How many books are you reading this month?

[Xenophon]

Why would I want to read a book when there are so many I can color? Actually, I'm starting Thrice Great Trismegistus (sic?), by Mead this afternoon.

 

[Pyrokar]

Hesse is my favorite author, have you read Demian?

My father was deep into Hesse as well but it was my crush that demanded i read Damien under threat of violence
dad insisted on steppenwolf and glass beads and it was a surreal read "hejustlikemeforreal.jpg" felt like the whole book was just for me
i enjoyed Demian (how bout that ending tho) but never finished stepenwolf got up to the part, as i just now realize, where he finds the sign with the word magic on it
All three of those books have and will continue to affect me im sure.
as much for the stories themselves and their connection to my loved ones

 

[Robert Ramsay]

At a tangent, but I'm reading a sci-fi book called "Battle of the Linguist Mages" which is about gaining magical powers by speaking sequences of "power morphemes" which are constructed from speech forms given by sentient punctuation marks

 

[Aeternus]

Ben Woodcroft - Angelic Trance Magick is a must-read for me at the moment.

As for non-occult books, I am looking forward to read some psychology books as well and brush my skills in terms of nowadays psychology

 

[Xenophon]

My father was deep into Hesse as well but it was my crush that demanded i read Damien under threat of violence
dad insisted on steppenwolf and glass beads and it was a surreal read "hejustlikemeforreal.jpg" felt like the whole book was just for me
i enjoyed Demian (how bout that ending tho) but never finished stepenwolf got up to the part, as i just now realize, where he finds the sign with the word magic on it
All three of those books have and will continue to affect me im sure.
as much for the stories themselves and their connection to my loved ones

Personally, I thought "Narcissus and Goldmund" was Hesse's best.

 

[Taudefindi]

Currently I'm reading one called "Um Obscuro Encanto(An Obscure Charm)" by Claudio Willer.
It's a book in Brazilian Portuguese.

I just started it but in short it's a book talking about gnosis, gnosticism and it's existence in literature but mostly in poetry, and it seems to be based on(or be actually in full but with some edits) the guy's doctoral thesis: "The thesis shows how Gnostic myths and subjects and even a Gnostic style of writing reappear or is resumed by romantic poets, symbolists and modernists, including those of Portuguese language."

A nice read so far, read one chapter and intend to read one chapter per day until I finish it.

 

[Xenophon]

Currently I'm reading one called "Um Obscuro Encanto(An Obscure Charm)" by Claudio Willer.
It's a book in Brazilian Portuguese.

I just started it but in short it's a book talking about gnosis, gnosticism and it's existence in literature but mostly in poetry, and it seems to be based on(or be actually in full but with some edits) the guy's doctoral thesis: "The thesis shows how Gnostic myths and subjects and even a Gnostic style of writing reappear or is resumed by romantic poets, symbolists and modernists, including those of Portuguese language."

A nice read so far, read one chapter and intend to read one chapter per day until I finish it.

Interesting thesis there. The second half of Faust is pretty well rooted in alchemical thinking. I haven't really seen much about how deeply Goethe was actually into the arcane sciences, though. I'm sure it's out there. I just have other things taking up my time.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

Occult, yes, esoteric, no. I'm reading "The Romance of Sorcery" by Sax Rohmer, him wot wrote Fu Manchu.

 

[Xenophon]

Occult, yes, esoteric, no. I'm reading "The Romance of Sorcery" by Sax Rohmer, him wot wrote Fu Manchu.

Occult, yes, esoteric, no. I'm reading "The Romance of Sorcery" by Sax Rohmer, him wot wrote Fu Manchu.

And did Fu Manchu write back?

I hadn't heard of that one, "The Romance of Sorcery," though I've read some Rohmer and dabbled in Sax. Might give it a look. I like the times he wrote in, the atmosphere, &c.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

And did Fu Manchu write back?

I hadn't heard of that one, "The Romance of Sorcery," though I've read some Rohmer and dabbled in Sax. Might give it a look. I like the times he wrote in, the atmosphere, &c.

It's a potted history of several famous occultists, including Apollonious, who I am shocked to admit I had not heard of before. Currently working my way through the dodgy, dastardly dealings of Cagliostro.

As someone who always hankered after grimoires of power as portrayed in many stories, I found the description of the Book of Thoth quite thrilling:

“He wrote it with his own hands and it will bring (raise) a man to the gods. To read two pages enables you to enchant the heaven, the earth, the abyss, the mountains and the sea; you shall know what the birds of the sky and the crawling things are saying; . . . And when the second page is read, if you are in the world of ghosts, you will grow again in the shape you were on earth. . . .”

 

[Xenophon]

It's a potted history of several famous occultists, including Apollonious, who I am shocked to admit I had not heard of before. Currently working my way through the dodgy, dastardly dealings of Cagliostro.

As someone who always hankered after grimoires of power as portrayed in many stories, I found the description of the Book of Thoth quite thrilling:

“He wrote it with his own hands and it will bring (raise) a man to the gods. To read two pages enables you to enchant the heaven, the earth, the abyss, the mountains and the sea; you shall know what the birds of the sky and the crawling things are saying; . . . And when the second page is read, if you are in the world of ghosts, you will grow again in the shape you were on earth. . . .”

Worth a look mebbe. Last year I started a bio of Apollonious and came to a screeching halt when I hit those Obligatory Pages. You know, the ones every history or novel about the ancient world written in English between 1850 and 1950 contains: "_________ was a proud, thriving city, for all it existed under the Roman thumb. Its markets thronged with stalls proffering cinammon, myrrh, cloves, frankincense, pearls, tea from far off Cathay, wines of Shiraz, swarthy Nubuian slaves, dancing girls of Ceylon..." (and so on ad nauseum. Combination of commercial inventory and stale cliche.)

