Seeking Recommendation Book worth getting as a hard copy?

[dababy10]

Looking to start buying some hard copies of books, not looking for grimoires or anything like that as I don't do "magick", moreso books that are foundational and have deep insights. Mainly have been interested in the modern secret societies like freemasonry, rosicrucianism, earlier things they are based on like hermetics, etc....

Am pretty interested in learning the higher up initiate secrets (ones that are more "universal" rather than their specific rituals), and have been looking at crowley's texts recently although it's super allegorical so haven't really understood any of it. As a bit of a side question - how should I go about learning from books that are more difficult such as the Book of Lies (Crowley) if that's a good way to go about learning the occult?

Am also somewhat just lost in terms of where to go next in learning the occult, so, sorry for being vague or messy.

 

[SHUMA-GORATH]

The Occult In Art by Fred Gettings
The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall
Nothing In This Book Is True, But It's Exactly How Things Are by Bob Frissell

 

[Faria]

If you want to read Crowley, get yourself Liber Aba. You have two choices, the classic blue edition ("Magick") or the hipster bootleg edition put out by Skinner ("Four Books of Magick."). Both are excellent and are ironically intended for beginners as a comprehensive guide with a syllabus and reading list. The Book of Lies is a terrible introduction to the Beast, as five minutes reading it should prove.

There is a recent reprint of MPH's The Secret Teachings of all Ages which you might also want on your Christmas list.

 

[SkullTraill]

Complete Magician's Tables (just useful information)
The Library of Esoterica series (essentially art books - but gorgeous)

 

[Milton]

Since you're seeking opinions, my suggestion would be to avoid Thelema and Crowley.

Hermetica I and II, in my opinion, but the hardback editions are no longer available (unless you're prepared to pay a premium for them).

In addition to that, I would recommend the following: ( You might need to check the publisher's website for a hard copy)

• Gregory Shaw's Theurgy and the Soul
• Algis Uždavinys' Philosophy as a Rite of Rebirth
• Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, translated by Eric Purdue
• Lloyd P. Gerson, trans. of Plotinus: The Enneads

 

[IllusiveOwl]

I would recommend getting a physical copy of any book you intend to read & reference a lot. To expand your occult interests, it may be good to dip into religion, philosophy, and psychology as well, since all three are bastard children of the Occult.

These are a few I went out of my way to get:

The Prince, by Machiavelli
The Secret Teachings of All the Ages by Hall
Initiates of the Flame by Hall
The Undiscovered Self by Jung
The Hua Hu Ching & Tao Te Ching
The Baghivad Gita
Initiation in Hermetics by Franz
Uncle Setnakt's Guide to the Left Hand Path.
Etidorpha
Get a compilation of Buddhist, Zen, & Daoist sutras

If you like Masonry, I suggest looking through Manly P Hall in general. Religious scriptures are also good to have a physical copy of in general.

 

[Galahad]

The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall

I second this.

Though, its emphasis is very "Old Aeon", a good edition of Hall's book is a treasure trove of classical occult/Rosicrucian thought. I would also advise getting a hardback copy of J. M. Cooper's Complete Plato. It's the source of most esoteric traditions including Sufism, Cabala, Hermetism and Neoplatonism and all of their offshoots. Whatever direction you travel in, it will have relevance for you. Likewise, I'd recommend the recent George Boys-Stones translation of Plotinus' Enneads. If Hermetism is a genuinely persistent interest, Brian Copenhaver's translation of the original texts is excellent. Wouter Hanegraaff's Esotericism and the Academy contextualises the influence of these texts in history.

 

[Taudefindi]

To me it would be any book you wish to delve into deeply by writing notes on and highlighting parts of it.
A book that you will leave marks of your passage through it, due to your desire to remember well the things written on it.
And of course, a book you won't "feel bad" exactly for doing that.

 

[Morell]

If you are still looking around, recommending can be quite difficult.
I would recommend Liber null, as that offers quite good blueprint for banishing ritual that you can finish according to your path. Banishing ritual is useful beginner stuff.
Initiation into Hermetics, not whole, but first lesson or two are excellent on self-dyscipline of mind. I think that the basics of this book tend to be used by other occult authors too.
Draja Mickaharic - Practice of Magic: is like a small atlas of various paths of magic. Not exhausting by far, but can be food for the thought on where you wanna go next.

 

[rice candy]

What about reading one of the many Carl Jung books? His psychiatric work is considered influential on western magical traditions.

 

[Asteriskos]

Raven Grimassi - Communing with the Ancestors: Your Spirit Guides, Bloodline Allies, and the Cycle of Reincarnation

I downloaded this from the WF library, read it, and Bought a hard copy from Barnes & Noble shortly thereafter. I like "physical" books!
This book underpins a great deal of of the "triple soul" model within Mat Auryn's "Psychic Witch". That is to say, those elements from Ancient Norse and Huna systems which have those triple soul elements. It's cited in the bibliography of "Psychic Witch" as well. In my opinion this should be read "prior" to Psychic Witch, because the theory and concept will be familiar and clear.

 

[neilwilkes]

Since you're seeking opinions, my suggestion would be to avoid Thelema and Crowley.

Hermetica I and II, in my opinion, but the hardback editions are no longer available (unless you're prepared to pay a premium for them).

