(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best new age & spirituality books

I have a few recommendations for you.
Astro.com is good for astrology. Put your chart information in, study your Planets and what house they lie in. I really recommend learning a basic understanding of astrology, it will quickly help you tune into your strengths and overcome your weaknesses.
KRS (youtube) does good with astrology too.
My favorite astrologer is Linda Goodman. Her Sun Signs book and Star Signs book are very very good, especially Star Signs. I will say some of the health stuff she teaches should probably be overlooked (color diet) but everything else is very good.'
Astrology-numerology.com is another good resource.


For Tarot readings I recommend buying a deck of Universal Waite Tarot Deck cards. These days you can google what each card means but what I'd recommend is understanding each of the symbols (Wands, Swords, pentacles, Cups) and each element (Fire, Water, Air, Earth). Understand what each thing means, study what they mean online and then use you own intuition as well to connect with the card meaning. The Tarot truly is one part study, one part personal intuition. Learn one card, three card, and the Celtic Spread. There are some other advance ones you can learn but those are my favorite. You'll even learn your own personal ways to display the cards in your own way, again one part learning, one part intuition. I recommend the Waite deck over other decks out the as a beginner deck. Some decks completely lose symbolism and intuition requirements and while that might sound like a perk, it really works against you because the goal it to connect to the subconscious.
https://www.salemtarot.com/ is good for learning each card as a start but you'll want to continue looking up other perspectives on google as well.

The I-ching or Book of Changes is something I would say you can do every day. You can even mix it with the tarot to get more clarity sometimes. The most important thing with I-ching is that no matter the question, you must contemplate the answer and really think about it. The Iching is usually pretty clear about the question though. What I'd recommend is that you buy two books on it.
The I-ching Workbook is great for beginners but after awhile you'll really want to get deeper into it and learn more to better unstand.
https://www.amazon.com/I-Ching-Workbook-R-L-Wing/dp/038512838X

That's where This book comes into play. It's much better but the reading is a little more in depth.
https://www.amazon.com/Ching-Book-Changes-Bollingen-General/dp/069109750X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6AXP0JKYR7W71AP5YQPA

There is a good website too, https://cafeausoul.com/
Part of my wants to not recommend this site because I worry people over doing the questions and not contemplating enough, and the descriptions are no as good as the second book I recommended but for a website it's pretty good. I don't particularly like the Tarot card descriptions though.

Don't over do any of the tarot or iching readings. You can, but the message will become less clear and your connection may become more distant as you give up understanding the primary message. If you don't understand it, stop; give it time, and come back to it.

Understand astrology and you'll really understand everything around you and yourself. Understand the I-ching and you'll understand change and how to adapt to it for best success and following your truth and the Tarot will help you understand you subconscious.

Finally just get your diet in order and meditate. You'll get far with all this but diet and meditation will really help you excel. Cut processed sugar and carbohydrates from your diet that isn't natural fruit. Meat is ok but limiting is probably best, especially red meat (though I enjoy hamburgers on occasion)

This stone was placed in Jonestown, Pennsylvania. This is my twenty-first placed stone in the United States. See my history for the others, placed in different states.
I’m an over the road trucker (Semi Truck) so this is how I’m able to travel quickly.

Two people were involved in calling child protective services on my wife while I’m away traveling. My wife is a stay at home mother who has cancer. The two people spread vicious rumors that I had abandoned my wife and children, called Child Protective Services, and then claimed they were going to personally adopt our children.

1. The 33 days to completely neutralize the two individuals involved are up. The one who was close friends with my wife lost her job. She was later seen mowing her own and her neighbors yards to have her rent reduced by her landlord.
   The second individual involved deleted her Facebook, reported to mutual friends that she was “backing down from her CPS threat” and was now “scared”.
   After completing this 33 Stone Ritual I will be solely focusing on mass healing rituals for my wife and putting this specific retribution ritual behind me. I don’t believe I will be doing revenge rituals again.
   
   
2. Who knows about my magic practice/ curse?... Absolutely no one knows I practice any form of magic. My wife knows I meditate and thinks I’m a bit woo, but that’s it.
   
   
3. I’m using sharpie to draw King Paimon’s sigil on a palm size stone that I find at or near the location. This is a show of appreciation for King Paimon who’s gone out of his way for me.
   
   
4. How did I evoke King Paimon?.... I meditated into gnosis and called upon King Paimon, I do not use physical means of doing so. This is just MY method. I commented this to a fellow Redditor:
   My wife called me sobbing while I was it of town for traveling. She told me everything that was happening. After we got done talking I went into a rage where I I wanted to hurt someone. I don’t remember ever being that angry but I laid down and just meditated. I eventually called on King Paimon begging for help. This ritual flashed into my head, along with the number 3.
   I added 33 stones in 33 States to go big and I wanted plenty of time to do it, so 333 days. It just felt right.
   So I just focused all of my energy on these two people involved. I asked for them to be tormented, suck their health and energy and give it to my wife as retribution.
   
   
5. If you think this is going to disrupt your own magical practices by me placing these sigilized stones in your neck of the woods then place your own and fight back. I’m not going to stop until this is done. And I have more rituals planned after that which will span the entire country. There are quite a few magicians talking and acting witchy, but only a handful doing something. Are you a magician or just a bum who shares edgy witchy memes?
   
   
6. Why King Paimon? ....I chose King Paimon because he’s the most powerful entity I’ve been working with for the longest and he’s been patient and understanding with me. You go to those you know when you have a big favor.
   
   
7. What are the basics or how to summon entities?...
   I am not an expert. I’m an eclectic magician that uses what works and tosses what doesn’t. This ritual works for me, it might not for you. If you are a beginner you need to get your basics down. You wouldn’t make a paper airplane then suddenly decide you’re ready to fly fighter jets. Please for your safety read the basics.
   But here is a very basic appetizer to give you a little edge to the machete that you’ll need to carve your own path in the jungle that is occult information:
   
   Start here: This is an easy comic to give you the basics and get your feet wet.
   
   https://www.deviantart.com/bluefluke/art/The-Psychonaut-Field-Manual-FOURTH-PDF-EDITION-530005584
   
   The Last Podcast on the Left
   (a podcast... hail yourselves....) has episodes on the occult, the right hand path, the left hand path, chaos magic, Aleister Crowley, and a few others I’m forgetting, it’s beginner friendly. And it’s hilarious.
   
   This is kind of a text book that you can follow if you want a thelemic approach.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0970449607?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_yo_pop_mb_pd_t2
   
   Also I recommend Gems of the equinox.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1578634172?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_yo_pop_mb_pd_t2
   
   This is very beginner friendly and highly recommended:
   https://www.amazon.com/Prometheus-Rising-Robert-Anton-Wilson/dp/0692710604
   
   This is a fantastic meditation app, free, and very beginner friendly.
   https://www.insighttimer.com/meditation-app
   
   I also use Cryo Chamber records to put myself into the setting I need:
   http://www.cryochamberlabel.com/allreleases/?a=776
   It’s ambient sounds like space, polar wastelands, lovecraftian beings in the middle of the ocean. Very good stuff. And most can be found on YouTube.
   
   **
   
   I do not recommend summoning powerful entities without first summoning “safer” beings such as ancestral spirits, but you are going to do what you want. I did. And it’s worked for me. But PROTECT yourself.
   
   You need to get meditation and focus down pat. I’d recommend evoking an ancestor first since they should have your best interests. Then moving onto other entities.
   The Goetia can be friendly, indifferent, malevolent, or simply plain alien. (Think lovecraftian incompressible)
   I know King Paimon and Duke Bune are friendly to beginners, overly patient and open as long as you recognize their rank, are humble and respectful.
   This doesn’t mean try to enslave them. That’s not going to work out great for you. What would happen if you blackmailed a powerful head of state of a country? It’d annoy him and in turn people would find you suicided with a double shotgun blast. Approach them like you would meeting a friendly CEO and you should be fine.
   
   Ultimately realize that you can follow in the footsteps of someone else, but that’s only going to put you on the path devoid of what will really fulfill you. You eventually need to fly, baby bird, And ever off cutting your own path. Don’t get to smug when you get a little practice under your belt.
   There’s always someone better than you, mr. 3rd level armchair wizard who collects 1st edition books from the bookstore only three people in Portland know about.
   
   
8. Thank you for all the kind words and support! And to people who disagree with this ritual, and have been amicably in their disagreement, thank you as well!

>I would also like to start 'working' with a higher entity. I'd like to make contact with my HGA, but am not adept enough to perform The Abramelin Operation (seems very scary).

The Abramelin Operation is a bit dated and a lot of people (not all though) use Crowley's Liber Samekh Ritual to establish contact with the HGA. It's supposed to be performed astrally several times a day. Lon Milo Duqette wrote a clearer explanation than Crowley did of how to perform the ritual in his book A Handbook of the Rituals of Thelema. However, that's not usually the first step in contacting the HGA. In Crowley's system, a person must :

1. Gain control over the body of light and rising on the planes. This is often assigned due to the fact that, as I already said, the ritual is not suppose to take place on the physical plane, rather in the astral one after rising on the planes.
   
