Probie
Grigori said:
Probably in the old days two things helped: (1) no TV, cable, satellite, or internet [a.k.a., "modern communication technology"] and (2) blue-blooded Englishmen - everyone else had to work for a living!
Magick: Book 4, Liber Aba (Magick Bk. 4)
Probably in the old days two things helped: (1) no TV, cable, satellite, or internet [a.k.a., "modern communication technology"] and (2) blue-blooded Englishmen - everyone else had to work for a living!
ravenest
Professor X said:
Generally, the 'why' is explained in the introduction; why did I write this book?
To make it accessible to a vaster majority? More specifically, I guess the same answer; he thought it a simple but accessible way to work.
Maybe I am misreading the question? Why did he come up with them?
However if you start wonder HOW he came up with them, what are they actually, who has used them before, where did they come from?
But WHY specifically those forms added and other parts of 'traditional magic' not included? I guess, becasue they are a technique that works well ... as you are beging to find out.
Aeon418
You'll find this sign else where in masonic encyclopedias, but the important thing to remember is that it is the Grade sign of an Adeptus Major 6=5. One of the functions of this grade is the obtaining and directing of magical power.Professor X said:
If you look at the 6=5 sign you will notice that the pose is a variation on the classic magicians pose seen in most tarot decks. One hand raised to heaven to draw down the power, the other holding the erm.... wand
laugh to direct it. He's a lightning conductor, a promethean tube bringing down fire from heaven.If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one.
Grigori
Probie said:
Probably not. I recommended it as its the only GD deck currently in print, and I think its useful to compare the GD version with the Thoth. The book has images, though they're not colored. If you have no special yen for a GD deck, or any urgency, it might be better to wait. There are multiple new GD decks on the horizon, and also the Cicero's is to be reprinted soon also.
Probie
Grigori said:
Ah...good. I don't mind shelling out for something useful & do like things for study. Example, go to my profile & you'll see the Cary-Yale Visconti, the TdM, & Etteila. Don't read with them, but the history is indispensible. Wife doesn't like Tarot, but even she "got it" when I explained the history, unveiled the decks, explained a bit, etc.
Now the reason for that is I'm doing the Tarot certification - sort of. I've compiled the requirements, but I'm proving them to her in person versus remote processing (and not calling self titles). I mention this because of the self-initiation materials, namely Cicero and Cicero (1995) as well as Eshelman (2000). I like groups for sounding boards, but work alone in these endeavors. Any thoughts on these works, doing the work, etc.?? I've compliled a number of resources including the book of this thread, BoL, BoT, Lies, 777, Gem of Eq, Voice & Vis, Liber Aleph, and now the Solomon's come today.
Also burning question. I saw this five part, fairly balanced documentary on YouTube on Crowley. They said when he was at Loch Ness he began a long ritual that took many months which he never completed. The ritual said, "Finish out or pay dearly." Didn't that have some negative effect on him? Isn't that normally a dangerous thing to do?
Grigori
Probie said:
I like both these titles and found them really useful. At the moment I'm working my way through Orpheus's "Abrahadabra", and also found Kraig's "Modern Magick" really useful.
Probie said:
That would be the Abramelin operation, for Knowledge and Conversation with the HGA. Crowley did complete the ritual, but not at that time as Boleskine (near Loch Ness). Instead he completed it while travelling through China. But yep, lots of dire warning going along with that ritual.
This is considered the best version of the original Abramelin operation available. Crowley wrote a new ritual, a distilled Thelemic version called Liber Samekh http://hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib800.html
Aeon418
Huh? A fairly balanced documentary? There isn't one.Probie said:
It wasn't that dire one from the Masters of Darkness series?
Yeah, Crowley started the preliminary work of the Abramelin ritual in Boleskine house on the shore of Loch Ness. Stopped it to play his part in the Golden Dawn break up and then picked it up again and finished it during his wandering through China, at a stage when he was ready to do it.Probie said:
Is it bad thing to stop the Abramelin once started? Some people think it's bad luck to walk under a ladder! Fact or bullshit? You decide?
Professor X
Aeon418 said:You'll find this sign else where in masonic encyclopedias, but the important thing to remember is that it is the Grade sign of an Adeptus Major 6=5. One of the functions of this grade is the obtaining and directing of magical power.
If you look at the 6=5 sign you will notice that the pose is a variation on the classic magicians pose seen in most tarot decks. One hand raised to heaven to draw down the power, the other holding the erm.... wand
If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one.
Thanks for the explanation. That really makes a LOT of sense. Upon further study I saw that the 6=5 is also used to seperate the Martian energy from the macrocosm and bring it to the microcosm(YOU) for direction and use.
I will defintely continue my work and development with this position.
I can see that I have been put on to something that is major.
Probie
Well, I guess my standard of "fair" was centered around that he neither 100% glowed nor sucked. The term "eulogy" comes from the Greek "to bless," which is usually what happens at funerals or later in life...well in some cases something that would mean "to canonize as a saint" may be more apropros. Of course a documentary that doesn't ham it up a bit isn't going to get ratings/hits. Part art, part reporting.
I understand about the ladder bit and I have come up with this definition of superstition (after all, how many Tarot books tell you that you *MUST* smudge/initiate/expose to moonlight your deck or *ELSE*!): something you do (1) under compulsion (don't want to) and (2) without a rationale (no understanding/justifible reason why).
You may not like to walk under ladders because you get the rationale they could fall on you or someone could be on them & drop something (an act of omission). You may like to say "Do what thou wilt" to everyone because it's meaningful (an act of commission) and not because you read it on some "top 100 things good Thelemites do."
So when it comes to unseen forces, sometimes even a bit of healthy superstition isn't bad. I never argued with a drill instructor or an infantry teacher about why you assumed a five-second fuse goes off in three...
I understand about the ladder bit and I have come up with this definition of superstition (after all, how many Tarot books tell you that you *MUST* smudge/initiate/expose to moonlight your deck or *ELSE*!): something you do (1) under compulsion (don't want to) and (2) without a rationale (no understanding/justifible reason why).
You may not like to walk under ladders because you get the rationale they could fall on you or someone could be on them & drop something (an act of omission). You may like to say "Do what thou wilt" to everyone because it's meaningful (an act of commission) and not because you read it on some "top 100 things good Thelemites do."
So when it comes to unseen forces, sometimes even a bit of healthy superstition isn't bad. I never argued with a drill instructor or an infantry teacher about why you assumed a five-second fuse goes off in three...
Aeon418
I watched the original broadcast of that documentary on tv back in the late 90's. Talk about cringe-ville.Probie said:
Did you spot the sly edit during the audio of Crowley's recitation of his Poem, "The Pentagram"?
Where did the producers get the idea that Crowley was convinced that contact with a "demonic entity" was essential to becoming a master of the occult? I'm pretty sure I know where they got that one from, and the sun don't shine there either.
But it makes great tv, huh?And Colin Wilson is a joke. Have you ever read the biography he wrote. "The Nature of the Beast" has to be one of the worst.
Where did he get his information about being possessed via the Abramelin ritual? What?!
And then later he starts going on about a "philosophy of do what ever you want". Wow! Mr Wilson really knows his subject, doesn't he? Yes, but at least you know the fuse actually exists.Probie said:
