Occult books 2020

A complete, advanced magical training course for the individual or for groups, with details of the author's magical order, an outline for setting up a temple, and instructions for carrying out the essential rituals of Chaos Magic. Includes a fresh look at aeonics, cosmogenesis, auric magic, and shadow time, as well as discloses the technical aspects of spells and equations. Illustrated. Appendices. References.

I wasn't terribly impressed with this book at the time I read it, although it does contain some interesting material. Essentially it is the compiled handbooks (or "libers") of the Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT, worked out by Peter Carroll and others during the 1970s and early 1980s. The IOT prides itself on exploring occult traditions while breaking with much of the hierarchy and stick-up-the-ass seriousness of traditional magical study. Chaos Magic, as I used to say, is what happens to you when you start to take Discordianism seriously (if you stop taking it seriously, you're in the Church if the Subgenius)."Liber Null," the first half of the text, is essentially a collection of working notes towards a syllabus in basic magic, it has many weaknesses. It is the sort of system that will work excellently for a certain type of student, and not at all for others, and which can only be adapted for different needs by an experienced Teacher. Indeed, this is the problem with most beginning books on magic; only very rare individuals can apply something directly from a book without interaction with others of varying levels of experience. While the book implies that the student may apply to the IOT, they are notoriously unresponsive (and may have published the book more to discourage inquiries rather than encourage them), and thus "study groups" of varying quality have spring up locally and on the internet.The other problem with publishing a program like this in book form is that students will tend to rush through it, having no guide to appropriate levels of progress, and will attempt powerful and impressive-looking Workings before they have truly mastered the basics (the concept of "Mastery" is one our current society is largely uncomfortable with in the first place). The first 11 pages of the book, "Liber MMM," could readily be a program of two or more years for an average student, but it doesn't look very impressive, and there's all those other pages with cool stuff to try, so people will rush ahead and start invoking Goetic spirits and messing around with "aethers" before they've learned the mind control techniques they need. This is also a reason that traditional schools used to dole out their wisdom very slowly, and guard it so jealously from the newer Initiates, but those days have been exploded, for better or worse, by the end of Secrecy in our culture."Psychonaut," the second half of the text, is a more philosophical discussion of Chaos Magic, and is more interesting from an outside perspective. It is composed of 40 short essays on subjects ranging from "Shamanism" to "Levels of Consciousness" to "Chemognosis." This latter, which refers to the use of chemicals for mind-altering purposes as a method of self-transformation has unfortunately become the bulk of Chaos Magic's legacy, although it's position in "Psychonaut" is far from central. As with the techniques in "Liber Null," it seems, without guidance students will make what they want of a magical text and follow the path of least resistance. Many independent Chaos Magicians one meets are little more than druggies with a spiritual justification for their habits. More important is the final essay, which explains Carroll's "Catastrophe Theory of Magic," one of the more original contributions of Chaos Magic to the field of occult study. It is essentially based in a topological model in which forms or paradigms are distorted without altering their perceived basic features.The work overall will be more or less useful to people who study it from differing backgrounds and perspectives. It has, no doubt, been a key text in the trainning of some very successful magicians. For me, it was a rather dry read with little new that tended to race through the more important subjects and leap to speculative areas. Your Mileage May Vary.

BOOK FOUR, Parts I and II, together with \ Magick in Theory and Practice\ (which is Part III of BOOK FOUR) make up a complete course in Magick, with practical instruction in Yoga and mysticism.This book is the introduction, the foundation upon which all further magical work will be based. Its simplicity, clarity and depth is without equal in occult literature.The first part of BOOK FOUR deals with Yoga in a very sound and methodical manner, stripping it of the mysterious and glitter. Soberly, Crowley describes each step as a technique of mental and/or physical discipline, ultimately resulting in complete control of the will and with this, control of the physical and mental body.Crowley speaks with authority as he is one of the few writers on the subject of Yoga and Magick who has attained Dhyana and Conversation with his Holy Guardian Angel through discipline and ritual practices.The second part of BOOK FOUR is an encyclopedia of magical symbolism, the working tools in practical magic. All of the paraphernalia employed in ritual magic are carefully explained in both psychological and mystical terms.The Wand is the will of man, his wisdom, and his word; the Cup is man's understanding, the vehicle of grace; the Sword is reason, the analytical faculty of man; and the Pantacle is man's body, the temple of the Holy Ghost. All phenomena are sacraments. Every fact must enter into the Pantacle. It is the great storehouse from which the Magician draws.The laws and truths of the occult world which are presented here give the student a sound working knowledge and set him firmly on the path. BOOK FOUR is a concise, direct and honest presentation.

Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot was his final opus, the culmination of a lifetime of occult study and practice. With artist Lady Frieda Harris, he condensed the core of his teaching into the 78 cards of the tarot. Although Crowley's own Book of Thoth provides insight into the cards, it is a complicated, dated book. Now, in clear language, Lon Milo DuQuette provides everything you need to know to get the most out of using the Thoth deck.

This is among the most comprehensive introductions to magickal theory ever written. Caveat emptor, Crowley makes it quite easy to spiral into his system, Thelema, at the exclusion of the traditional Western paths, i.e. the Golden Dawn, (from which Crowley emerged). It’s good to read other authors along with Crowley to gain a holistic understanding of the Western paradigm. That being said, this book in conjunction with Book 4, is a pretty thorough introduction to the principles of ceremonial magick. Liber ABA is an expensive hardcover that contains Book Four, Magick Without Tears, and an explaination of Thelema as well.However, before one could even think about Practical Qabalah, they should have at least a cursory understanding of Qabalistic theory, and the Tarot. For an introduction to the Qabalah, The Mystical Qabalah, by Dion Fortune is a great start. For the Tarot, The Book of Thoth, by Aleister Crowley, is the best, but like Liber ABA, or Magick Without Tears, may be a bit advanced. The Qabalistic Tarot, by Robert Wang, is a great place to start. By comparing four different decks including the Thoth Deck, it also provides the reader with the changes Crowley made to the traditional attributions and the reasoning behind them. The Book of Tokens, by Paul Foster Case, may also be of assistance.An online version of Magick Without Tears, can be found here:

The Golden Dawn by Israel Regardie is considered by many to be the book that started the modern occult movement. The original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which started in the late 1800s, borrowed from a wide variety of occult traditions ó Kabalah, Tarot, Geomancy, Enochian Magic, Theosophy, Freemasonry, Paganism, Astrology, and many more ó and created a unique and viable system of magic that is still being practiced today. Almost every contemporary occult writer and modern group has been influenced, directly or indirectly, by the Order or its members, making The Golden Dawn one of the most influential occult books of the past 100 years. The book is divided into several basic sections. First are the knowledge lectures, where you will learn the basics of the Kabalah, symbolism, meditation, geomancy and more. This is followed by the rituals of the Outer Order, consisting of five initiation rituals into the degrees of the Golden Dawn. The next section covers the rituals of the Inner Order including two initiation rituals, equinox ceremonies, and more. Then you will learn the basic rituals of magic and the construction, consecration, and means of using the magical tools. Once you have these you can go on to evocation rituals, talismans, and invocations. The book gives explanations for how to design talismans, do skrying and travel on the astral plane. You will also learn geomancy, the Tarot, and Enochian magic. Filled with numerous illustrations, lists, and tables, The Golden Dawn provides guidance for a lifetime of magic and life-changing transformation. Get your copy today.

This is a true classic, a definitive reference volume, the correspondence tables are comprehensive and it's also fascinating - Crowley could make even a dry reference book an interesting read. Three stars off, however, for the blood libel against the Jews of Eastern Europe in the original text. Really, Uncle Al? You actually believed that? (Israel Regardie did excise it from the edition I own (Weiser hardcover ISBN 0 87728 222 6), saying "It is a nasty, malicious piece of writing, and does not do justice to the system with which he is dealing.") The man was brilliant. But he could also be a racist bigot, and apparently even he didn't see the stupidity in making anti-Jewish remarks (or anti-Black, as he sometimes did) while promoting a religion grounded in Jewish mysticism and northern African deities. DO read Crowley. He had a lot of important ideas, and there's much to be learned from him. That Regardie continued to promote his work in spite of the bigoted comments speaks for the quality of the writing. Just don't make an infallible god king of him - or anyone.