   
2. Master Asana and Pranayama. Asana is being able to sit completely still in a single position without moving a single muscle for a prolonged period of time and Pranayama is breath control. This is because the HGA is often seen as your subconscious mind and these meditative practices are necessary to be able to quiet your conscious mind so that you may better hear and listen to your subconscious. If you'd like to read more about this, I'd recommend Liber ABA
   
   
3. Master ceremonial magick techniques (i.e. Star Ruby, Star Sapphire, lesser rituals of the pentagram and hexagram, greater rituals of the pentagram and hexagram, etc.) and develop a better understanding of ritual. This is obviously assigned due to the fact that in order to successfully perform a ritual to invoke the HGA, you need to have an understanding of ritual and ability to do it.
   
   
4. Perfect the art of Bhakti. Bhakti is complete devotion to a deity. It includes such things as devoting all acts (i.e. eating, drinking, sleeping, working, breathing, etc.) to the chosen deity, developing a mantra for the deity and reciting it constantly in your head every second of the day without stopping, developing an invocation to the deity, performing ritual service for the deity several times in a 24 hour period including the middle of the night, modeling yourself to behave like the chosen deity, etc. This is necessary as it helps develop the one-pointed focus and devotion needed to successful invoke the HGA. If you'd like, you can read more about this in Liber Astarte
   
   >I would love suggestions from you all regarding anything that would help me practice low-level ritual work!
   
   I'd recommend trying out
   
   The Star Sapphire
   
   The Star Ruby
   
   The Greater Ritual of the Hexagram
   
   The Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram
   
   The Solar Adorations
   
   The Threefold Eucharist
   
   The Mass of the Pheonix
   
   The Form of Hoor-pa-kraat
   
   >Are there any other ways to do this? I feel an affinity toward Angelic forces and have a keen interest in Enochian but am unsure where to begin.
   
   If you're looking to get into Enochian magick, (which I would highly recommend; it's one of my favoritae systems of magick) I'd recommend reading Enochian Magick in Theory and Enochian Magick in Practice by Frater Yechidah.
   
   >I have stayed away from Goetia thus far and would like to focus a little more on white magick (not because I think Goetia is 'wrong'; its just not for me right now). However, I am curious if The Key of Solomon would provide any use for someone wanting to learn about white magic? Am I correct in stating that the astrological pentacles are of use for the magus to use at their will?
   
   I wouldn't classify the Goetia as black magick. Demons in the occult are not the same as demons in Abrahramic religion. In fact, I (as well as others I have talked to) have noticed that the Enochian angels are very similar in character and personality to the Goetic demons. I would also not characterize the Key of Solomon pentacles and sigils as black magick.
   
   But to answer your questions; yes, anyone could use the pentacles (with or without conjuring any of the Goetic demons; the consecration rite for them does not include any evocation, just a blessing) and see results.
   
   As for general books I would recommend to a beginner:
   
   The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford by Lon Milo Duquette
   
   the Golden Dawn by Israel Regardie
   
   The Mystical and Magical System of the A .'. A .'. by James A. Eshelman
   
   777 And Other Qabalistic Writings by Aleister Crowley
   
   Gems From the Equinox by Aleister Crowley and edited by Israel Regardie
   
   
   
   

And of particular in certain esoteric circles.

One particular esoteric order of note, founded by Aleister Crowley for its initiates to practice 'Scientific Illuminism' and perform the Great Work, intended to be his successor to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and counterpart to the OTO / Ordo Templi Orientis, is the A.A. or Argenteum Astrum, which translates to 'Silver Star' and a direct reference to Sirius, the star of initiation. The third or 'inner order' of the A.A. is also known the S.S. or 'Order of the Silver Star'.

More on the A.A.:

The Order A.'.A.'.

Thelema.org | A.'.A'. (Introduction)

Student Reading Curriculum of the A∴A∴ (Extended Reading List)

The Mystical & Magical System of the A∴A∴ by James Eshelman (preview)

The library of the Astrum Argenteum: A∴ A∴ publications divided into five classifications

One Star In Sight by To Mega Therion (Aleister Crowley): A glimpse of the structure and system of the Great White Brotherhood A.·.A.·.

Liber XXXIII An account of A∴ A∴ first written in the language of his period by the Councillor Von Eckartshausen, and now revised and rewritten in the Universal Cipher

According to theosophist Alice Bailey,:
>
> “This is the great star of initiation because our Hierarchy (an expression of the second aspect of divinity) is under the supervision or spiritual magnetic control of the Hierarchy of Sirius.”

> “All that can be done here in dealing with this profound subject is to enumerate briefly some of the cosmic influences which definitely affect our earth, and produce results in the consciousness of men everywhere, and which, during the process of initiation, bring about certain specific phenomena.

> First and foremost is the energy or force emanating from the sun Sirius. If it might be so expressed, the energy of thought, or mind force, in its totality, reaches the solar system from a distant cosmic centre via Sirius. Sirius acts as the transmitter, or the focalising centre, whence emanate those influences which produce self-consciousness in man.”

From the renowned Albert Pike, a prolific Masonic writer and philosopher who restructured the bulk of the ritual and content of the 32 degrees of the Scottish Rite (the 33rd being symbolic) and authored Morals and Dogma:

> “The Ancient Astronomers saw all the great Symbols of Masonry in the Stars. Sirius glitters in our lodges as the Blazing Star.”

> “To find in the BLAZING STAR of five points an allusion to the Divine Providence, is also
fanciful; and to make it commemorative of the Star that is said to have guided the Magi,
is to give it a meaning comparatively modern. Originally it represented SIRIUS, or the
Dog-star, the forerunner of the inundation of the Nile; the God ANUBIS, companion of
ISIS in her search for the body of OSIRIS, her brother and husband. Then it became the
image of HORUS, the son of OSIRIS, himself symbolized also by the Sun, the author of
the Seasons, and the God of Time; Son of ISIS, who was the universal nature, himself
the primitive matter, inexhaustible source of Life, spark of uncreated fire, universal seed
of all beings. It was HERMES, also, the Master of Learning, whose name in Greek is that
of the God Mercury. It became the sacred and potent sign or character of the Magi, the
PENTALPHA, and is the significant emblem of Liberty and Freedom, blazing with a
steady radiance amid the weltering elements of good and evil of Revolutions, and
promising serene skies and fertile seasons to the nations, after the storms of change and
tumult.”

--

> “Our French Brethren place this letter YOD in the centre of the Blazing Star. And in the
old Lectures, our ancient English Brethren said, "The Blazing Star or Glory in the centre
refers us to that grand luminary, the Sun, which enlightens the earth, and by its genial
influence dispenses blessings to mankind." They called it also in the same lectures, an
emblem of PRUDENCE. The word Prudentia means, in its original and fullest
signification, Foresight; and, accordingly, the Blazing Star has been regarded as an
emblem of Omniscience, or the All-seeing Eye, which to the Egyptian Initiates was the
emblem of Osiris, the Creator. With the YOD in the centre, it has the kabalistic meaning
of the Divine Energy, manifested as Light, creating the Universe.”


And from Kenneth Grant, founder of the relatively fringe Typhonian offshoot of the OTO:

> “Set is the initiator, the Opener of mans’ consciousness to the rays of the Undying God typified by Sirius – the Sun in the South.”

> “Sirius, or Set, was the original “headless one” – the light of the lower region (the south) who was known (in Egypt) as An (the dog), hence Set-An (Satan), Lord of the infernal regions, the place of heat, later interpreted in a moral sense as “hell”.”

Edit: Funny how the post above was heavily upvoted, consisting largely of speculation and one source in the form of a YouTube video containing analysis of something that is more likely coincidental, while this comment backed up with multiple sources and containing fragments of esoteric wisdom from key adepts / experts in their field is completely ignored.

I guess if you provide too many sources and legit information people will simply ignore you here, instead upvoting walls of text consisting almost entirely of vague speculation and hearsay.

As someone who wandered down a similar path years and years ago, and who has searched through different belief structures and ideas, and has even personally used the Hunter x Hunter to help formulate a basic structure for practice and mindfulness, I feel that this post is something that speaks me and that I should impart some of my experience, knowledge, belief and/or practice. This will probably be a confusing, rambling mess, but you've asked for it.

-----------

The most important thing I can say to you (and maybe it won't be helpful) is Nothing. I can give you Nothing. I can tell you Nothing. There is Nothing. Perhaps it is a veiled statement, but it is the most important one that I could give to you. Scrutinize it. Pick it apart. Understand it. Recognize that your understanding is probably wrong and look at it again. But there is Nothing to understand.

Let me help try to clarify it, just a little.

> All roads lead to Rome.

