi there anon. I should really make a master post to redirect people to. Since I didn’t do that and I just filled a glass with white wine and LOVE the sound of my own typing, I’ll try to do a thing.
DISCLAIMER This is my opinion based on my experience and accumulated knowledge of my perception of other folks who have honestly shared their views with me.
Organizations are about as useful as philosophies but in very different ways. Philosophy gives you a choice of framework with which you can say, “Some other motherfucker thought of this shit too.” Philosophy has this way of bringing up shit that might have crossed your weird little mind with some other ass shit that might have crossed another mind and then expands your view point. Organizations, in my opinion, should give you a pool of motherfuckers who are experienced at using philosophy to bring about tangible change. If an order or organization cannot produce results among it’s initiates it’s not worth it’s weight in paperwork.
My favorite definition of occult is: A larger thing hidden behind a smaller thing that only takes up your field of vision because it is closer to you. Take that as you will.
So, a short list of books that I’d vouch for as beginning material are as follows. Google for the PDFs if you want but actually having the paper copies of books has a far greater value and I know all the living authors mentioned here could use your money.
-The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic, Israel Regardie.
Start at the First Knowledge Lecture, skip the intros.-The Book of Results, Ray Sherwin.
A no bullshit primer on making it happen. I wouldn’t suggest jumping right into this. Get the first four Golden Dawn Knowledge Lectures and accompanying work down first.-Naturalistic Occultism, Frater IAO131.
A view of occultism and Thelema without the new age-ish hangups and horseshit. Scientific Illuminism > feel good spirituality.-Magick in Theory and Practice, Aleister Crowley.
Pull out your thesaurus and that Golden Dawn book.-Understanding the Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, Lon Milo Duquette.
You might not even want to try reading Crowley’s Book of Thoth until you’ve read all these things and especially this.Learn the Lesser Invoking/Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and Hexagram. Learn the four stations of the Sun in Liber Resh vel Helios. Learn the Middle Pillar ritual. Do those things daily and force yourself to do them when you don’t want to but be realistic about your limits.
This glass of wine is out and so are my immediate suggestions. Love is the Law, Love Under Will.
Another really important one that I forgot there was this: Take in all information and experiences adverse to your perceived nature. Read about view points that are completely opposite to your own. Eat foods that you fucking hate. Put yourself in as awful of situations as you can handle. Always, at least occasionally, experiment with this. It keeps your dualistic nature in check and also prevents the magician from becoming too dogmatic, amongst other things.
LAST CHANCE. SALE ENDS IN A FEW HOURS.
To celebrate its one year anniversary, My Babylon is on sale for only 99 cents through May 1st.
A novel about the paranormal and dark desires. The story of a cursed young man who has an intimate view of the Apocalypse. My Babylon weaves elements of urban fantasy, erotic horror, and real-world occult practices to form a unique personal tale that thrills, terrifies, and even enlightens.
In My Babylon, the magus, consumed with longing, seeks to create a replacement for his lost love using a grisly ritual that requires the theft of a body. Through her creation, he learns that he has a much bigger role to play, and that she may be a form of salvation not only for him but for others.
The Complete edition contains all five books of the My Babylon story.
Reviews* for My Babylon:
“Captivating, interesting, dark, and at times even funny.”
“Darkly horrific, Lovecraftian work. Parts of it make you squeamish, parts send chills down your spine. A deft illustration of the black side of the human soul.”
“What I really loved about this work was what was left unsaid—telling a story with details rather than stating the obvious is becoming a lost art. What surprised me about this work was how much it drew me in despite my merely mild interest in the occult.”
“James has put together a great story with great characters who feel authentic, even as they go about tasks that you’d be horrified to find out your neighbors were up to. And even though Mike, the magician who narrates this story, is involved in really heinous activities, I still like the guy. And that is an impressive feat.”
“Not for the timid this book, but well worth it.”
“An intriguing look at what drives us …”
“It’s the struggle to remain sane, keep discrete, and keep the emotional compulsions in control that structures the suspense of this thriller.”
“In the end, you’re left with the sense of a masterfully conceived protagonist who gives credence to the idea of the unsympathetic character. It also maintains an orbiting cluster of supporting characters who are interesting in their own right but also necessary to the development of the protagonist.”
*Reviews originate from those left for the individual novellas included in this book.
Get it at Amazon or Smashwords
Last day.
What is the symbolism of a bee in magick? I have a lot of bees by my house and I want to know if I can incorporate them into a spell. 🐝🐝🐝
Oh I love bees! You can look at my Insects In Magick post. The bee section is short, as that’s all I could find about them, but I’m sure there’s more uses and symbolism for them than just those listed. Those are just the general/main symbolism and uses of bees.
I also have an Animals In Magick post if you’d like to check that out too 🙂
Bees are associated with Beltane, the element fire, the gods Apollo, Krishna,Ra, Vishnu. Goddess: Cybele, Demeter, Diana, iris.
