Book Discussion Your first occult book

[Pyrographer]

Walden. I lived in Salem, MA, so occult stuff wasn't exactly hidden. But it was reading Thoreau that put a lot of the pieces together for me and taught me to block out the noise and really listen to what was speaking to me. I understand it isn't occult, but it unlocked something that started the journey.

 

[MrMelnibone]

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.

Mine is Liber Null and Psychonaught. It's mostly influential as sigils and meditation are all i currently do as I'm not particularly experienced

 

[Mercurius2393]

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.

Hi all. For me it was Mastering Witchcraft by Paul Huson. When it was brand new in 1970. I was 13.

 

[crypthouse]

oh, goodness... to ride a silver broomstick by silver ravenwolf. i was a kiddo asking my friend's older sister questions about her tarot cards and what she had "all this stuff," in her room for. she was nice enough to let me borrow it for a while. i can't say i remember too much of it past "woah! i could do stuff to make things a little less hard? with stuff in my kitchen?? and the ground?!" i think that that specific line of thought is the main thing that still influences me lol

 

[sherab]

My library had maybe 3-4 occult books. My favorite was the Fortune Tellers. I desperately wanted to know the future as a kid, but looking back, I'm glad I couldn't. Life is full of twists, turns, surprises, and disappointments.

 

[IllusiveOwl]

I dont know how I came across this, but it was the first book I read seriously, and it had a huge enough impact on my 19 year old sheep-brain to get me interested in esotericism for a while, before fizzling back into normie-unconsciousness for several more years. When I woke back up, I had this book to thank for laying some of the groundwork to a healthy intrepid journey into the Occult.

I keep a copy of this on my shelf today, I highly recommend it.

 

[Galahad]

As a very young teen, I read the pulpy, "forbidden history" book The Templar Revelation which had a huge influence on Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code which was popular at the time. I thought it was utterly dreadful (I was right) but it turned a few things on their head. Suddenly "the occult" no longer had anything to do with crystal-therapists but had been a hidden influence in history that was provocative and intellectually demanding in some forms. Though a lot of the claims in that book were unhinged, others are well-attested. For better or for worse, it was formative.

After that, I read Michael Aquino's Black Magic and that was seismic. It gave a structure to rituals so I could start undertaking magic directly. It also explained a few of the things which I'd started to approach and generally had a very profound influence on my thinking for years. I turned to the sources of Aquino's thinking many years ago now and got the transmission undiluted but I still have a sentimental fondness for Aquino's book. It was a major turning point.

 

[rice candy]

I think my first one was either Initiation into Hermetics by Franz Bardon or Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce. Can't remember...!

 

[MagickalStudent569]

This book. The Witch's Book of Power by Devin Hunter. It was recommended by a shop keeper at one of those metaphysical stores who claimed Hecate recommended it. I read a few chapters, but I couldn't get into to it, at least at the time. I never ended up finishing it and eventually gave it away. It did get the ball rolling though as far looking deeper into the subject and at other books.

 

[Adelina]

I am glad to see "Mastering Witchcraft" by Paul Huson being mentioned here, it was first serious book for me too. There were a few other books before that, but I don't consider them significant. The name of first non-serious book was "Stars and Fates" and I am not sure you can find this book anywhere nowadays.