I think a vast majority of those who are most skilled in the magickal art aren’t on forums like these. They are probably members of generational royal/elite bloodlines who’ve been honing and passing down their practices for hundreds/thousands of years.
It isnt called “The Royal Arte” for nothing!
Until the dawn of the internet, they were really some of the only people with access to REAL occult knowledge and information. Them and occult orders or secret societies (which in the past especially were notoriously elitist).
Unfortunately back then and still today, there is a mountain of bad information out there for us “small folk” trying to learn the art. Much of it is likely bad info put out on purpose to throw seekers off. Then you have people claiming to be masters teaching absolute nonsense.
In other words, it’s a MESS! And one most people are not able to wade thru sufficiently in order to get proficient at magick. So many give up, being demoralized by the dizzying amount of information and not knowing what’s true.
You are absolutely right, friend, that there are closed groups out there, and you can see it with your own eyes: they hold ancient covenants or maintain deep, established connections with powerful types of spiritual entities and demons. That is the very foundation of what they call the Royal Arte.
But we must not forget that magical power isn't confined to bloodlines and inheritance alone; look closely, and you will find the "Lone Wolves." These are solitary practitioners who connect with the forces of Magic because they were born under specific astrological glances—meaning the alignment of Saturn and Mars in their natal chart, for instance, grants them a special fortunate angle, allowing them access to this Art through an inherent celestial property. Then you have those who draw power purely through psychic and spiritual force, often needing neither a physical teacher nor complex ritual, using raw Will and focus to manifest reality.
But the point your friend seems to miss is what happened to all these established currents after the shift in Western philosophical thought. Ever since someone like Sartre, or those before him, declared that "God is dead" and the era of spiritual and religious individualism began, the traditional frameworks of Magic were severely fractured. We saw the entry of strange ideas and misleading figures.
Take the case of Aleister Crowley and those who followed him. As you know, this man marginalized the Jinn, demons, and Angels alike, reducing them to mere components or templates of human consciousness, or purely psychological symbols. I tell you, man, Crowley's words are nothing but heresies stemming from a man who failed to achieve genuine operative mastery in Magic. Yes, he was a writer and a philosopher, but he was not a true sorcerer in the practical sense. He created a massive intellectual confusion that only resulted in foolish organizations and empty ideas that hold no value in real-world application. This is precisely why those mountains of bad information appeared—a struggle that isn't just complained about by one person, but by entire generations who suffer the same distress—because the core foundation shifted from a practical system based on genuine spiritual covenants and protocols to a philosophical and personal chaos that lacks a solid basis.
And for this very reason, remember that there are always deceivers out there. Look at your own Gospel; it tells you there will be false prophets, so do you truly believe that in a world like Magic, where the boundaries are often unclear to the public, there won't be pretenders who fabricate systematic worlds of lies to deter or exploit the true seekers?
What we see is a widespread chaos, but its true source is not just the withholding of knowledge, but the change in the very nature of the knowledge itself, shifting from a practical system to an unfounded, personal philosophy.