There is no singular path. No one way to get there. Identification is the enemy. Truth is a tidbit to be found in small pieces in all places, it is not a singular thing. People often choose to identify as things. Occultist, Buddhist, Christian, Spiritualist, Witch, Wiccan, Satanist, Psychic, Psychonaut, etc., etc. You get the idea. But the reality is that the truth bears not one of those things, but all. A witch and a christian and a psychic might be experiencing similar things but attributing them to different causes. The important part is the underlying beliefs and the overarching journey. Explore yourself, know yourself, feel yourself.

In that way, these paths are all the same. In that way, these identities are all the same. They are Nothing except for a way for us to label and name and understand what we experience. It's a system of structure.

Nothing you identify as will be the truth. It is the experience and journey that will be the truth. Do not mistake those things for one another. Do not get caught up in labels and identities. Do not shun other beliefs or ideas simply because you are X and they are Y. It may not fit you or work for you, but that does not mean it is invalid - it may work for someone else.

It is all a trap. Do not get lost down that road.

--------

Years and years ago I personally used the structure of Hunter X Hunter's Nen energywork as a basis for creating my own practices that worked for me. I used Ten as a means to feel and understand my body and my energy, to keep my energy and aura around myself. I used Ren to help strengthen that energy. At first it was difficult, after a time, and still today, I can do it at will and I can feel that difference. What it is that I feel, I could not tell you the truth of it. It could be like a form of meditation, it could be something more. I cannot say. But I feel it. It helps me, it makes me feel better, it helps me collect myself. It is real, even if it is Nothing. Telling you what it is will not help you, I can only tell you that creating that structure and practice did help me find something in the way of energywork.

But the Hunter x Hunter, the Nen? To connect it to what I had been saying: all that is is a different a flavor. To some, that's psychism. To some, energywork. To others, witchcraft. It could be anything. But if it's something you like and it's something that works for you, then explore it. Try it. Practice it. If it helps you, it helps you. Who cares. But don't get lost in labeling it. Don't get lost in arguing it with others. We all have our own individual truths, we all have our own paths.

----------

Is it possible that there are hidden forces?

Well, why not? The whole science of Physics is explaining forces that influence our physical universe - hundreds of years ago, we did not know about Dark Matter or have appropriate explanations for plenty of things. Is it possible there are other, underlying things going on in the Universe? Of course it is possible that there are things we don't understand.

-----------------

"Powers" is not quite the way to put it. But I would do some research into the benefits of mindfulness and meditation. Spiritual beliefs and practices could have similar effects, especially when taken in hand with meditation and mindfulness. Some practices directly include those things. But do look into that.

-------------

A good book?

I'd highly recommend this book to start. It has a lot of information in it. It has a flavor of witch, but it touches a lot of very general energywork and is a great resource and a great place to start. I've owned this book for quite some time and have used it quite a bit and have loaned it out to quite a few people.

Oh man, I have opinions lol So I've been collecting decks for about a decade now and have 13 total. I'll just unload... I hope this is helpful!

My all time favorite, the Mythic Tarot (all greek mythology), is super inaccessible though, unfortunately, but it was the one that I grew up with by some fluke of a chance and when I finally got it for myself (and for under $100 which is very rare) I about lost my mind. There's a new version of it with the same overall stories and art but the art style has greatly changed and it just can't hold a candle to the original.

My second favorite is the Wild Unknown. It's beautiful and boy oh boy is she rude. Sometimes you might notice after fiddling with a variety of decks that they'll have a bit of personality and this one pulls no punches in my experience and even for a few of my freinds who have the deck. Plus it's just a really stunning deck.

Another beautiful deck is the Linestrider. Watercolors. Like the gentle version of Wild Unknown. My Rider-Waite is the Pamela Colman Smith commemorative version and has really lovely back and vivid colors. Rider-Waite is easily the most recognizable of the decks and is very accessible. Also honorable mentions, since they're just beautiful decks: Wildwood, Mucha, Ostara (gilded edges!), and the Halloween Tarot.

1. Mythic
   
2. The Wild Unknown *
   
3. Halloween
   
4. Rider-Waite *
   
5. Ostara *
   
6. Wildwood
   
7. Mucha
   
8. Linestrider *
   
9. Welcome to Night Vale
   
10. Raven's Prophecy (Raven Cycle)
    
11. Zombies
    
12. Marseille
    
13. New Mythic
    
    * - I think these would be particularly good for a first deck
    
    ​
    
    EDIT: If there's any these particular decks you'd like to see pictures of, let me know! I'll see what I can do. :)

Hey, I've never commented or anything in this sub, but your post caught my eye. I (like many redditors) consider myself a member of the skeptics community, and I mostly subscribe to this sub b/c these stories are fun to read around halloween time. The one book that I cannot recommend highly enough is James Randi's "Flim Flam". Randi is kinda considered the grandfather of the modern skeptic movement, he's an awesome dude, super nice, super funny, super smart, and this book does a great job of explaining all kinds of popular superstition from psychics to alternative healing. here's the link to the book on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Flim-Flam-Psychics-Unicorns-Other-Delusions/dp/0879751983/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373087973&sr=1-1

but also you can check out his site randi.org or watch some of his youtube videos. Penn and Teller's show "Bullshit" also covers a lot of these topics, videos of which are also on youtube. I'm actually very much into these topics so let me know if you have any other questions or anything.

Cheers

I feel like getting a bunch of versions and reading them with and against each other is a good way. I don't read Chinese, so I don't really know for sure what I am missing in the translations. I like Huang's translation and my teacher recommends that one as a good translation but I also have Baynes and Cleary's translations.

Plum blossom oracle is a way to use the I Ching without needing coins or sticks. One uses events and anomalies, basically the world around us, to construct the hexagrams using the attributes and correspondences of the various trigrams as guides. Two good books on this are I Ching Numerology by Da Liu and The Tao of I Ching: Way to Divination by Tsung Hwa Jou. Both these books have tables of correspondences which I find very helpful.

I am very fascinated by connections between the Chinese system and Egyptian magical systems. When in the Qigong state during meditations and exercises I have often connected with energies that strike me as very Egyptian. Granted, I doubt there has to be any sort of historical link for me to connect with it on that plane, but it's interesting to entertain.

My understanding is that the "elements" are more phases/states or different manifestations of Qi than actually different things. They can definitely be used to balance each other out (I manage my chronic back pain (water) by balancing it out with heart energies (heart) and by containing/blocking it using the stomach/spleen/pancreas (earth), while continuing to build up the water energies to become stronger.

I don't own this book but The Complete Magician's Tables seems like it'd be really helpful for syncretic explorations.

If you really want to dig into this buy a Thoth Tarot deck, Crowley's book, and probably also Duquette's book to give you a good primer on Crowley.

Modern Tarot decks are visual representations of the Tree Of Life because almost all modern decks are based on either the Rider-Waite-Smith deck or the Thoth Deck. Waite and Crowley were members of the Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn which used the tarot as a tool for learning Kaballah(among other things). I'm suggesting the Thoth because it's better in almost every way and you will really appreciate the artwork. The small cards are the sephiroths (ace=kether, 2=chokmah... 10=malkuth, the suit of wands represents the tree of life in the kabbalistic world of atziluth(the classical element fire and the first Yod in the Tetragrammaton) etc...) and the major arcana represent the 22 paths between the sephiroths(Atu 0 The Fool connects Kether and Chokhmah, Atu 1 The Magus connect Kether and Binah, etc...). Here is some of the artwork The Magus, The Universe, The Ace Of Cups. The cards will give you more to meditate on then you could possibly get through in a single lifetime.

Also Malkuth means Kingdom and is related to the physical world. The Knowledge and Conversation Of The Holy Guardian Angel is attributed Tipheret.

I'm glad to see some conversation about the occult on here. I don't think anyone would argue that all occult and mystical practices arise from the type of shamanism the people in this forum practice. The two types of approaches go great together whether you are into Kabballah, Buddhism, Daoism, or any other system.

The Tree Of Life is just a map created by people who have been there before. It might be fun to just storm off into the wilderness without knowing where you are going, but your chances of finding something interesting will increase greatly with the help. I've had great luck performing a little ritual where I get into a trance, take a hit of hash, invoke one of the cards, and experience it's energy. It's much more powerful than just taking a drug to see what will happen and all kinds of interesting synchronicities will start appearing in your life.

Good luck! If you have any questions I can try to answer them.

Hi! Ok, I need to talk about the end game first: If you practice enough, you not only will get results, but you will start getting them all the time, without actually doing anything. Looks wonderful? Yes and no. The problem here is not to get to that point, but who you will be when you get there.

If you have hate, insecurities, fears, those will start to manifest too on their own. Basically what you are inside will all become 'external'.

That is why the very first thing you need to learn, and keep practicing daily, is banishing.

The goal of banishing is to align you with the divine, and to clean you up and transform you. As Crowley said about the LBRP "Those who regard this ritual as a mere device to invoke or banish spirits, are unworthy to possess it. Properly understood, it is the Medicine of Metals and the Stone of the Wise".

Roughly, the four elements correspond to core elements of the human personality: air is thought, fire is will, water is emotion, and earth is the physical. So it is like a respiration: First you exhale all the used up/low/unwanted elemental energy in each quarter. Once you have emptied, you can then 'inhale' the high grade stuff delivered to you by gently asking the archangels.

