[Help] I'm a White/Christian Magic Newbie

[Christos]

Hi, I'm an Orthodox Catechumen. I got into orthodoxy hoping to learn more about the mystical side of Christianity, since it overlaps with white magic. (At least, that's my understanding.)

I've tried asking my priest about that sort of thing, but he just tells me to say my prayers.

How/where can I learn more about white magic?

For books, all I have found so far are "The White Magic Book" and "The White Magic Encyclopedia." (I did read them.)

I guess what I'm asking is, where should I start looking?

Thanks.

 

[HoldAll]

I've currently rediscovered "Six Ways" by Aidan Wachter, so that's what I would recommend as a practical book for beginners. You won't get very far if you insist on 'white magic' in the title of a book, it's kinda obsolete now because many practicioners nowadays claim that there is just magic, period, and how you use it is up to you. All results-based magic as described in the Gallery of Magick books, for example, used to be regarded as 'black magic' (Golden Dawn, Dion Fortune) and it's easy to see why because many magical results, e.g. a promotion, will come at the expense of others.

If you simpy want to read, I'd say start with Dion Fortune's "The Mystical Qabalah"or just anything in the Library that catches your eye. I've also found Ritual Magic for Conservative Christians but I don't know if it's any good. Praying is actually a good idea to practice speaking from the heart to a sublime being which is different from endlessly repeating Lord's Prayers and Hail Mary's by rote. There's also several books about the use of psalms in magic in the Library, many authors use psalms as part of their rituals.

 

[Amadeus]

If you are looking for Christian mysticism, then there are some books.

The Cloud of Unknowing
The Way of a Pilgrim
The Ladder of Divine Ascent
Then a couple about Porphyrios of Kafsokalyvia

As HoldAll said, there are also some interesting books about the use of psalms in the library here.

A great idea would be to start learning hesychasm, but be very careful with it. It's a very blazing practice and the effects will be overwhelming for a long time. It works better once you get baptized, I guess you're almost there.

 

[IllusiveOwl]

How/where can I learn more about white magic?

I can't speak to occult grimoires, or your particular religion, but I know that the Rosicrucian society and the Golden Dawn were interested in Holy / White magic . You may want to look at the works of theologians and anchorites.

These aren't all your faith, but God can be worshipped in many ways, all of them praise the same white light. The works of Rumi, Eckhart, the Zohar, the Hadiqat al Haqiqa... you need to learn the philosiphy and perspective if you want to generate the faith and power behind your craft. You need to be moved, dig?

 

[Xingtian]

Hi, I'm an Orthodox Catechumen. I got into orthodoxy hoping to learn more about the mystical side of Christianity, since it overlaps with white magic. (At least, that's my understanding.)

I've tried asking my priest about that sort of thing, but he just tells me to say my prayers.

How/where can I learn more about white magic?

For books, all I have found so far are "The White Magic Book" and "The White Magic Encyclopedia." (I did read them.)

I guess what I'm asking is, where should I start looking?

Thanks.

First of all, it's highly unlikely you will find a priest who endorses magic, at least if that's the word you use. That's doubly true if you are in the USA or some other western country, where Orthodoxy tends to be highly clericalist and by-the-book, where the average priest would denounce as flatly heretical or idolatrous practices that are more often winked at in, say, rural Romania or Russia.

Second, laying aside longstanding prejudices against the term "magic" which go back to ancient times, when the word was really just a synonym for any kind of bad or illicit religious practice, Orthodox Christianity itself, even in its most official dogmatic form, constitutes a magickal system. The Divine Liturgy and the various services; the holy symbols, gestures, and icons; the incense, holy water, etc.- all of this is magick from a modern, impartial perspective. The prayer books and psalter are grimoires- so many saints and elders will go on about the power of the psalms, how they bind devils, heal the sick, etc. Likewise the power of the various canons and akathists.

So much of the Orthodox understanding of the divine services goes back to Pseudo-Dionysius who in turn was adapting Proclus' thoughts on theurgy to a Christian context.

So in a way a priest telling you to "just say your prayers" is not frustrating your search.

 

[CASTIELCHCAGO81]

Hi, I'm an Orthodox Catechumen. I got into orthodoxy hoping to learn more about the mystical side of Christianity, since it overlaps with white magic. (At least, that's my understanding.)

I've tried asking my priest about that sort of thing, but he just tells me to say my prayers.

How/where can I learn more about white magic?

For books, all I have found so far are "The White Magic Book" and "The White Magic Encyclopedia." (I did read them.)

