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From the next New Moon, August the 4th, I am going to be leading two offline study groups as we work through two magical curriculae. One group is going to be working through Edred Thorsson's runic curriculum The Nine Doors of Midgard. This curriculum takes around three years to complete/move through each of the nine doors. The other group will work through Don Webb's Energy Magick of the Vampyre, a curriculum which takes nine months, with an extra couple of weeks beforehand to familiarise oneself with the "Daily Energy Inventory" and some of the reading list (both curriculae have long, specialist reading lists). To Webb's system, I have a supplementary four months of workings ("Strength", "Seduction", "Lycanthropy", "MetaMind") which I wrote for myself and will share with anyone interested if they first make it to the later stages of Webb's curriculum. Those four extend the whole Vampyre work to thirteen, rather than nine, months.
I'm not extending an invite to the groups but if there's anyone on Wizard Forums who wants to work through either book alongside me, I will start two journal threads (one called "Runestaves" for Midgard, one called "Lifeforce" for Vampyre), to share how the work is being approached, impressions, questions, thoughts, and general discussion around how we're finding things. I'd kindly ask the WF moderators to be utterly militant in helping me keep those threads on topic. If anyone later wishes to work through either book, they'll have those threads as a resource.
If you are interested, you're going to have to indulge me being a bastard now in setting some very clear boundaries so that we can be vulnerable together later:
1. Unless you are exceptionally experienced, do not attempt to work though both curriculae. Bluntly, and given the faddishness that attends most occultism, I have been at this a long time and I know what I'm doing. Still, working two curriculae at once is daunting. Further, I was in the test group that worked through Webb's Vampyre book before it was published and so I have done it once already and that was after years and years of being involved in this terrain. I am doing it again because it's impossible to support others without also being immersed in the same material. My strong advice is to pick one system and, if you're interested in the other, to do that afterwards. I have not worked through the Midgard curriculum before but I have a lot of experience with runes and Germanic occultism.
2. The only way to make progress is to give 100% of your efforts to one approach. Do not work through these books alongside other systems. This goes doubly for metaphysically and ethically incompatible systems. If you're working through, say, the Vampyre curriculum with me and I see a post from you saying "I still invoke Jesus in Yetzirah lol" don't be surprised if I conclude that you're not worth my time and give you the cold shoulder. Other occult interests will still be there once this work is over, until then, focus.
3. Do not attempt either system unless you're serious and intend to finish the work. It's a personal mission of mine to claim as many magicians as possible for systems that will actually elevate their state of Being (and their Life, which flows from that). That means being discriminating in where I give my energies as manifested in time and words. Sometimes things do get in the way and work has to be paused for a day or two or, sometimes, abandoned entirely. That's fine. But setting out knowing that you're flaky/unlikely to do the work isn't just wasting your own time, it's stealing mine. That would be unwise. Also, it may shock some of you, but not everyone on WF likes me. If we have had a "run in" and you seriously want to work through Vampyre or Midgard, DM me. If things can be put right, great. If not, I genuinely wish you well in your efforts.
4. The threads aren't the Work, just a supplement. Don't use the WF threads as a diary for this project and, remember, magical work is strengthened by secrecy. You're working alone and confronting yourself. This would just be a supplement to that. Less time online is almost always going to help you.
5. No pedantic complaining about the systems. This is the equivalent of being shot and saying "I will not get into your Honda to be taken to the hospital, I am waiting for a yellow Maserati with green wheels". This does not mean that I am blind to the flaws of a system but these are big rockets that get you from one place to another. Once you're there, you can fine-tune, personalise or disregard entirely.
If the 4th of August is too soon, the next New Moon is the 2nd/3rd of September. For either system you will need a physical copy of the book we're working from (for Midgard, that's the 2016 edition). For Vampyre, read as much as you possibly can before the 4th of August and start the 'Daily Energy Inventory' as soon as possible. Try to gather what is needed for the 'Opening Rite of Try' which will be performed at midnight on the night of the New Moon. For Midgard, read Edred Thorsson's Runelore and one of his recommended books on Germanic religion. I'm going with Myths of the Pagan North: The Gods Of The Norsemen by Christopher Abram.
Let me know if you want to join in on either working and I'll open a thread with full starting instructions.
I'm not extending an invite to the groups but if there's anyone on Wizard Forums who wants to work through either book alongside me, I will start two journal threads (one called "Runestaves" for Midgard, one called "Lifeforce" for Vampyre), to share how the work is being approached, impressions, questions, thoughts, and general discussion around how we're finding things. I'd kindly ask the WF moderators to be utterly militant in helping me keep those threads on topic. If anyone later wishes to work through either book, they'll have those threads as a resource.
If you are interested, you're going to have to indulge me being a bastard now in setting some very clear boundaries so that we can be vulnerable together later:
1. Unless you are exceptionally experienced, do not attempt to work though both curriculae. Bluntly, and given the faddishness that attends most occultism, I have been at this a long time and I know what I'm doing. Still, working two curriculae at once is daunting. Further, I was in the test group that worked through Webb's Vampyre book before it was published and so I have done it once already and that was after years and years of being involved in this terrain. I am doing it again because it's impossible to support others without also being immersed in the same material. My strong advice is to pick one system and, if you're interested in the other, to do that afterwards. I have not worked through the Midgard curriculum before but I have a lot of experience with runes and Germanic occultism.
2. The only way to make progress is to give 100% of your efforts to one approach. Do not work through these books alongside other systems. This goes doubly for metaphysically and ethically incompatible systems. If you're working through, say, the Vampyre curriculum with me and I see a post from you saying "I still invoke Jesus in Yetzirah lol" don't be surprised if I conclude that you're not worth my time and give you the cold shoulder. Other occult interests will still be there once this work is over, until then, focus.
3. Do not attempt either system unless you're serious and intend to finish the work. It's a personal mission of mine to claim as many magicians as possible for systems that will actually elevate their state of Being (and their Life, which flows from that). That means being discriminating in where I give my energies as manifested in time and words. Sometimes things do get in the way and work has to be paused for a day or two or, sometimes, abandoned entirely. That's fine. But setting out knowing that you're flaky/unlikely to do the work isn't just wasting your own time, it's stealing mine. That would be unwise. Also, it may shock some of you, but not everyone on WF likes me. If we have had a "run in" and you seriously want to work through Vampyre or Midgard, DM me. If things can be put right, great. If not, I genuinely wish you well in your efforts.
4. The threads aren't the Work, just a supplement. Don't use the WF threads as a diary for this project and, remember, magical work is strengthened by secrecy. You're working alone and confronting yourself. This would just be a supplement to that. Less time online is almost always going to help you.
5. No pedantic complaining about the systems. This is the equivalent of being shot and saying "I will not get into your Honda to be taken to the hospital, I am waiting for a yellow Maserati with green wheels". This does not mean that I am blind to the flaws of a system but these are big rockets that get you from one place to another. Once you're there, you can fine-tune, personalise or disregard entirely.
If the 4th of August is too soon, the next New Moon is the 2nd/3rd of September. For either system you will need a physical copy of the book we're working from (for Midgard, that's the 2016 edition). For Vampyre, read as much as you possibly can before the 4th of August and start the 'Daily Energy Inventory' as soon as possible. Try to gather what is needed for the 'Opening Rite of Try' which will be performed at midnight on the night of the New Moon. For Midgard, read Edred Thorsson's Runelore and one of his recommended books on Germanic religion. I'm going with Myths of the Pagan North: The Gods Of The Norsemen by Christopher Abram.
Let me know if you want to join in on either working and I'll open a thread with full starting instructions.