Hello there!

[Theurgist]

Greetings!
I recently started again studying Hermeticism, Theurgy (shocker, I know, given my name) and a bit of the GD system (more because of the systematic approach, I have some trouble with the origins of the materials and the underlying spirituality it assumes).
It all began when i was 14 years old and i read a book by Charles Fielding called Practical Qabalah, which i liked very much. That was my first introduction to occultism.
After reading more books, I gradually became disaffected and ended up leaving it at 18, thinking it was all hocus pocus or worse. Certain later things happened in my life which made me more open-minded but esotericism was all but forgotten in my mind.
Until the latest book by an academic made me rethink my stance on esotericism some three weeks ago.
Now I’m much older and i find myself here to meet like-minded people (maybe even find a mentor), to explore other forms of magick and to develop further and refine my practice, which to be honest is still at „working to understand the basics”.
This forum is one of the few places I know of dealing with esotericism, and I feel I could get much help on my path here.
I’ve already lost a lot of time because of my ignorance of assuming a wrong but trendy attitude towards the occult, which I deeply regret.
And that’s about it.

 

[DiLoco_DelEted]

Hello, and welcome to the forum (fellow HOGD person here)!

 

[Theurgist]

Pleased to make your acquaintance Diluculo!

 

[Xenophon]

Greetings!
I recently started again studying Hermeticism, Theurgy (shocker, I know, given my name) and a bit of the GD system (more because of the systematic approach, I have some trouble with the origins of the materials and the underlying spirituality it assumes).
It all began when i was 14 years old and i read a book by Charles Fielding called Practical Qabalah, which i liked very much. That was my first introduction to occultism.
After reading more books, I gradually became disaffected and ended up leaving it at 18, thinking it was all hocus pocus or worse. Certain later things happened in my life which made me more open-minded but esotericism was all but forgotten in my mind.
Until the latest book by an academic made me rethink my stance on esotericism some three weeks ago.
Now I’m much older and i find myself here to meet like-minded people (maybe even find a mentor), to explore other forms of magick and to develop further and refine my practice, which to be honest is still at „working to understand the basics”.
This forum is one of the few places I know of dealing with esotericism, and I feel I could get much help on my path here.
I’ve already lost a lot of time because of my ignorance of assuming a wrong but trendy attitude towards the occult, which I deeply regret.
And that’s about it.

Greetings. Never forget: magick is far older wider and wilder than the Qabalah's catamites would have one believe.

 

[pixel_fortune]

I’ve already lost a lot of time because of my ignorance of assuming a wrong but trendy attitude towards the occult, which I deeply regret.

This is a passage from a book called Mr. Palomar by Italo Calvino, towards the end when it starts getting philosophical.

“A person, for example, reads in adulthood a book that is important for him, and it makes him say, “How could I have lived without reading it!” and also, “What a pity I did not read it in my youth!”

Well, these statements do not have much meaning, especially the second, because after he has read that book, his life becomes the life of a person who has read that book, and it is of little importance whether he read it early or late, because now his life before that reading also assumes a form shaped by that reading.”

I think about this a lot, that understanding gained in the present changes the past. It's self-evidently true, as anyone whose loved one has ever kept a secret from them can attest. You find out, and your past together changes.

---

I'm also planning on doing some retro-sigils, a form of time magic, next Mercury Retrograde (April 1). "I practised magic continuously throughout my 20s" as a sigil, for example

[Tutorial] - Retro-Sigils: A Powerful Form of Time Magic

I thought this was really cool. She makes use of Mercury Retrogrades, but I don't care about that so much and would launch these any time. I really appreciate the lists of examples, which help me understand better than pure theory. Everything below is by Orchis, originally shared here...

wizardforums.com

 

[Theurgist]

This is a passage from a book called Mr. Palomar by Italo Calvino, towards the end when it starts getting philosophical.

“A person, for example, reads in adulthood a book that is important for him, and it makes him say, “How could I have lived without reading it!” and also, “What a pity I did not read it in my youth!”

Well, these statements do not have much meaning, especially the second, because after he has read that book, his life becomes the life of a person who has read that book, and it is of little importance whether he read it early or late, because now his life before that reading also assumes a form shaped by that reading.”

I think about this a lot, that understanding gained in the present changes the past. It's self-evidently true, as anyone whose loved one has ever kept a secret from them can attest. You find out, and your past together changes.

---

I'm also planning on doing some retro-sigils, a form of time magic, next Mercury Retrograde (April 1). "I practised magic continuously throughout my 20s" as a sigil, for example

[Tutorial] - Retro-Sigils: A Powerful Form of Time Magic

I thought this was really cool. She makes use of Mercury Retrogrades, but I don't care about that so much and would launch these any time. I really appreciate the lists of examples, which help me understand better than pure theory. Everything below is by Orchis, originally shared here...

wizardforums.com

Wowzers! That passage sure hit like a brick. Enough to dump my regrets and move forward. Time magick? very interesting. Aion comes to mind but so does Chronos and Chronus. Gonna read that ritual fo sho.
Btw idk why but I always thought Time should have been first since the ancients did not have a space-time duality. That's why Zurvan made more sense to me than Ouranus preceding Chronus. Of course, I understand "the need" of why Ouranus was first but I don't agree with it. Enough of a derail, thank you for sharing your knowledge

 

[pixel_fortune]

Until the latest book by an academic made me rethink my stance on esotericism some three weeks ago.

What was the book?

 

[Theurgist]

Wouter Hanegraaff

Hermetic Spirituality and the Historical Imagination: Altered States of Knowledge in Late Antiquity​

 

[Xingtian]

Wouter Hanegraaff

Hermetic Spirituality and the Historical Imagination: Altered States of Knowledge in Late Antiquity​

If you liked that book you will probably love the Secret History of Western Esotericism podcast. One of the first episodes is an interview with Hanegraaff:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

He also returns for a later interview about the Poimandres.

 

[HoldAll]

Wouter Hanegraaff

Hermetic Spirituality and the Historical Imagination: Altered States of Knowledge in Late Antiquity​

It's in the Library, together with other books by the same author.