The quabalistic cross at the beginning serves to make a first rough alignment with the divine and draw a bit of energy to kick start the process: You pull some energy from above, ground it down below, then equilibrate it between Severity/Strength/Mars and Mercy/Jupiter. The center of the cross then becomes Tipharet/Beauty/Sun (Brush up on your tree of life if needed to understand that better).

I recommend reading Israel Regardie's 'Middle Pillar'. By the way don't start up on the Middle Pillar straight away, you risk being blown off by the energy since you are not a proper vessel to it yet (been there). Repeated practice of the LBRP is needed first. The middle pillar is used to basically draw a shitload of energy into you.

Once you have started a daily practice of banishing, you can safely take up magick. There I have to, once again, recommend Alan Chapman 'Advanced Magick for Beginners'

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1904658415

Everything you need to know about magick is in there. Will save you the trip through Old School Ritual/Chaos Magick. It is really extremely simple once you get the knack. Just play with it, and start practicing it balls to the wall. You'll get results, just remember to choose wisely what you want and plan in advance, because you can be damn sure you will get exactly what you asked for.

Also, the goal of it is not to get something for nothing. This will transform you as much as it transform the world around you. It will then be made obvious by experience that internal and external is the same thing. Hopefully at this stage you will have found your 'true will' and everything will be peachy.

Edit: Because I tend to repeat myself a lot when the kids are around :)

> This is nearly a mirror of my own trajectory, though perhaps with the difference that I was interested in the metaphysical (and esoteric, etc.) dimensions of Daoism from the get-go.

That's interesting, I actually approached Daoism initially from the perspective of Western esotericism (Manly P. Hall, et al) and got wrapped up in the more basic elements of Daoist philosophy, only to now come around to the more esoteric elements. I know what you mean re: decent Yijing literature being expensive; I'm guessing you have a copy of the Wilhelm/Baynes? That's the only one that's utterly indispensable.

You mentioned that you'd like to learn more about the text especially beyond the divination, but if you don't have the W/B, getting that and actually doing some divination would be the best way to get familiar with the text and the metaphysical layers that underlie it. The Yijing is at bottom highly practical; reading it without engaging in the practice will not be as fruitful. It's also open to many interpretations. Jung's introduction to the W/B edition actually goes through an example of divination and does a good job of explaining it in ways that Westerners will find more acceptable, in depth psychology terms. The metaphysics latent in the Yijing are the traditional basis for metaphysics in China, so an overview of Chinese Metaphysics in general would nicely supplement study of the Yijing. The bibliography of the SEP entry on this topic has some good resources.

Other than the W/B though, the field of Yijing supplementary material widens out considerably. I like the following resources:

Understanding the I Ching -- A series of lectures on the Yijing by Wilhelm and his son.

The Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi -- Just what the title says, a translation of the Wang Bi commentary on the Yijing, including both hexagram texts and the Great Treatise.

Zhouyi: A New Translation with Commentary of the Book of Changes -- A compendium of scholarly work on the Yijing, focusing on (and with a new translation of) the Bronze Age core of the Yijing, the Zhouyi. Expensive, but worth it.

"Modern" is a pretty broad category -- it would help to know more about what kind of art style you're looking for. For example, are you hoping for something that's more minimalist, or detailed? colorful, or monochrome? digitally drawn, or painted? focused on figures, or more inventive with imagery?

That said, here are some decks in a pretty wide variety of styles that come to mind when I think "modern art." I personally own the first six decks on this list and can vouch that I like them; the rest I don't own but I know other people like them.

• The Light Grey Tarot
  
  
• The Cosmos Tarot & Oracle
  
  
• The Body Language Tarot
  
  
• The Fountain Tarot
  
  
• The Dark Goddess Tarot
  
  
• One of my all-time favorite decks, a feminist classic Thea's Tarot is apparently getting a second printing soon! Maybe not in time for your friend's gift, but perhaps for the future.
  
  
• The Book of Shadows Tarot, Volume 1: As Above and Volume 2: So Below
  
  
• The Wild Unknown Tarot
  
  
• The Wooden Tarot
  
  
• The Prisma Visions Tarot
  
  
• The Linestrider Tarot
  
  
• The Wanderer's Tarot: Solar Edition and Midnight Edition
  
  
• The Golden Thread Tarot
  
  
• The Illuminated Tarot (note that this is a playing-card style deck with 53 cards instead of 78)
  
  
• Dame Darcy's Mermaid Tarot
  
  
• The Prismatic Tarot
  
  
• The Ethereal Visions Illuminated Tarot (I'm including this even though Art Deco is decidedly not modern because it is very different from the traditional RWS style, so your friend might like it anyway)
  
  
• I don't know of any specifically videogame/media themed decks, but The Steampunk Tarot does come to mind as being up that alley, thematically.
  
  I have to stop here otherwise I'll just keep on going, lol, I love talking about different tarot decks. So I'll just leave you with a note that there are lots of items in the Little Red Tarot shop that might interest you.
  
  Hope this helps!

Hi hi! I'm just going to list the books & pages that I feel helped me out the most, and why. Hope it helps!

• Astrology for Yourself:
  One of my first, a friend & I used this book to dip our toes into the deep subject, but if you glance through it, you'll see it's just a book of exercises and keywords. Eventually, this book helped me realize that the the signs/planets aren't "interpretations & keywords" but more like themes in a story, if not their own story, and those keywords are ways of that storyline or theme (or, dare I say it, energy) in the world & in our minds.
  
  
• Parker's Astrology:
  A fundamental text that was my guide for a long time, until I started reading about specific subjects.
  
  
• Planets in Transit, Planets in Aspect, Planets in Houses (A.K.A. The Planets Series):
  As much as I love -in Aspect and -in Houses, Planets in Transit has a permanent place on my bedside stand.
  
  
• Aspects in Astrology:
  Another great book that helps explain why trines aren't always great, squares aren't always bad, and WTF a bisesquiqadrate is.
  
  Absolutely anything by Liz Greene, but specifically Mythic Astrology. Few books can give you feel for a planet or sign with the direct Hellenistic history & descriptions like that one. There is another Mythic Astrology out there but it didn't leave an impression on me like Greene's book did.
  
  Finally, a title that I probably shouldn't publicly admit to attributing any education value to, yet here we are ~ Seduction By the Stars. Sometimes those pop culture, shallow consumables are the best way to break down complicated subjects into easy-to-digest bits that are good for the beginner. Honestly, between this book & Liz
  Greene's Astrology for Lovers, you will never need to witness a Linda Goodman catastrophe.
  
  As far as websites, I have only 3 that I rely on consistently. Astrolabe, which I keep up 24\7 to refresh for current transits, The Lost Horoscope X-Files, which has a section on the left sidebar called 'Online Resources' that has been very educational for me in learning about prediction, and Astrodienst as a place online to create & store charts, or get draw up specifically advanced types of charts. When I was beginning I spent a lot of time on Cafe Astrology as well.
  

Papaji belongs to the Vedantic ("non-dualism"... aka."oneness with all" or "enlightenment") branch of Hindu Yoga, as re-birthed by his Enlightened guru (pic on the wall behind him) Ramana Maharshi - in the 20th century.

While I fully consider this one of the highest paths to Enlightenment, this has nothing to do with Magick. In fact, they recommend ignoring all paranormal behaviour / powers etc, as it is a distraction to the path of Enlightenment. That said "magic" things were well recorded to have occurred around Ramana Maharshi on a somewhat frequent basis, but he put zero emphasis of those paranormal events in his teachings and encouraged his students to ignore it. I actually agree with this to some degree. Magical powers can be not only distracting, but extremely self corrupting (Aleister Crowley anyone?). After all, how many Magick practitioners can we claim to have been fully and permanently Enlightened in recent times? Few can reach the end goal by this path... which for me is still the main path, although I am now aware of several other legit ones.

Also, to clarify, there are extremely few historical individuals I would considered fully Enlightened. Ramana Maharshi (amazon books) was such an individual, as was another of his disciples Sri Nissargadatta Maharaj (read book: I am THAT). One tell tale sign is that they experience reality from the perspective of Eternity. They no longer possess an Ego, they want nothing - not even happiness, their Ego has been fully dissolved - although they still have unique personalities. They have zero attachments, zero fears, including that of corporal death.

My perspective of Papaji (featured in this video) is that he has experienced lower and temporal (not permanent) states of Enlightenment and was thus an effective teacher by his own methods as several (dozen?) students emerged under his belt to have achieved at least the levels that he did. Of note is Gangaji, a Western female teaching Vendanta for 20-30 years. Also of note, although not a Papaji disciple, but an outstanding vendantic teacher of sorts is Adyashanti - he is my favorite one of the bunch, although Nissargadatta's I AM THAT book was immensely mind blowing to me and what initially got me to take this branch of Yoga very seriously. This was after I had studied magick for 5+ years already. Both Gangaji and Adyashanti have many youtube videos. If you've never studied Vendanta, both of these are highly recommended as they are Western individuals that can very well articulate the teachings. Note Adyashanti also has a strong background in Zen Buddhism, and is pretty clear to me that he has experienced the lower states of Enlightenment temporarily, many times.