I guess what I'm asking is, where should I start looking?

Thanks.

I am an Orthodox Christian from Greece. I have the same passion. I have found some magical uses from a priest but Russian forums have a lot of about it. You can ask me if you are searching for specific task or knowledge. I am happy to share what I know.

Post automatically merged: Oct 1, 2024

First of all, it's highly unlikely you will find a priest who endorses magic, at least if that's the word you use. That's doubly true if you are in the USA or some other western country, where Orthodoxy tends to be highly clericalist and by-the-book, where the average priest would denounce as flatly heretical or idolatrous practices that are more often winked at in, say, rural Romania or Russia.

Second, laying aside longstanding prejudices against the term "magic" which go back to ancient times, when the word was really just a synonym for any kind of bad or illicit religious practice, Orthodox Christianity itself, even in its most official dogmatic form, constitutes a magickal system. The Divine Liturgy and the various services; the holy symbols, gestures, and icons; the incense, holy water, etc.- all of this is magick from a modern, impartial perspective. The prayer books and psalter are grimoires- so many saints and elders will go on about the power of the psalms, how they bind devils, heal the sick, etc. Likewise the power of the various canons and akathists.

So much of the Orthodox understanding of the divine services goes back to Pseudo-Dionysius who in turn was adapting Proclus' thoughts on theurgy to a Christian context.

So in a way a priest telling you to "just say your prayers" is not frustrating your search.

Totally, agree with that. All prayers, psalms, canons, etc have a magical use for even an everyday issue. For example, the prayer of Cyprianos saint with combination of psalms and parts from Gospel are used for cleaning, unbind hex. Also, parts from evening prayers are for finding lost things. The small Canon of Holy Mother of August celebration is for healing.
Furthermore, I would like to recommend the books of Stylianos Atteshlis, which have techniques for magical connection with God and angels and healing powers.

 

[Amadeus]

Forgot to add this one in the first reply. The Book of Gold: A 17th Century Magical Grimoire of Amulets, Charms, Prayers, Sigils and Spells Using the Biblical Psalms of King David.

 

[HoldAll]

Forgot to add this one in the first reply. The Book of Gold: A 17th Century Magical Grimoire of Amulets, Charms, Prayers, Sigils and Spells Using the Biblical Psalms of King David.

Book – PDF - The Book of Gold (Le Livre d'Or) - David Rankine

Le Livre d’Or (The Book of Gold) is a unique 17th century French magical work comprising numerous amulets, charms, prayers, spells and sigils for working with the Biblical Book of the Psalms of King David. Written in a simple style akin to a medieval Book of Secrets combined with magical...

wizardforums.com

 

[Milton]

I was expecting The Arbatel to be mentioned here, but its not?
It is quite an easy recommendation in my opinion as it is basically a prayer book and how to be a good Christian. (It is a weird part, like I am quite sure if anyone wanted to be a good christian, they wouldn't be reading from a literal grimoire)
Regardless, best translation is by Joseph Peterson.
Not quite for beginners, but I'd give it a go, as this grimoire is proven to work. (And actually one of the easiest grimoires out there)

 

[IllusiveOwl]

A good one that just came to mind is the Sworn Book of Honorious

 

[Ziran]

How/where can I learn more about white magic?

Rabbi Gitakilla answers your question in his book Sha'arie Ohr, Gates of Light. It begins:

You have asked of me, my brother and friend of my soul, to illuminate a path before you in the matter of the names of the Holy One, blessed is He, through which to attain and reach your desired goal. Since I see that your intention is better and more upright than your request, I find it necessary to inform you which path is apportioned for light...​

From Rabbi Gikatilla's Wikipedia entry:

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Gikatilla was for some time a pupil of the kabbalist Abraham Abulafia, by whom he is highly praised; his kabbalistic knowledge became so profound that he was supposed to be able to work miracles, and on this account was called "Joseph Ba'al ha-Nissim".. (the Thaumaturge or literally Master of Miracles; Zacuto, Yuḥasin, p. 224a).​

where should I start looking?

The source text for the above is available for free online in its entirety. The introduction is a 10 minute read: LINK

Where should you start? Try this? Read the introduction to Sha'arie Ohr ( "Gates of Light" ). It's free. It's a 10 minute read:

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Start there? Let me know what you think of it?

Note: this is the Hebrew/English version. The English translation is below each Hebrew paragraph.

