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When I had first stumbled upon Initiation Into Hermetics I was surprised by how literal magic was treated inside of the book, and that's exactly the reason why I chose it as my primary means of training. Not only was it a step by step training system (unlike the other books I saw which were just theory), within the book, every feat was connected to some experiment that "grounds" it within physical reality. Even when it comes to astral projection you are testing to make sure that you are grounded in physical reality so that you can traverse the physical world in that state (which again, is something I had never seen in any other occult book).
Before IIH I spent many years skimming through hundreds of books, trying to find one that seemed reliable enough to practice with. I was always looking for a training system that took itself literally, a training system that was fallible and it would either prove itself to be true or false. It was the only book I found that fit the bill.
There really is no other book/system like it, every once in a while I go searching to see if I'll find something similar, but at this point I don't think there's anything that will ever come close (at least not anything that is available to the public).
The first concept of a "milestone" that I have in mind would be the two experiments below. Until I have achieved these feats I won't consider myself to be a "true magician". To me, these two experiments are simple enough that anyone can acquire the materials + tools to test it, and literal enough that there is no room for interpretation or mental gymnastics.
You can either do it or you can't, there is no room for one to delude themselves and there will be no room for doubt either if you actually achieve the feat.
Of course there are many feats in training between Step 1 and Step 5, but personally these two feats in Step 5 are the most conclusive to me.
FEAT #1 (Using A Thermometer To Test For Changes In Room Temperature):
Initiation Into Hermetics
Step 5 (V)
Magic Psychic Training 5 (V)
Page 110
"Repeat the accumulation and evacuation several times, and by each emptying, you will accumulate the fiery element all the more in the room. As soon as you are free from the element yourself, you ought to feel how the element is amassing in the room, and get the sensation of the room becoming very warm. After some exercising, the warmth in the room will become not only a subjective, but a real matter of fact and any person—magically trained or not—entering this room is actually bound to feel the warmth. A thermometer does indicate, how far we are capable to condense our imagination with respect to the fire, so that factually a materially perceptible warmth can be produced in the room. The success of this exercise depends entirely on the willpower and the plastic imaginative faculty. It is not absolutely necessary, in this step, to bring about such an amount of physical warmth that it can be measured with a thermometer. But supposing a magician takes a keen interest in working in this more spectacular way, he can specialise himself in this problem with the help of these instructions. The genuine magician, however, will not be satisfied with such an insignificant phenomenon, and rather prefer to further his own development, because he is firmly convinced that he can obtain much more, as time goes on."
FEAT #2 (Lighting A Fire Using Magic):
Initiation Into Hermetics
Step 5 (V)
Magic Psychic Training 5 (V)
Page 114
"Magicians trained in this line, can condense an element to such a degree that it becomes a material power. That's why you can lighten a fire with the help of the fiery element at the greatest distance. At first, practise imaginary drawing a fiery ball down from the universe directly, without having it passed through the body, and compress it to a small bead so much as to grow a glowing spark. Put this spark in a cotton plug which has been soaked in easily inflammable liquids like ether, petrol or alcohol. A second spark is to be prepared, in the same way, with the air-element and, the very moment both sparks are touching the cotton plug, it will catch fire and begin to burn. Having succeeded in this little trick, the magician can make an attempt with the wick of an ordinary candle, and later on with a paraffin-lamp. He can do this near and far."
Before IIH I spent many years skimming through hundreds of books, trying to find one that seemed reliable enough to practice with. I was always looking for a training system that took itself literally, a training system that was fallible and it would either prove itself to be true or false. It was the only book I found that fit the bill.
There really is no other book/system like it, every once in a while I go searching to see if I'll find something similar, but at this point I don't think there's anything that will ever come close (at least not anything that is available to the public).
The first concept of a "milestone" that I have in mind would be the two experiments below. Until I have achieved these feats I won't consider myself to be a "true magician". To me, these two experiments are simple enough that anyone can acquire the materials + tools to test it, and literal enough that there is no room for interpretation or mental gymnastics.
You can either do it or you can't, there is no room for one to delude themselves and there will be no room for doubt either if you actually achieve the feat.
Of course there are many feats in training between Step 1 and Step 5, but personally these two feats in Step 5 are the most conclusive to me.
FEAT #1 (Using A Thermometer To Test For Changes In Room Temperature):
Initiation Into Hermetics
Step 5 (V)
Magic Psychic Training 5 (V)
Page 110
"Repeat the accumulation and evacuation several times, and by each emptying, you will accumulate the fiery element all the more in the room. As soon as you are free from the element yourself, you ought to feel how the element is amassing in the room, and get the sensation of the room becoming very warm. After some exercising, the warmth in the room will become not only a subjective, but a real matter of fact and any person—magically trained or not—entering this room is actually bound to feel the warmth. A thermometer does indicate, how far we are capable to condense our imagination with respect to the fire, so that factually a materially perceptible warmth can be produced in the room. The success of this exercise depends entirely on the willpower and the plastic imaginative faculty. It is not absolutely necessary, in this step, to bring about such an amount of physical warmth that it can be measured with a thermometer. But supposing a magician takes a keen interest in working in this more spectacular way, he can specialise himself in this problem with the help of these instructions. The genuine magician, however, will not be satisfied with such an insignificant phenomenon, and rather prefer to further his own development, because he is firmly convinced that he can obtain much more, as time goes on."
FEAT #2 (Lighting A Fire Using Magic):
Initiation Into Hermetics
Step 5 (V)
Magic Psychic Training 5 (V)
Page 114
"Magicians trained in this line, can condense an element to such a degree that it becomes a material power. That's why you can lighten a fire with the help of the fiery element at the greatest distance. At first, practise imaginary drawing a fiery ball down from the universe directly, without having it passed through the body, and compress it to a small bead so much as to grow a glowing spark. Put this spark in a cotton plug which has been soaked in easily inflammable liquids like ether, petrol or alcohol. A second spark is to be prepared, in the same way, with the air-element and, the very moment both sparks are touching the cotton plug, it will catch fire and begin to burn. Having succeeded in this little trick, the magician can make an attempt with the wick of an ordinary candle, and later on with a paraffin-lamp. He can do this near and far."