Cheers.

I'm a traditionalist, so i've been using rider-wait for a long while, but I would like to save up for some prettier decks! Linestrider is a popular favorite, but really, for all the right reasons... It's so gorgeous! Etheral Visions is also a fav of mine... I'm a huge sucker of that kind of style. I also wish I could remember the name of the deck, but I remember a really nice foresty-themed one that had like a deer-man on it! I want to say it was something-something irish woodlands? I'm probably 99% wrong knowing myself.

and this is me being a large nerd more than anything, but I would love cardcaptor sakura cards!

Well I'm fairly new myself, but I'm really liking learning from Liz Dean's Ultimate Guide to Tarot. It's linked to the Rider-Waite as well, which is helpful. I like that she guides through the symbolism and colors as well!

And for advice, I'd say run with symbols that click with you. Like with seeing yourself in the Knight of Swords! Having that symbol of you leaping before looking under the "what do I do?" spot seems to be a sign that the best course of action includes you in the picture and maybe leaping before looking is even an option in this situation!

Also, pay attention to card spot meanings. Also the message of judgment has a lot to do with self-acceptance of past actions. After all, judgment is typically the reward for the good and the punishment for the bad. Perhaps the best course of action now is a time to reward yourself for your past victories? Maybe there's a past action you're thinking about?

I think you've got most of the interpretation right. It's just a lot of practice to make the interpretations your own, looking for your own symbols and such. I'm struggling with this too.

A good place to start I think is reading Shamanic Voices by anthropoligist Joan Halifax. It isn't a how-to guide or anything, but gives intimate accounts of Shamanic practices throughout the world. It includes records of rituals performed by Maria Sabina that you may find especially interesting.

After that, I'd recommend Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by reliigious history professor Mircea Eliade. Its a bit thick but is very thorough in its treatment of Shamanic practices through the millennia and around the world, including descriptions of numerous techniques used for entering trance states, cosmologies, symbolism, initiations, and powers claimed by Shamans. This is an academic work, however and won't give you step by step instructions (if that is what you are looking for).

If you are looking for something a bit lighter, Supernatural by Graham Hancock is an interesting read. In it he looks at parallels between drug-induced experiences, Shamanism, fairies, and reports of extraterrestrials. If I had known that last part before I read it I probably would have skipped this book but he actually made some very interesting points that I think makes the book worth reading. Also, he relies heavily on Joan Halifax's book as a source and spends a decent amount of time discussing Maria Sabina and psilocybin usage.

The beginner how-to department is an area I'm less versed in but I've heard good things about this book and its companion. Personally I'd generally recommend getting oneself intimately familiar with current and past Shamanic practices through the academic works on the subject and then creating a personalized system - though commercial how-to guides can certainly provide some practical hints and inspiration.

My first piece of advice is to completely divorce in your mind the tarot and the runes. They are two completely different systems. The tarot were developed by Ceremonial Magicians in the late Victorian Age, and the runes are an ancient symbol set used by an ancient culture as a language and magical symbols. In fact the runes are a whole system of magic.

To really get started with runes you have to read up on each one and the history behind each. Divining with them is as simple as grabbing a few and scattering them and reading their meanings but you'll need to background about each letter for that to work. Here are a few sources that I like for runes.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jordsvin/Runes/Rune%20Of%20The%20Month/Index.htm - Ignore how this site looks. because it hasn't been updated in a while but each article on the runes is very well written by a couple who know the runes very well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1578633257/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1459023490&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=rune+divination&dpPl=1&dpID=51eexi1vgZL&ref=plSrch - A great book on the whole system of magic that the runes are. I really like this one as it doesn't try and "culture wash" the runes. Instead she frames each meaning historically so you can get a better understanding of why things are as they are.

http://www.amazon.com/Rune-Poem-Jim-Paul/dp/0811811360 - This book is a translation of the original Norse poems that the runes are mentioned in. It doesn't offer much in the way of interpretation so you are meant to take your own from it. It gives you a reference point to think about when meditating on the runes.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!

The Following list is taken from the Witches & Warlocks FB page. (This is Christian Day's group)

Witches and Warlocks Recommended Reading List
This is a collection of books recommended by our admins and participants in the group. Books must be approved by the admins so if you'd like to see one added to the last, please post it in the comments at the bottom of this list and, if it's something we think is appropriate, we'll add it! We provide links to Amazon so folks can read more about the book but we encourage you to shop at your local occult shop whenever possible! :)


BEGINNER'S WITCHCRAFT BOOKS

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft
by Raymond Buckland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0875420508

Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America
by Margot Adler
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0143038192

Grimoire of the Thorn-Blooded Witch: Mastering the Five Arts of Old World Witchery
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635500

The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation and Psychic Development
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738702765

The Kybalion: The Definitive Edition
by William Walker Atkinson (Three Initiates)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1585428744

Lid Off the Cauldron: A Wicca Handbook
by Patricia Crowther
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1861630328

Mastering Witchcraft
by Paul Huson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0595420060

Natural Magic
by Doreen Valiente
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0919345808

Natural Witchery: Intuitive, Personal & Practical Magick
by Ellen Dugan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738709220

Old World Witchcraft: Ancient Ways for Modern Days
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635055

The Outer Temple of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells and Rituals
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738705314

Power of the Witch: The Earth, the Moon, and the Magical Path to Enlightenment
by Laurie Cabot
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385301898

Solitary Witch: The Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation
by Silver RavenWolf
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703192

Spirit of the Witch: Religion & Spirituality in Contemporary Witchcraft
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703389

Witch: A Magickal Journey
by Fiona Horne
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0007121326

Witchcraft for Tomorrow
by Doreen Valiente
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0709052448

Witchcraft Today
by Gerald Gardner
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806525932
The Witches' Craft: The Roots of Witchcraft & Magical Transformation
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/073870265X
The Witching Way of the Hollow Hill
by Robin Artisson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982031882

WITCHCRAFT HISTORY AND RESOURCE BOOKS

Aradia or The Gospel of the Witches
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982432356

Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints & Sages: A Guide to Asking for Protection, Wealth, Happiness, and Everything Else!
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062009575

The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca
by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0816071047

Etruscan Roman Remains
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1494302519

The God of the Witches
by Margaret Murray
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0195012704

The Weiser Field Guide to Witches, The: From Hexes to Hermione Granger, From Salem to the Land of Oz
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578634792

ADVANCED BOOKS ON WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

Blood Sorcery Bible Volume 1: Rituals in Necromancy
by Sorceress Cagliastro
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1935150812

The Deep Heart of Witchcraft: Expanding the Core of Magickal Practice
by David Salisbury
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1780999208

Teen Spirit Wicca
by David Salisbury
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1782790594

Enchantment: The Witch's Art of Manipulation by Gesture, Gaze and Glamour
by Peter Paddon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936922517

Initiation into Hermetics
by Franz Bardon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1885928122

Letters from the Devil's Forest: An Anthology of Writings on Traditional Witchcraft, Spiritual Ecology and Provenance Traditionalism
by Robin Artisson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500796360

Magical Use of Thought Forms: A Proven System of Mental & Spiritual Empowerment
by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowick and J.H. Brennan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567180841

Magick in Theory and Practice
by Aleister Crowley
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500380679

The Plant Spirit Familiar
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982774311

Protection and Reversal Magick
by Jason Miller
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1564148793
Psychic Self-Defense
by Dion Fortune
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635098
The Ritual Magic Workbook: A Practical Course of Self-Initiation
by Dolores Ashcroft-Norwicki
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578630452
The Roebuck in the Thicket: An Anthology of the Robert Cochrane Witchcraft Tradition
by Evan John Jones, Robert Cochrane and Michael Howard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1861631553

The Satanic Witch
by Anton Szandor LaVey
http://www.amazon.com/Satanic-Witch-Anton-Szandor-LaVey/dp/0922915849
Shadow Magick Compendium: Exploring Darker Aspects of Magickal Spirituality
by Raven Digitalis
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VS0N5K
The Tree of Enchantment: Ancient Wisdom and Magic Practices of the Faery Tradition
by Orion Foxwood
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578634075
The Underworld Initiation: A journey towards psychic transformation
by R.J. Stewart
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1892137038

HERBALISM, CANDLES, INCENSE, OILS, FORMULARIES, AND STONES

A Compendium of Herbal Magic
by Paul Beyerl
http://www.amazon.com/dp/091934545X

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
by Scott Cunningham
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0875421229

The Enchanted Candle: Crafting and Casting Magickal Light
by Lady Rhea
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806525789

The Enchanted Formulary: Blending Magickal Oils for Love, Prosperity, and Healing
by Lady Maeve Rhea
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806527048

Incense: Crafting and Use of Magickal Scents
by Carl F. Neal
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703362

Magickal Formulary Spellbook Book 1
by Herman Slater
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0939708000

