Book Recommendation Book worth getting as a hard copy?

[dababy10]

Looking to start buying some hard copies of books, not looking for grimoires or anything like that as I don't do "magick", moreso books that are foundational and have deep insights. Mainly have been interested in the modern secret societies like freemasonry, rosicrucianism, earlier things they are based on like hermetics, etc....

Am pretty interested in learning the higher up initiate secrets (ones that are more "universal" rather than their specific rituals), and have been looking at crowley's texts recently although it's super allegorical so haven't really understood any of it. As a bit of a side question - how should I go about learning from books that are more difficult such as the Book of Lies (Crowley) if that's a good way to go about learning the occult?

Am also somewhat just lost in terms of where to go next in learning the occult, so, sorry for being vague or messy.

 

[SHUMA-GORATH]

The Occult In Art by Fred Gettings
The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall
Nothing In This Book Is True, But It's Exactly How Things Are by Bob Frissell

 

[Faria]

If you want to read Crowley, get yourself Liber Aba. You have two choices, the classic blue edition ("Magick") or the hipster bootleg edition put out by Skinner ("Four Books of Magick."). Both are excellent and are ironically intended for beginners as a comprehensive guide with a syllabus and reading list. The Book of Lies is a terrible introduction to the Beast, as five minutes reading it should prove.

There is a recent reprint of MPH's The Secret Teachings of all Ages which you might also want on your Christmas list.

 

[SkullTraill]

Complete Magician's Tables (just useful information)
The Library of Esoterica series (essentially art books - but gorgeous)