In addition to that, I would recommend the following: ( You might need to check the publisher's website for a hard copy)

• Gregory Shaw's Theurgy and the Soul
• Algis Uždavinys' Philosophy as a Rite of Rebirth
• Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, translated by Eric Purdue
• Lloyd P. Gerson, trans. of Plotinus: The Enneads

I'd agree whole heartedly with the Purdue edition of Agrippa's 'Three Books' as it is a superb set and a fantastic groundwork. I don't know the other 3 recommendations so cannot comment on them.
I would tend to disagree with the statement about Crowley, but with the proviso that he should be taken with a pinch of salt at times as he has a wicked sense of humour and his Book 4 is riddled with traps for the unwary reader. His writing on some subjects is, however, absolutely sublime - for example, Liber E vel Excercitiorum & Liber III vel Jugorum are particularly efficacious.
Another book I would highly recommend as an introduction to the greatest of them all - John Dee - is Robert Turner's 'Elizabethan Magic', which I think may be in the library here

 

[HoldAll]

Another book I would highly recommend as an introduction to the greatest of them all - John Dee - is Robert Turner's 'Elizabethan Magic', which I think may be in the library here

Freshly reuploaded

 

[neilwilkes]

Freshly reuploaded

Top Book!

It's going to be Dee's 500th Birthday in 2027 - maybe something could be sone here to celebrate this anniversary?
I have tried writing to various places in the UK about this, including Trinity College (who Dee was a Founding Father of) and a few others besides but so far I have not had even an acknowledgement of reciept!
It's as if the man is considered an embarrassment these days, what with him sowing the seeds of the British Empire and the USA as we understand it......

 

[tomi]

for visually stunning books :
-----------------------------

Taschen Alchemy & Mysticism

Taschen The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images

Taschen The Library of Esoterica volumes I-V

Taschen The Secret Teachings of All Ages: Hall, Manly P.

Occult: Decoding the Visual Culture of Mysticism, Magic and Divination by P. Forshaw


hardcover books you may reference regularly
--------------------------------------------------

Complete Magician's Tables: Stephen Skinner

776 1/2: Tables for Practical Ceremonial by James A. Eshelman

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some hard copy books
-------------------------

Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy (Eric Purdue translation)

Picatrix A Medieval Treatise on Astral Magic Translated with an introduction by Dan Attrell and David Porreca

Tarot of the Holy Light: A Continental Esoteric Tarot Paperback book – Christine L Payne-Towler


A decent book review youtube channel Foolish Fish to get an idea of size and scales of books and font print
style and size has been helpful for me .

 

[Xenophon]

Gnostic Fragments by Nimrod de Rosario

 

[SkullTraill]

for visually stunning books :
-----------------------------

Taschen Alchemy & Mysticism

Taschen The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images

Taschen The Library of Esoterica volumes I-V

Taschen The Secret Teachings of All Ages: Hall, Manly P.

Occult: Decoding the Visual Culture of Mysticism, Magic and Divination by P. Forshaw


hardcover books you may reference regularly
--------------------------------------------------

Complete Magician's Tables: Stephen Skinner

776 1/2: Tables for Practical Ceremonial by James A. Eshelman

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

some hard copy books
-------------------------

Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy (Eric Purdue translation)

Picatrix A Medieval Treatise on Astral Magic Translated with an introduction by Dan Attrell and David Porreca

Tarot of the Holy Light: A Continental Esoteric Tarot Paperback book – Christine L Payne-Towler


A decent book review youtube channel Foolish Fish to get an idea of size and scales of books and font print
style and size has been helpful for me .

+1 for the Taschen books. I have two of them and they are gorgeous.

 

[Mars]

Looking to start buying some hard copies of books, not looking for grimoires or anything like that as I don't do "magick", moreso books that are foundational and have deep insights. Mainly have been interested in the modern secret societies like freemasonry, rosicrucianism, earlier things they are based on like hermetics, etc....

Am pretty interested in learning the higher up initiate secrets (ones that are more "universal" rather than their specific rituals), and have been looking at crowley's texts recently although it's super allegorical so haven't really understood any of it. As a bit of a side question - how should I go about learning from books that are more difficult such as the Book of Lies (Crowley) if that's a good way to go about learning the occult?

Am also somewhat just lost in terms of where to go next in learning the occult, so, sorry for being vague or messy.

The Bhagavad-Gita

Downfall of the Occident

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius


I used to carry a gita with me. To randomly read it while on the train or waiting somewhere. Then I gifted it to someone that needed it. It is a very special book. And is very helpful.

 

[stalkinghyena]

I got this for Xmas, nice and big, hard and thickly bound:

Need a magnifying glass to read it, especially for the vowel points, lol.

 

[Jsinclair]

The Secret Rituals of the O.T.O by Francis King (widely available in PDF online but ridiculously expensive in the print edition)

HRILIU by IAO131 : A fantastic and fascinating study of The Gnostic Mass. You'll want a print copy for study, and it is available for a very reasonable $30 new on Amazon.

The Great Work and Morals and Dogma by Albert Pike : Together, these will give you an excellent understanding of both Ritual and Philosophical Freemasonry.

Scottish Rite Ritual : Monitor and Guide by Arturo DeHoyos. An invaluable supplement to the above for a fuller understanding of each of the degrees.

A Bridge to Light by Rex R. Hutchens : Given to 32 degree Freemasons in preparation for the 33rd. A spectacular guide to the interior spiritual meaning of the degrees.

(The first 3 are available in the Masonic zip files in Bookshares. Bridge to Light is available as PDF in the usual online resources for such things. Or post a Request and I'll get it uploaded.)