Magickal Formulary Spellbook: Book II
by Herman Slater
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0939708108


SPELLCASTING AND SPELLBOOKS
Crone's Book of Charms & Spells
by Valerie Worth
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567188117

Crone's Book of Magical Words
by Valerie Worth
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567188257

Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061711233

Everyday Magic: Spells & Rituals for Modern Living
by Dorothy Morrison
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567184693

Pure Magic: A Complete Course in Spellcasting
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578633915
Utterly Wicked: Curses, Hexes & Other Unsavory Notions
by Dorothy Morrison
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0979453313
The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook
by Denise Alvarado
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635136

The Voodoo Doll Spellbook: A Compendium of Ancient and Contemporary Spells and Rituals
by Denise Alvarado
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578635543


THE ANCESTORS AND WORKING WITH THE DEAD
The Cauldron of Memory: Retrieving Ancestral Knowledge & Wisdom
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738715751

The Mighty Dead
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982774370

Speak with the Dead: Seven Methods for Spirit Communication
by Konstantinos
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738705225
The Witches' Book of the Dead
by Christian Day
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635063
_____
TAROT

78 Degrees of Wisdom
by Rachel Pollack
http://www.amazon.com/dp/157863408

Even less, the amount of MAO is honestly pretty small, so the amount of MAOI (which is what you are attempting to get from the Syrian Rue seeds, I use them personally for mine) you need is equally small. You can reduce it down further after lemon juice brewing into a syrup or whatever, slides down like molasses. Learned that from my early years messing around with DXM (Don't do DXM kids, it's synthetic and creates big ol' lesions in your brain with extended use!) My problem with them was not getting all the other debris apart from the actual seed that you are trying to get to, which have traces of ergot if I recall correctly.

Harmaline is a mild hallucinogen as well. I experimented with it separate before engaging in Ayahausca. A mild amount boiled out as per Ayahausca preparation. Saw some pretty neat OEVs that laid over reality and persisted when I closed my eyes. Auditory hallucinations as well. Not worth the purge in my opinion though.

Don't forget! MAOIs are extremely hazardous, and you must change your diet before ingesting and after to avoid 'side effects' - typically including fermented foods and drinks, such as jalapenos and anchovies. Do your research before ingesting any substance you don't trust or are unsure of!

DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THESE SUBSTANCES:
You can combine the processed Syrian Rue with other related psychedelics to include Psilocybin shrooms (by extension MDMA) and LSD. This will potentate the effects by a large margin so I highly recommend a sitter even for an experienced user.

One personal anecdote was a handful of pins, approx. 1/8 oz and a small pinch, maybe 1/4 tsp. of the Syrian Rue substance.

I blasted off approx. 25~30 minutes in, felt like I was between being awake and dreaming as far as head-space was concerned, with extreme OEVs. When I finally came down, it was about 10 hrs later.

Again, I can't stress this hard enough - these substances are dangerous without proper research and preparation. Erowid.org was my best source (thikal and phikal by extension) when I was researching. I also recommend Graham Hancock's book Supernatural, it starts off with him describing the how's and why's and how it feels to take iboga. Insightful musings to think about while you're addled. Also I don't want you guys stampeding straight for the iboga, work your way up, and be safe!

I strongly recommend searching terms on astro.com's Astrowiki, it's one of the most credible resources you'll find on the web since it's run by Astrodienst.


I'd first start by trying to understand the planets as they are in their signs--so in your case, Venus in Sagittarius. Usually you can just google those, and you'll get a lot of interpretations in the results, so its up to you to come to a general understanding, as planet/sign combinations can look different for everyone depending on other factors.


Once you've done that, you can begin to compare planets in signs with other planets in signs (and somewhere along this line you'll want to take a look at house symbolism. It can be a lot to digest at once, but rewarding when you start making discoveries...or you could start with houses and their traditional rulership first to make things a bit easier--this is sometimes called the 'astrological alphabet').

Now, I have this really great book by Demetra George that was recommended to me on one of the astrology subreddits, and it has done wonders for my learning. It has you writing what's called 'astro-sentences,' where you take keywords of the planet, sign, and house and craft them into sentences you can understand. You do the same with aspects between planets, and she also shows you how to interpret transits. Of course, the book starts with the barebones of astrology though, so if you would consider yourself a beginner, this is a really, really good one to look at. I'd still consider myself a beginner too but... holy cow, the things I've learned man! The things I've learned! (Sorry... Gemini Ascendant...)


Anyway, I hope that's even a little helpful!

Out of all my decks, the Linestrider deck is the one I resonate with the most. I bought it a year or so ago, but I just checked on Amazon, and it’s still selling for about $20:
The Linestrider Tarot https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738748293/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_W9aUBbEQA4NHF

Things are really, really good! I’ve received so many birthday messages today and I feel very loved. Thank you so much for the good vibes and well wishes! :)

You have a tiny fraction of the bases covered, but you're better off than many people. Some people only read Scott Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide and call it a day.

You really ought to learn of the history of religious witchcraft in the 20th century, the many layers of symbolism and tradition in Gardnerian and Alexandrian witchcraft of the 50s and 60s, then the spread and change of the newly arrived Pagan and witchcraft scene of the 70s and 80s in America, which leads to Dianic Wicca, Eclectic Wicca, and finally the form presented in Scott Cunningham's books and most, if not all books published in the past ten years (and continuously) by Llewellyn.

Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler: https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Down-Moon-Witches-Goddess-Worshippers/dp/0143038192/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469827845&sr=8-1&keywords=drawing+down+the+moon

Then eventually learn of the history not of the religious traditions of witchcraft which have caught on by many, but the figure of the witch as a religious follower (as opposed to an evil baby-killer, a Halloween decoration, or something dreamed up in the minds of the Catholic church with no foundation in actual religion).

Aradia: Gospel of the Witches by Charles Leland: https://www.amazon.com/Aradia-Gospel-Witches-Charles-Godfrey/dp/0982432356/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828055&sr=8-1&keywords=aradia

Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath by Carlo Ginzburg: https://www.amazon.com/Ecstasies-Deciphering-Witches-Carlo-Ginzburg/dp/0226296938/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828085&sr=8-4&keywords=carlo+ginzburg

The Witch Cult in Western Europe by Margaret Murray: https://www.amazon.com/Witch-Cult-Western-Europe/dp/1515244024/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828141&sr=8-2&keywords=witch+cult+western+europe

and then, in a timeline-fashion,

Witchcraft Today by Gerald Gardner: https://www.amazon.com/Witchcraft-Today-Gerald-Gardner/dp/0806525932/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828213&sr=8-1&keywords=witchcraft+today

Then learn how religious witchcraft, as presented by Gerald Gardner and his covens, was and is practiced, the meaning behind the practices, and why the meanings matter.

A Witches Bible by Janet and Stewart Farrar: https://www.amazon.com/Witches-Bible-Complete-Handbook/dp/0919345921/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828310&sr=8-1&keywords=witches+bible

Also inserted in this section might easily be Buckland's Book of Witchcraft, but I don't personally recommend that book as it does stray from Gardnerian tradition in many respects, sometimes changing whole chunks of traditional texts to a more Pagan or celtic format, and conveniently brushes over the use and symbolism of an important tool, the scourge, in witchcraft. But there are many good pieces of knowledge in that book.

Its also important to read up on influential figures in the Craft movement, and their thoughts, opinions, and reasonings behind their beliefs.

Firechild by Maxine Sanders: https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Child-Magic-Maxine-Sanders/dp/1869928784/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828518&sr=8-1&keywords=maxine+sanders

King of the Witches by June Johns: https://www.amazon.com/King-Witches-World-Alex-Sanders/dp/B000NT7OYI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828547&sr=8-1&keywords=king+witches+june

And there's so much more, probably more books than anyone could ever read and find all of.

And one of the best sources of knowledge of the Craft is an experienced High Priest(ess) within a coven that knows their stuff. Much of witchcraft's knowledge comes from its mysteries, which must be experienced to understand.

Good luck on your journey.

> There is also a book called Prometheus Rising that might help you there. It goes into the social spectrum of personalities and the somatic effects that thought scripts have on the body.

Thanks for dropping that in. I just bought the book from Amazon because of this comment. I've put off reading one of Robert Anton Wilson's books for far too long. Here is the description for anyone else interested.

>Imagine trying to make sense of an amalgam of Timothy Leary's eight neurological circuits, G.I. Gurdjieff's self-observation exercises, Alfred Korzybski's general semantics, Aleister Crowley's magical theorems, and the several disciplines of Yoga; not to mention Christian Science, relativity, quantum mechanics, and many other approaches to understanding the world around us. That is exactly what Robert Anton Wilson does in Prometheus Rising. In short, this is a book about how the human mind works and what you can do to make the most of yours.

