Book Discussion Your first occult book

[Morell]

I think that this might be interesting.

So, what is the first book you've read on occult and what of it's teaching still remains with you?

For me, the first was Initiation into Hermetics by Franz Bardon, one of few book then available in my language, just under little different name. Back then I was pretty surprised that books on magic actually exist and I didn't yet learn English.
I think I still keep some common sense advices for keeping oneself in good condition and in fact I think it was good advice to keep oneself in good condition, including daily physical exercise.

 

[Vandheer]

For me, the first was Initiation into Hermetics by Franz Bardon,

Same here, still training that one

 

[art-vark2323]

I started off with witchcraft books-- my favorite was and continues to be Folk Witchcraft by Roger J Horne. I still return to it for inspiration every now and then! That said, my first book which started my longstanding love for Grimoires and truly pushed me further into studying the occult was The Secret Lore of Magic: Books of the Sorcerers by Idries Shah. This book contains several grimoire texts and I found it in a collection of donated books in my college town's local antique store. I still remember that day very clearly and how much I treasured this find!

 

[HoldAll]

Colin Wilson's "The Occult". I feel embarrassed about that tome now but it was an eye-opener when I was a teen and opened up many rabbit holes for later serious study.

 

[MofoMojo]

Haha... this is a trip down memory lane. Paul Huson's Mastering Witchcraft was the first I think I bought. I mean, I had access to The Golden Bough and a couple of others that discussed the occult, but that was my first foray into it.

 

[art-vark2323]

Colin Wilson's "The Occult". I feel embarrassed about that tome now but it was an eye-opener when I was a teen and opened up many rabbit holes for later serious study.

Wilson's books were some of my first forays too! I saw a copy of Beyond the Occult in the bookstore one day and bought it early on.

 

[Sabbatius]

Initially I read a biography on Aleister Crowley which led me to the Occult Literature section in my local library when I was pretty young. I was planning on picking up something from Crowley, but instead I found:
Raymond Buckland's The Tree-The Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft was my first book on occult studies. I knew what a Seax knife was and pondered the thought of it as a tool for magic. Also, the cover had some weird bare-chested lady on it in front of a tree, so my interest was piqued. Also, the Crowley area was bare.
Honestly, I preferred Buckland's initiatory works to Scott Cunningham's Wicca-A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner.
To note, I like Cunningham's works too, but I just prefer Buckland's.

 

[Rowena]

My first book would have been my mother's Book of Shadows - which became the basis of my own a few years later.

The first published occult books I owned were the first editions of Liber Null & Psychonaut - I was given them as a gift in my early teens (before the combined edition was published) & they were incredibly influential in both my magical development & my teenage rebellious phase.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

It was Crowley's 'Magick in Theory and Practice' that drew me in when I started my research. I figured out pretty early that Crowley was an egomaniac, but the discussion of magic itself is mostly straightforward and practical. I still look at it from time to time

 

[Yazata]

Two books by Laurie Cabot that here in NL were combined into one hardcover with the cute title "Groot Heksenboek"

 

[Taudefindi]

Is it occult books or it can be books about the occult?

If it is the former, then it probably was "O Caminho do Ofício Místico(trans. The Path of the Mystical Craft)" by Ziéde C. Moreira

If it is the latter, then it probaly was "Magia no Mundo Grego Antigo(trans. Magic in the Ancient Greek World)" by Derek Collins.

 

[Morell]

Is it occult books or it can be books about the occult?

If it is the former, then it probably was "O Caminho do Ofício Místico(trans. The Path of the Mystical Craft)" by Ziéde C. Moreira

If it is the latter, then it probaly was "Magia no Mundo Grego Antigo(trans. Magic in the Ancient Greek World)" by Derek Collins.

I meant occult book, not book about occult. Thanks for both answers.

 

[Ilúvatar]

In Search of the Miraculous by PD Ouspensky. If that counts. At the time it seemed very out there and occultish to me. Now it seems pretty tame. But it's stuck with me. I'm still, to this day, an enthusiast of that rascally sage Gurdjieff!

Otherwise, it'd be something by Crowley. I can't honestly remember what I picked up first. Maybe Book of the Law. Or Book of Lies. Either way, I don't think I retained anything from my fling with Crowley -- except that I'm not interested in him anymore!

 

[stratamaster78]

The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P Hall

This was the 1st book that opened my eyes to the existence of the Occult in the framework of ‘Hidden’ or ‘Secret’ Knowledge that is being kept from people.

Then various books of Witchcraft and Hoodoo together with Agrippa’s Three Books opened me up to the line of thought ‘oh wow this is real and their really are Magickal correspondences with plants, metals, gemstones, colors, scents, elements, planets’ etc etc

Then lastly DMK’s Modern Magick got me started with Ceremonial Magick.

 

[Shade]

The Book of Pleasure by Austin Osman Spare opened my eyes to the idea of us being gods, he also wrote something that stuck with me… he wrote “You cannot conceive an impossibility, nothing is impossible, you are the impossible!” Which I contemplated on a lot.
But Liber Null by Peter Carrol was my second, but possibly considered first occult text, it really opened me up to Animism.

 

[Khoren_]

Surprisingly, Real Magick by Amber K. It was in my dad's library and it was the shortest of the magic texts that he had. I still recommend it for a lot of people, even though it's not really in my vein of magic anymore, mostly because Amber K and her husband are a Tour De Force when it comes to magical writing. Their "Ritual Craft" is probably one of the books I reference the most when I talk about creating new spells and rituals.

But I think the most eye-opening book that I've come across was probably Donald Tyson's book Ritual Magic, which was the book that caused me to finally end my theory work and start doing practical magic.

 

[AlwaysTired1994]

The Kybalion was my first book.