Just how did the old mages do it?

[HoldAll]

Some authors opine that the old European grimoires read like so many recipe books because they tacitly assume that the would-be mage had adequate prior training in order to get results. Really? I find it hard to believe. I think they were isolated solitary practicioners, bought the books somewhere, then went through a long, tedious process of acquiring all the prescribed implements and paraphernalia and, come ritual time, whipped themselves into a such frenzy of fanatical hope and superstitious fear through incessant praying (as well as a heavy dose of frankincense up their noses) until something happened. Allegedly. Did Eliphas Levi really conjure up the ghost of Apollonius of Tyana? Without any prior experience whatsoever?

I've only recently started to do some practical work like the LBRP, meditation, relaxation, etc., everything modern occult books recommend. While progress has been modest so far, I just can't imagine even now that one could do magic without some rock-solid trance-concentration (that's how I call the mental state that's required for a successful ritual, in my opinion). Except for the GoM (and I begin to doubt their effectiveness for this very reason), there seems to be a broad consensus that a lot of mental preparatory work is required first, from Quareia to the Bardon wringer. So how did the Medieval and Renaissance mages do it?

 

[Roma]

It could be that the best mages maintained extreme privacy about themselves and practices. That way they could live peacefully and probably longer

 

[Xenophon]

That

It could be that the best mages maintained extreme privacy about themselves and practices. That way they could live peacefully and probably longer

Looks like an old idea whose time is coming again, what with lives destroyed by one inadvertent Twitter post, no?

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Eating lots of mushrooms of various types, is a fair guess. Persistent, perfect practice made perfect. Read and emulate Agrippa and Barrett.

 

[Xenophon]

Eating lots of mushrooms of various types, is a fair guess. Persistent, perfect practice made perfect. Read and emulate Agrippa and Barrett.

If 'shrooms were involved, wouldn't Agrippa mention it? He catalogues pretty completely, if I remember.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Just saying, maybe licked the back of the wrong toad. Seriously, it was probably done through extensive use of the names of God to force spirits to appear.

 

[Jackson]

Although a heightened state is advised by Agrippa to assist magic, I have not necessarily found it to be a necessity. Although a great deal might contribute, nothing at all is necessarily necessary for magic to work. A great deal of work might be required, or it might simply work. However I got there, if I say a thing, it is entirely possible that it will be done, instantly. I personally am a fan of the Buddhist exposition on the psychic powers. But musings of themselves miss the point.

"I just can't imagine even now that one could do magic without some rock-solid trance-concentration". As at least a Buddhist preparation done at some point, this would be a rather Buddhist explanation of development. It would miss the point to entirely rely on it. The magic might also just work for whatever reason.

 

[Ziran]

... how did the old mages do it? With care. Carefully.

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[Caliban]

Some authors opine that the old European grimoires read like so many recipe books because they tacitly assume that the would-be mage had adequate prior training in order to get results. Really? I find it hard to believe. ...So how did the Medieval and Renaissance mages do it?

Okay, bear in mind that, in order to leave us textual evidence, the old time magi had to be literate. This was far from universal in Antiquity and in some cultures restricted to priestly castes. In Dark Ages Europe, that mostly meant monks - who lived in a life built on ritual, meditation, work as prayer. So they did have some basic, ingrained, shared notions of meaningful ways of engaging with the Unseen.

But they also had teachers. Porphyry had Plotinus. Cornelius Agrippa had Trithemius. Weyer had Agrippa, and so on. These teachers provided context to cryptic texts, and possibly provided the texts themselves - necessarily hand-copied until Gutenberg did his thing.

Even outside the clerical orders, ritual observance was commonplace. Trade guilds staged mystery plays honoring the saintly patron of their craft with public, costumed processions. That's what Freemasonry started as, before it became a speculative, fraternal, secret society. And, through the ubiquity of Freemasonry a lot of lodge procedure became so universal and standardized that, for example, the rituals of the Golden Dawn just assume everyone knows all that part already, and leaves it out of ritual directions.

People lived with it. We don't. We need to work to find a personal method that flips us into sacred space, sacred time, that we can turn on to do the work and turn off when it's not appropriate.

 

[Roma]

. I think they were isolated solitary practicioners

I wonder if that is specific to the Piscean Age

Prior to that it was more likely that groups worked in/under temples. The Jesus legend includes a group of 3 magi.

The Aquarian Age is for group work