A clear explanation of the philosophical structure of the Hermetic Kabbalah, filled with easily-understandable but profound analogies and metaphors to point the way towards true understanding.Dion Fortune, being a magician and psychic in the early 20th Century, clothed her discourse with much discussion of the practicum of magic. My interest being primarily to use the Kabbalah as a vehicle to aid thought, I skipped through all the discussion of invocations and ether and psychic emanations.What is left remains immensely valuable. I think I finally have an idea of what the Tree is all about.Highly recommended!

Condensed Chaos provides a practical introduction to Chaos Magic, one of the fastest growing areas of Western Occultism. Through it you can change your circumstances, live according to a developing sense of personal responsibility, effect change around you, and stop living as a helpless cog in some clockwork universe. All acts of personal/collective liberation are magical acts. Magic leads us into exhilaration and ecstasy; into insight and understanding; into changing ourselves and the world in which we participate. Through magic we may come to explore the possibilities of freedom.

The Book of Thoth is as much a manual for using the deck as it is a primary initiation into Hermetic philosophy and mindfulness. This is an encyclopedic volume. The deck itself, besides working as the elemental and zodiacal symbol association system of popular tradition, functions simultaneously as a Qabalistic Tree of Life and Taoist I Ching. The creation and perfection of this deck was a grand scholarly undertaking by Crowley, and while I am sure that he could have expanded this volume tenfold if he so chose, I am glad he didn't, as the complexity of symbolic associations that he presents seemingly from memory are so far-ranging and multifaceted that a reader might rightly wonder how such a comprehensive view of existence could be possible, how such a system could ever be taken up so thoroughly by a human mind.That said, its actually damn readable, and surely useful to any student of philosophy, mythology, tarot, comparative literature, or the occult.

In Crowley's master work, he states that he is "The Most Wicked Man In The World!" and you need read no further than the introductory comments to see the proof of this. He sets down a list of precepts that by their own definition destroy man's ability to understand the world around him, stating explicitly that the concept of reason has no place in the world and is an illusion. He then follows by noting that with proper understanding and preparation, every magical sending will of course be successful... unless, of course, someone else heretofore unknown to you wills otherwise and interferes in your sending, or it is the will of the Universe that this not occur.I picked up Crowley to learn something about the character and concepts of the Occult. I certainly got that. What I didn't get was the concept of "magical thinking" which insulated Crowley from understanding the fundamental flaws in his perceptions, the system of belief that says wishing makes it so (except for when it doesn't) so keep wishing because then things will change (or they won't). He likens magic to science, which is similar in principle to the quote that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, except bass-ackwards because he simply does not grasp the utility of reason and finds it an inconvenient obstacle... because with reason, everything he believes must be false, and everything he has done with his life makes no sense.By trying to teach others to abandon reason and live in a perpetual fog, Crowley accomplishes his goal of proving himself to be a wicked man. Sadly, this is the only way in which I can see he has ever succeeded at this self-proclaimed objective; his other so-called sins are mostly things he just didn't go far *enough* with, too busy rebelling against the Judeo-Christian morality that dominated the world at the time to see a reasoned moral system absent the fundamental precepts of those religions. "Do As Thou Wilt Is The Whole Of The Law" is actually an excellent first step towards recognizing that people are different than the creatures presupposed by the guiding moralities of the time, but he fails to draw universal conclusions or apply these precepts externally to himself, too busy assuming he is a beautiful and unique snowflake to realize that the fulfillment of this human nature is a laudable goal and morality should be based on who we are and how to live on Earth.