Some of there powers: the after life, agriculture, communication, community, focus, connections, energy, family, fertility, grace, guidance, karma, knowledge, life. The mind, motivation, underworld. Power, prosperity, purification, rebirth, relationships, romance, spirituality, support, wisdom.
Scientific Study Shows Meditators Collapsing Quantum Systems At A Distance
Numerous scientists over many years have studied the role of consciousness and how it can directly influence our physical material world. Large amounts of research have been published which clearly demonstrate that yes, consciousness and what we perceive to be our physical material world are directly intertwined. I will provide more examples of this towards the end of the article, but for now we are going to take a look at one.
We’ve written about it numerous times, it’s called the quantum double slit experiment, and it’s a great example of how consciousness can affect our physical material world. A paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Physics Essays explains how this experiment has been used multiple times to explore the role of consciousness in shaping the nature of physical reality.(1)
In this experiment, a double-slit optical system was used to test the possible role of consciousness in the collapse of the quantum wave-function. The ratio of the interference pattern’s double slit spectral power to its single slit spectral power was predicted to decrease when attention was focused toward the double slit as compared to away from it. The study found that factors associated with consciousness significantly correlated in predicted ways with perturbations in the double slit interference pattern.
“Observation not only disturbs what has to be measured, they produce it. We compel the electron to assume a definite position. We ourselves produce the results of the measurement.” (1)
A number of experiments were conducted to measure perturbations in the wavefuntion. In the first experiment, participants were instructed to direct their attention toward the double-slit apparatus or to withdraw their attention-toward a task. At certain times, a computerized voice instructed them saying: “Please influence the beam now,” and for attention away it said “You may now relax.” This first experiment was modestly in accordance with the consciousness collapse hypothesis (perturbations in the double slit interference pattern).
The second experiment was conducted at a Zen Buddhist temple, which was a great place to recruit meditators for the experiment. This time:
“For audio feedback, during attention-away periods the computer played a soft, continuous drone tone, and during attention-toward periods it played a musical note that changed in pitch to reflect the real-time value of R (perturbations in wave function). Participants were instructed to direct their attention toward the double-slit device as in the initial experiment. If they were successful, then the double slit spectral power was predicted to decline, and in turn the pitch of the musical note would also decline.”
This test finished after 19 participants participated in 31 sessions. At the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) laboratory, three meditators contributed 11 sessions and four non-meditators contributed 7 sessions. At the Zen Buddhist temple, 12 meditators contributed 13 sessions. The tests were supervised, and a double-slit apparatus was presented.
This experiment provided more evidence, and in the IONS laboratory the meditators showed “superior performance” as compared to the non-meditators.
A third experiment was then conducted, using 33 sessions where six meditators contributed to 22 sessions and seven non-meditators contributed to 11 sessions. The 22 meditator sessions resulted in “a significant decline” in the ration of the interference pattern. The meditators here had “an especially strong statistical effect.” This experiment clearly supported the hypothesis.
In the fourth experiment, thirty one people contributed 51 sessions, and the experimental effect size observed in this study was 3 times greater than that observed in the first four experiments.
The study goes on, and consistently outlines a number of factors associated with consciousness (I focused on the ones using meditation, but there are more in the study) to collapse the quantum wave function, or interfere with its pattern.
“The study found that factors associated with consciousness significantly correlated in predicted ways with perturbations in the double slit interference pattern.”
This experiment is one out of many that prove consciousness and our physical material world are intertwined. We recently published a study titled “10 Scientific Studies That Prove Consciousness Can Alter Our Physical Material World.” You can read that HERE
A fundamental conclusion of new physics also acknowledges that the observer creates the reality. As observers, we are personally involved with the creation of our own reality. Physicists are being forced to admit that the universe is a “mental” construction. Pioneering physicist Sir James Jeans wrote: “The stream of knowledge is heading toward a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter, we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter. Get over it, and accept the inarguable conclusion. The universe is immaterial-mental and spiritual.” (R.C. Henry, “The Mental Universe” ; Nature 436:29,2005) (source)
Science is quickly catching up to ancient wisdom. Changing our world requires action, yes, but that action must come from a place of peace, love , cooperation and understanding. Who is to say that meditation, and directing intention towards what we would like to change is not the base of action? If you change within, manifestation without will begin to unfold, and that’s exactly what’s happening on our planet right now. If our hearts are in the right place, and our intentions are pure, we will be provided with the necessary opportunities using action to implement change. This is why the role of consciousness, and recognizing the role of consciousness is so important. It plays a large factor in creating global change on a mass scale.
“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” – Albert Einstein
Sources:
(1) http://media.noetic.org/uploads/files/PhysicsEssays-Radin-DoubleSlit-2012.pdf
This pretty much explains my magical paradigm.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
Ave Babalon
Ave Babalon
Ave Babalon