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Modern Magick and Kabbalah, Magic and the Great Work and f Self Transformation are my main reads for the next year. However, Crowley writings may very well disrupt and replace the current reading.

 

[Xenophon]

Modern Magick and Kabbalah, Magic and the Great Work and f Self Transformation are my main reads for the next year. However, Crowley writings may very well disrupt and replace the current reading.

Imagine that. Our Aleister being disruptive. The man is a perfect beast, he is! Which Crowley book(s)? I kind of gave him up when I found myself going in circles chasing his references to yet other volumes promising explanations that were not forthcoming. Yeah, I know. I stumbled over the initiatory hurdle.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

I may be looking into OTO or AA as the GD seems to not be fulfilling my progress.
So I guess the neophyte suggested reading list for either order, and get tied into a temple after applying (or stay my course is f I get rejected).

 

[stratamaster78]

I may be looking into OTO or AA as the GD seems to not be fulfilling my progress.
So I guess the neophyte suggested reading list for either order, and get tied into a temple after applying (or stay my course is f I get rejected).

This is a good idea imo.

Not that the OTO or AA are any better than another path but they are active groups that have many members and local chapters.

It would probably be beneficial to you as well to have a somewhat rigid and plainly laid out initiatory guide.

Plus you will always have someone a grade higher than you to report to and keep you focused.

You already have a huge leg up on other probationers by having studied a lot of the foundational materials plus you have practiced journaling a lot.

You will have to provide your journaling to your direct supervisor so that will be motivation enough to not slack. (Not saying that you do)

I would love to join either the AA or OTO myself but don’t have a chapter local to me right now and I can’t afford the travel expenses for the initiations but as soon as that changes I will join one of them.

I know I could use a little external pressure myself…lol

 

[Xenophon]

This is a good idea imo.

Not that the OTO or AA are any better than another path but they are active groups that have many members and local chapters.

It would probably be beneficial to you as well to have a somewhat rigid and plainly laid out initiatory guide.

Plus you will always have someone a grade higher than you to report to and keep you focused.

You already have a huge leg up on other probationers by having studied a lot of the foundational materials plus you have practiced journaling a lot.

You will have to provide your journaling to your direct supervisor so that will be motivation enough to not slack. (Not saying that you do)

I would love to join either the AA or OTO myself but don’t have a chapter local to me right now and I can’t afford the travel expenses for the initiations but as soon as that changes I will join one of them.

I know I could use a little external pressure myself…lol

There are some groups out there claiming connection with OTO traditions that offer "distance initiation." I gather that the initiator(s) and initiate enact the necessary rite at the same time (allowing for time zones.) There are those who deny the efficacy of this, however. (I'm sceptical myself.) I wonder: would Zoom initiations work? I have heard it argued that electricity is inimical to magickal workings.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Yeah, Liber ABA might be the first reading material to switch to.

 

[stratamaster78]

There are some groups out there claiming connection with OTO traditions that offer "distance initiation." I gather that the initiator(s) and initiate enact the necessary rite at the same time (allowing for time zones.) There are those who deny the efficacy of this, however. (I'm sceptical myself.) I wonder: would Zoom initiations work? I have heard it argued that electricity is inimical to magickal workings.

Yeah I agree that the Initiations really need to be done in person irl at the Temple/Lodge/Chapter etc.

I've looked into both AA and the OTO and you can actually join from a distance and do all the Initiatory work afa the reading materials and the Daily Ritual work and journaling but when it comes time to actually formally initiate each grade you have to travel to the physical chapter nearest you and go through it in person. They recommend setting aside I believe it was 3-4 days vacation/off time for the earlier grades.

Plus there are set timeframes as well for how soon you have to be ready to go from Probationer to Neophyte as so on. I believe they are a little more lenient and flexible up to about 18 months for that 1st initiation to Neophyte to take place but if time goes much beyond that it kind of becomes a Fish or Cut Bait situation and they will drop you with the view you are not ready/serious.

So anyway yeah you kind of have to do a little prep work before even starting the process because both the AA and OTO have a metric shit-ton of reading and memory commitment in both the Probationer and Neophyte grades and they test you on all of it as part of the process.

Yeah, Liber ABA might be the first reading material to switch to.

I have a good link/website for the all the Grades Syllabus's that I'll PM you if you need/want it as well as link to both the AA and OTO.

There is of course a lot of cross over between the two.

About a year ago I DL'd everything and put it on my Kindle Fire so when I'm close to ready I can start studying.

In the meantime I've been doing GD work since both the AA and OTO evolved from the GD.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

I guess my answer would be quite a few books. There is a Probationer syllabus for AA that is lengthy.

 

[stratamaster78]

I guess my answer would be quite a few books. There is a Probationer syllabus for AA that is lengthy.

Okay just a sec and I'll PM you the AA site.

They have a Library section that has most of the Libers on there as Free .PDF downloads.

Some of them you have to hunt for because it won't be hotlink'd in one place but then it will be in another.

A lot of the more obscure books on there also have free .PDFs but a few of them are typed out text or Poor scans because they are REALLY obscure. I think I was able to find updated scans for a few but not all.

What I did was make Folders on my Kindle for each grade w/ subfolders and took my time and DL'd everything.

If you can't find a particular Liber or Book here or there just PM me and I see if I can get it too you from a Mega link or something.

I've thought of sharing all of it to the forum before but the OTO in particular can get pissy about Crowley material floating around.