>"Robert Anton Wilson speaks for that tiny but indispensable minority who are changing the way we think. To read him is to learn what the future holds, how to be part of the future and how to help create the future." -- Robert Shea
"The man's glittering intelligence won't let you rest. First he shocks, then he enlightens. One is never the same after reading him. With each new book I welcome his wisdom, laced with his special brand of crazy humor." -- Alan Harrington, author of The Immortalist

>"Bob has done it again for the first time ever! This book is everything I ever wanted to write in a practical guidebook on how to get here from there, and he's-as usual-first in print again! Just the exercise on finding quarters has paid for the book many times over." --E. J. Gold

Amazon link

I think you sound like a pretty normal girl. You seem to be a bit smarter then most and a bit more depressed, but beside that you sound just like everybody else:

"People dont really know me, lonely but special, anxiety, me me me."

And of course you open a thread just about you, cuz it feels kind of good to talk about yourself, right? Center of attention and stuff. And thats OK, thats normal. Most people feel that way.

For me, the so-sad-its-almost-funny thing about our being so self-obsessed is that almost nobody knows who they are. Do you have an answer? Who are you?

I started the search for who I really am a couple of years back and Im sure it helped me a lot. I didnt make things easier, but it gave me a solid foundation, something to stand on, something to hold on to. Inside myself, not dependent on outer circumstances.

If you are interested, i recommend to check out:

1. This Is Water by David Foster Wallace, 20 min. commencement speech about how to handle everyday life. Listen to this!
   
   
2. Meditation. Seriously, start now. This might help I am that-multireddit, named after the book, also highly recommended, albeit a bit abstract.
   
   And of course I will answer any PMs or comments regarding this.
   
   

Well there's classic English language Wilhelm version, which has been around since 1950 and is the backbone of later translations. For the English language user, this book is a must-have.

http://www.amazon.com/Ching-Changes-Bollingen-Series-General/dp/069109750X

There are many later versions which are easier to use and whittle down the philosophy to something easier to decipher and those are good too, when used in conjunction with the Wilhelm.

Edit: I just found another version I had and really liked "The I Ching Workbook", very straightforward text, great in conjunction with the Wilhelm -

http://www.amazon.com/R.L.-Wing/e/B000APCECW/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1

The divination method using sticks is quite difficult. Just as good a result can be had with the 3 coin method. Believe it or not, I had 3 Chinese coins I carried around with me in a little pouch for 30 years. Old Chinese coins have no significant value and can be easily bought in many places, import shops, Chinatown type neighborhoods, and sometimes even bookstores. I always liked the thin worn ones....

>John of God will seat a subject for his "visible surgery" stunt and apparently scrape the eyeball of the patient with the edge of a knife. I believe that this is a variation of the usual trick — illustrated on page 177 of my book, "Flim-Flam!" — in which a knife-blade is inserted under the eyelid of a subject with little or no resulting discomfort. With the Brazilian faker, the "scraping" motion gives it a much more fearsome aspect, but for several good reasons I doubt that any contact takes place with the cornea.
>
>The sclera — the white section of the eye — is relatively insensitive to touch. Try touching that area with a finger or any clean object, and you'll see this is true. The cornea, however, is very sensitive — among the most sensitive areas of the body. Incidentally, it's also the fastest-healing organ, which accords very well with Darwinian standards; being able to see is one of our very best sensory means of defense.
>
>Most persons — and I'm one of them — have a difficult time watching the eye being touched. We tend to empathize with the situation, and I'm sure that some readers are at this moment involuntarily squinting in distaste as they read these words; we're that reactive to eyeball-touching. Few persons will resist looking away when John of God seems to scrape an eyeball, and I note that he's furtively watching the position of the camera as he performs this stunt, blocking the view with his body when a close-up is sought.
>
>There's also the distinct possiblity here that John of God introduces a temporary local anaesthetic — benzocaine would work — onto the eye surface, which would allow contact with the cornea. We don't know, though we could have found out....
>
>In any case, unless an anaesthetic has been introduced, it is impossible for this man to be touching the cornea of a human eye as he appears to do, without causing immediate involuntary flinching from the patient. The JREF will stake its million-dollar prize on that statement.

Reference -
From James Randi's commentary on John of God's modus operandi. James Randi is a professional magician and scientific skeptic who has offered a One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge to anyone who can demonstrate a supernatural ability under agreed-upon scientific testing criteria. He has written a book Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions about such fakery.

I disagree with the other reply - a fantastic book on Enochian is Enochian Vision Magick by DuQuette. For the runes, if you're taking a traditional approach, I recommend Thorsson's Futhark though it's certainly not everyone's cup of tea.

As for learning to write in another language - practice, practice, practice! The biggest help will probably be concentrating on learning one language, don't try to confuse yourself with too many at once. Once you've chosen one, just write out anything you can think of in that language. For me, just an hour a day of sitting down and writing things out, not even trying to translate it back to english, is the best way of learning. After two weeks or so, you'll be great at writing and re-translating, just because the letters are so ingrained in your head. My friends and I used to use Tolkien's Elvish alphabet as a secret code in high school, and I can still write in it to this day, seven or eight years later!

> I'm talking about why the awareness that I experience is experiencing sensory inputs from the point of view of this body-abstraction instead of any other body-abstraction in existence.

Ohhh. That's a very big question. Years ago I went out to explore this, so I ended up writing a program that analyzes visual information. I ended up throwing the stock market at it.

From this I have an idea how the underlining processes work, but they're only a guess -- the way I re-engineered them onto a computer, but from modeling my own awareness machine. If you want the finer underlining details, I can explain, but I think it is a bit of a rabbit hole for what you're probably looking for.

Then from there, at a higher level falls into the abstraction bit. So like, if you see a pattern a bunch of times (a bunch of similar patterns) the mind will "compress" this pattern into a single concept and from that concept into a single word, or a set of words. This makes all the things we know of in the universe.

Of course, I'm using language to describe language here, and that gets a little twisty (loopy particularly), but one thing at a time. No need to get overloaded.

You might like the book GEB or it's easier cousin I Am A Strange Loop.

>If multiple points of experience exist, then you have not answered what separates them. You have instead linked to something incoherent about abstractions, which is all anyone ever does when asked this question.

You can get into perceptions. The book Prometheus Rising does a great job diving into that and is a fun read too.

But are you talking about perceptions, which is interpretations of patterns, or multiple instances of awareness? Like how one eye is different from the other?

A simpler answer, which might be what you're looking for, is the mind machine has a process that identifies difference. This has to have memory to do so, most likely in time, but theoretically it only needs a single frame of space to do so.

Magick is for all, I would recommend working on the kabbalah for a start, or reading the liber 4, not necessarily in that order, maybe try liber 4 and then A Garden of Pomegranates by Israel Rgardie and Mystical Kabbalah by Dion Fortune. The Hardcover edition of Liber 4 is a great edition. I have it and it is amazing, and not as complex as most of his writings. This book has a lot of appendixes too, that helps. Having the Thoth Tarot deck and the Book of Thoth and studying its correspondencies with the tree of life is very helpful too.

Fascinating readings anyway.

About what he is in relation to mankind, better judge yourself from his writings.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Thoth-Egyptians-Equinox/dp/0877282684/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z

http://www.amazon.com/Thoth-Tarot-Deck-Aleister-Crowley/dp/1572815108/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422560601&sr=1-1&keywords=thoth+tarot+deck


http://www.amazon.com/Magick-Liber-ABA-Book-4/dp/0877289190/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422560336&sr=1-2&keywords=magick

http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Pomegranates-Skrying-Tree-Life/dp/1567181414

http://www.amazon.com/Mystical-Qabalah-Dion-Fortune/dp/1578631505/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0TNF7RPG3Y67DX4G00QH

Yes, the language of angels which Magick-folks are still using today.

Including giants like Lon Milo Duquette

Its a little complicated for me, and I don't really do "ceremonial magick" but I certainly don't dismiss it either and have great respect for many of the brilliant people who do.

Welcome to the community! There's really no right or wrong way to start, but as far as a "newbie"/beginner goes, there are a couple beginner's guides that I'd recommend any interested novice pick up. Wicca For Beginners is a great place to start for a general overview of the practice. A more extensive guide would be A Witch's Bible, and if you're looking for more Druidic/"Green Witch" type material, the Grimoire for the Green Witch is pretty extensive.

That should about cover basic/introductory stuff. I've been practicing Wicca my entire life, so feel free to PM me if you've got any questions. I'd be more than happy to introduce you to Paganism.

First things first, spend $16 on this book because it will be money well spent. The book is essentially a workbook that teaches you to construct your natal chart from the ground up; I think this approach is great for people that have little or no experience with astrology. When you're done, not only will you have a complete birth chart that you crafted yourself, but you'll have a much better understanding of the basics of astrology.

While I think there's plenty of great information online, I also tend to think that there's TOO much info - and it grows every day. It may be better for you to stick to a single path at first and expand your reach as your experience and familiarity with the system does, too.

> How reliable is your information about your friend? What was the test like? Do you know? Additionally, did the people giving her the test know that it was for a TV show? Because if they did, it is not a double-blind study and is thus unreliable.

Honestly, I don't know the details.

