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Aviaf! 93, brother (sister?). I'm ex(ish) OTO as well. Good to meet you here.
To everyone, I see Crowley is brought up a lot here, and while I disagree with Uncle Al on many points, I feel we don't have many good training systems. You can mostly ignore his UPG traveling Enochian Aethers IMHO, unless you want to engage with his personal shit more deeply. Too many magicians think they are not doing Enochian right if they don't have his exact visions, and adopt his godforms. I am of the optinon the A∴A∴ (Argentum Astrum) curriculum, as well as his better writings, are very good starting points, for now.
As a good mental tool for unpacking Crowley's corpus, I'd like to highlight what Dr. Stephen Skinner usefully points out: when Crowley writes the word "Magick" or "magic" mentally auto-replace it with the word "Mysticism", and he will be put on the shelf in the correct category.
These more post-1899 Theosophical Society influenced systems are more usefully not thought of as Magic , but they are good training for Magic. So for anyone who thinks Crowley's program is for magic (by which I mean, legit sorcery), they are not. And should not be judged by the success criteria of "results magic" /sorcery/ pre-1899 Magic That is not what they are for. It took me joining the Order to get confirmation of that. But, once you see what they are for, for restructuring your "Nephesh," your mental-emotional connections, you can engage with it, and with any mytheopoetic system.
Later, lesser occult influencers like Gerald Gardner, made this confusion n' conflation all much worse smearing a thin coat of highly academic confirmation bias pagan paint over New Thought , and appropriating the tools and aesthetics of legit historical sorcery, Goetia. Pardon I get low low-irritated by this, even while I think his system can work for people.
Similarly, The Golden Dawn system is more akin to Chaos Magic than most people recognize. Traveling up the Tree of Life to the Sephiroth, you will have various visions, cross the Abyss, become a Magus, and speak your Word. Oddly, somehow, just as you think you should. Like it was all pre-planned for you. Hmmmm. Fancy that! The type of "enlightenment" you get is of a different quality than Dzogchen Clear Light of Consciousness. It is more mental-emotional but this does not mean it is without value. Most of the Modern systems work like this, so pick one that makes you into a fun, creative, and joyful person rather than a cramped, bitter monster.
If you want a "system of manifestation" without the gods, tools, robes, circles, weird names, and other occult bric-a-brac, I highly recommend Neville Goddard's writings. You don't need gods or spirits to create miracles.
Now I will say, one magician I respect, says Neville's system is relying on your HGA in the background, and I have no way to disprove him, because I only engaged with Neville's work after experiencing both an Underworld Initiation from one of the daimons of the Grimoirum Verum, and K&C of my HGA.
The only argument I have against his take is Salty NT Grandpa, who was a member of Neville's Group, and not an example of what I think of what an Adept (or whatever we call excellent practitioners ) should sound like. But maybe that's just my own personal biases.
Neville Goddard's Law of Assumption VIP Class Testimony (YouTube)
To everyone, I see Crowley is brought up a lot here, and while I disagree with Uncle Al on many points, I feel we don't have many good training systems. You can mostly ignore his UPG traveling Enochian Aethers IMHO, unless you want to engage with his personal shit more deeply. Too many magicians think they are not doing Enochian right if they don't have his exact visions, and adopt his godforms. I am of the optinon the A∴A∴ (Argentum Astrum) curriculum, as well as his better writings, are very good starting points, for now.
As a good mental tool for unpacking Crowley's corpus, I'd like to highlight what Dr. Stephen Skinner usefully points out: when Crowley writes the word "Magick" or "magic" mentally auto-replace it with the word "Mysticism", and he will be put on the shelf in the correct category.
These more post-1899 Theosophical Society influenced systems are more usefully not thought of as Magic , but they are good training for Magic. So for anyone who thinks Crowley's program is for magic (by which I mean, legit sorcery), they are not. And should not be judged by the success criteria of "results magic" /sorcery/ pre-1899 Magic That is not what they are for. It took me joining the Order to get confirmation of that. But, once you see what they are for, for restructuring your "Nephesh," your mental-emotional connections, you can engage with it, and with any mytheopoetic system.
Later, lesser occult influencers like Gerald Gardner, made this confusion n' conflation all much worse smearing a thin coat of highly academic confirmation bias pagan paint over New Thought , and appropriating the tools and aesthetics of legit historical sorcery, Goetia. Pardon I get low low-irritated by this, even while I think his system can work for people.
Similarly, The Golden Dawn system is more akin to Chaos Magic than most people recognize. Traveling up the Tree of Life to the Sephiroth, you will have various visions, cross the Abyss, become a Magus, and speak your Word. Oddly, somehow, just as you think you should. Like it was all pre-planned for you. Hmmmm. Fancy that! The type of "enlightenment" you get is of a different quality than Dzogchen Clear Light of Consciousness. It is more mental-emotional but this does not mean it is without value. Most of the Modern systems work like this, so pick one that makes you into a fun, creative, and joyful person rather than a cramped, bitter monster.
If you want a "system of manifestation" without the gods, tools, robes, circles, weird names, and other occult bric-a-brac, I highly recommend Neville Goddard's writings. You don't need gods or spirits to create miracles.
Now I will say, one magician I respect, says Neville's system is relying on your HGA in the background, and I have no way to disprove him, because I only engaged with Neville's work after experiencing both an Underworld Initiation from one of the daimons of the Grimoirum Verum, and K&C of my HGA.
The only argument I have against his take is Salty NT Grandpa, who was a member of Neville's Group, and not an example of what I think of what an Adept (or whatever we call excellent practitioners ) should sound like. But maybe that's just my own personal biases.
Neville Goddard's Law of Assumption VIP Class Testimony (YouTube)