 

[Galahad]

Hi, I'm an Orthodox Catechumen. I got into orthodoxy hoping to learn more about the mystical side of Christianity, since it overlaps with white magic. (At least, that's my understanding.)

I've tried asking my priest about that sort of thing, but he just tells me to say my prayers.

How/where can I learn more about white magic?

For books, all I have found so far are "The White Magic Book" and "The White Magic Encyclopedia." (I did read them.)

I guess what I'm asking is, where should I start looking?

Thanks.

I converted to Orthodoxy through the Greek Church as a teen and left to pursue what, at that time, seemed to me stronger magic (I have an old account on here which covers much of that). By this I mean, something that corresponded more closely with what I had been socialised into thinking magic looked like. There were upsides to this but, in hindsight, I would say the best question for me to have asked myself, and the best for others to ask themselves too, is: What exactly do you want and why? When we look for answers to those questions we have to practice a great deal of brutal honesty and a great deal of matter-of-fact acceptance. I've found that people generally fall into three categories when it comes to magic. I make no judgement here that one is better than the other, they're simply different and come from different places.

The first and largest group are those who essentially turn to magic to try and gain worldly power in ways that they either cannot obtain conventionally or which they think will take too long. For these people I would say magic is a blind alley. They would be far better off going the conventional route: taking a course and getting a responsible job (society will give power to those it sees as responsible) is a much faster path to power than mulling over some ponderous tones of forbidden lore.

The second group are probably more content with their lot in life but they want a sense of mystery. This can be strong drive in those who have a, perhaps unspoken, awareness of the reality of life on this planet. Sometimes it's a distraction from that reality, but even that desire for something else indicates the person is searching for higher realities. If you want a sense of mystery that's compatible with Orthodoxy, I would say to look into Rosicrucianism and Martinism. Both are esoteric, both are quite gentle and both have enough of substance in them as to be useful.

The last and smallest category are those who have a deep, fundamental initiatory need. For these people, there might be a system which they use to put their head in the right space but, ultimately, it's an internal alignment that has to happen here and that gets into qualities which are beyond language.

The better able you are to assess where your interest is coming from, the better you'll be able to meet your needs.

 

[Jsinclair]

Hi, I'm an Orthodox Catechumen. I got into orthodoxy hoping to learn more about the mystical side of Christianity, since it overlaps with white magic. (At least, that's my understanding.)

I've tried asking my priest about that sort of thing, but he just tells me to say my prayers.

How/where can I learn more about white magic?

For books, all I have found so far are "The White Magic Book" and "The White Magic Encyclopedia." (I did read them.)

I guess what I'm asking is, where should I start looking?

Thanks.

It is in the esoteric traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church that you will likely find what you're looking for. One of the best places to start is with Modern Occultism in Late Imperial Russia by Julia Mannherz.

Hi, I'm an Orthodox Catechumen. I got into orthodoxy hoping to learn more about the mystical side of Christianity, since it overlaps with white magic. (At least, that's my understanding.)

I've tried asking my priest about that sort of thing, but he just tells me to say my prayers.

How/where can I learn more about white magic?

For books, all I have found so far are "The White Magic Book" and "The White Magic Encyclopedia." (I did read them.)

I guess what I'm asking is, where should I start looking?

Thanks.

 

[HoldAll]

It is in the esoteric traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church that you will likely find what you're looking for. One of the best places to start is with Modern Occultism in Late Imperial Russia by Julia Mannherz.

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Please don't link to such file search engine like zlib. Get a mega.nz account and upload that file there.

 

[denis]

complete idiots guide to wicca and witchcraft is good u can find pdf on google

 

[Christos]

complete idiots guide to wicca and witchcraft is good u can find pdf on google

That's black magic, would recommend staying away from that kind of stuff.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 5:12 PM

Thanks for the help everyone, I found "A Treatise on White Magic" by Alice Bailey and it's definitely "the" book for it.

 

[Villemus]

Thanks for the help everyone, I found "A Treatise on White Magic" by Alice Bailey and it's definitely "the" book for it.

I was given a box of 'occult' books in the late 70's and that was one of the ones in it. One of my favorite quotes from that book is:

“In Taurus he must be able to say: ‘I seek illumination and am myself the light.’ In Leo he will say: ‘I know myself to be the one. I rule by Law.’ The word he will utter forth in Scorpio will be: ‘Illusion cannot hold me. I am the bird that flies with utter freedom.’ In Aquarius the words spoken will be: ‘I am the server, and I the dispenser of am of living water.’” (Bailey, TWM, 548)​