> ... until someone with no interest in reincarnation being true does this experiment (a double-blind study), I must regard his claims skeptically.

I believe Dr. Stevenson has a very dispassionate approach to his research. He doesn't come across as someone who set out to prove that reincarnation exists.

As an example, he titles his book, "Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation", not, "Twenty Cases that Prove Reincarnation Beyond Any Doubt." On the other hand, the readers of the book often remark that "suggestive" is an understatement, and that the evidence in the book is very compelling.

> ... you can think of nothing else that would explain the evidence?

The only theory which seems to make sense is the one of a Holographic Universe. Basically, it says that we are not "real"; we seem to be living in a giant hologram. But, I understand this theory isn't yet widely accepted in scientific circles.

To know more, please see this book: The Holographic Universe

THE physics book that changed the way I think about life, thinking, and just everything in general: The Holographic Universe, by Michael Talbot. It is astounding.

Referenced numerous times in The Holographic Universe and explains in detail the implicate vs. the explicate orders of the universe/multiverse/everything in which we all live: Wholeness and the Implicate Order, by David Bohm.

I suggest reading Talbot's book first, then move on to Bohm's. Read with an open mind and you will probably understand yourself better. Have fun!

EDIT: I should have thoroughly read all of your text, OP; sorry about that, but I would not call these books "very simple reading". A background in chemistry, physics, and astronomy would help. I am extremely interested in these subjects, (more generally I just love science) and was a senior in HS when I first read them. I understood most concepts and theories contained therein but every time I re-read them I always find new "truths"... if there are such things.

Despite the name this book is good and easy introduction: Practical Sigil Magic - Creating Personal Symbols for Success

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Sigil-Magic-Creating-Personal/dp/0738731536

Easy to find as pdf also

After you learn to use sigils, I'd recommend to check memes and stories as sigils. An naturally learn the theory behind magic so you have better understanding what consequences of your actions might be.

The book that I found most useful is Freya Aswynn's Northern Mysteries and Magick.

A great source is also Diana Paxson's Taking Up the Runes.

Love your set. Enjoy your journey!

Edit: You may also find this site useful.

There are two main categories of practice that identify as Wicca and are sufficiently different that resources and advice that might work well for one doesn't always apply to the other.

Traditional Wicca is an initiatory pagan priesthood. It's orthopraxic, meaning there are specific ways that are maintained and passed from one initiate to the next (unlike an orthodoxy which requires maintaining a specific belief). Trad Wicca requires training and initiation via a recognized coven (or, at the very least, an elder). One example of practice within a Trad is "A Witches Bible" by Stewart & Janet Farrar ( it's actually two books in one). More of their books that are relevant to any variant of Wicca include "The Witches God", "The Witches Goddess", and "Spells and How They Work". Of course, there are also the books of Gerald Gardner who founded modern Wicca plus other classic authors up to modern day like Thorn Mooney's recent "Traditional Wicca: A Seekers Guide".

Eclectic (or Solitary) Wicca is not the above priesthood but a practice that was started externally and perpetuated by the book industry. It's the form you'll most frequently encounter as a person can declare himself one whenever they choose to. Basically, it borrows concepts from Trad Wicca (which ones and to what extent is entirely up to the individual) and blends them with influences from other sources (again, per the person's choosing) with any other personal innovation. Obviously, this creates a great deal of diversity. Subsequently, most eclectic-oriented books tend to fall into the "101" group as there isn't much authors can offer beyond basic Wiccan concepts other than their own innovations. Generally, you'll need to expand your knowledge and your practice by delving into specific subjects like herbalism, various types of magical techniques, divination types and so on.

This subreddit has a wiki that you might find helpful.

What are you interested in? Wicca, candle magick, hermeticism and alchemy, Setianism, Qabalah, tarot, mythology, astrology, goetia, esoteric christianity? A little bit of everything?

My recommendation is to start with something you're really interested in and pick up that one thing. If you're interested in Crowley, then you might be interested in tarot. My suggestion is getting a simple book by a laymen's author like Amber Jayanti on the tarot. As you read the book, circle, highlight or write down (or add to a shopping list) sources to which that author refers - Jayanti may cite Paul Foster Case a lot. Once you read some Case books, then you'll start to see Crowley pop up. Pick up Lon Milo DuQuette's book on Crowley's Tarot. Then you can probably read Crowley's Book of Thoth.

My other advice is not to worry about not picking up every little detail of every book. You won't have the schema necessary for every small detail in every book, and part of reading in the occult is rediscovering the deeper meaning of something you thought you already knew, like a spiral upward.

Depends what you want. If you want rituals and mystery and so on, then you can immerse yourself in that. If you just want to get practical, then you can simplify things a bit. There are probably two sides: finding out about 'magickal practices' and then exploring 'the nature of reality' (which turns out to be about 'the nature of the self').

There's a free copy of Phil Hine's Condensed Chaos available here. Alan Chapman's Advanced Magick for Beginners is definitely worth your while. And perhaps a mix such as Magick on the Edge to give you a flavour of different people's approaches.

To explore about reality/yourself, you should consider looking into non-duality (e.g. Presence by Rupert Spira, The Direct Path by Greg Goode, the work of Douglas Harding.) It's a nice thing to be doing in parallel to any more esoteric stuff; keeps your perspective intact perhaps. If you're feeling daring, George Berkeley, or later authors, exploring things more philosophically.

Have fun.

I was introduced to the Occult by books like Prometheus Rising and Undoing Yourself.

Obviously I may be biased but I think this is the best way to enter the occult, with a paradigm that rejects absolute paradigms.

People will try and tell you that what they've read or believe is the Truth, and most of those people will be fools.

It's possible some of them are right, that there is a Truth out there that can be expressed in our 3d language, but I think that that is unlikely.

I think the Truth is more like 4d toys or like the blind men and the elephant. You can only get a piece, a snapshot of a perspective, but the Truth has more dimensions than your mind.

You probably know Terrence Mckenna but if you aren't that familiar, I just linked a lecture to someone else that I think you might appreciate.

Eros and the Eschaton

And let's not forget about the most magical thing of all--music.

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There are a few parallels here to what I refer to as astral parasites, and Robert Bruce calls Negs, Castaneda referred to as Flyers, and the Gnostics termed Archons. While I recognize that the universe does indeed have a 'circle of life' pattern to it with everything feeding on everything else at lower levels of reality (at higher levels, one thing becomes every other thing and it's all Oneness anyway), I don't believe that I SHOULD be contributing to particular entities which have become (or have chosen to become) disconnected from the Light/Source etc. (This guy has an interesting take on the nature and motives of such entities. Just found it tonight while looking for a link discussing Castaneda's Flyers.)

Personally, I would not invite such beings into your area or have further dealings with them. In any shamanic studies I've undertaken, insects that feed on me have always been bad things to avoid or stamp out (often being the astral form of a physical disease/virus). The part of your description that sent off 'alarm bells' for me was how you described it as a "robot with no mind, just a job to feed". That's EXACTLY how all astral parasites I've encountered have been. They're like insects - they feel nothing, care nothing, only feed. If they do communicate, they'll say whatever it takes to get you to feel bad and submit so they can feed off your guilt, depression, anger, fear etc. They will laugh and tell you how weak and pathetic you are in an attempt to dominate and cause submission. You have to ignore that, remain calm, and continue to fight back without allowing emotions to distract or sabotage your efforts. It may be a shark's nature to feed on meat, but I will NOT be on the menu today, thanks.

Prior to engaging in hallucinogenic activities, you should probably be using a banishing ritual/ceremony or similar to ensure that unwanted outside influences are cleared away and kept out, and your preferred focus and direction for the trip are maintained. Because I began my training in a ceremonial style, I use the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram as my default method for beginning and ending every working unless the symbolism/energies raised by it aren't as compatible with the working at hand, in which case I'll switch to a different symbol set and use a variation of the Hammer Rite (Runes) or similar (this is basically just a modified LBRP anyway - same format).

I encourage you to read Robert Bruce's material regarding how Negs operate and how to get rid of them. Then compare with Castaneda's works (which are very entertaining reads and provide food for thought, even if they aren't 'authentic Mexican sorcery' as advertised - many of the methods still work pretty well).

Edit: This excerpt from Mike Harner's The Way of the Shaman might also interest you.

I think you may actually want at least a couple of different books here. But to get you started with a book that includes the lists of many deities and other entities, astrological, stone, color, and other correspondences, check out The Complete Magician's Tables. It's a really nice and useful book.

With regard to prayers and invocations, I'd say you may have better luck if you look at books that are specific to that tradition. For example, I'd find it unlikely that you would find any book that very comprehensively lists every single thing (including lengthy stuff like prayers and invocations) about both Judeo-Christian angels and about Hindu deities.

Simple divination is the easiest introduction. It's Taoist/ Confucianist, but I can highly recommend the Richard Wilhelm translation of The Book of Changes. Early versions of The Book of Changes (or I Ching) were written thousands of years ago, and it remains one of the most popular methods of divination today.

http://www.amazon.com/Ching-Changes-Bollingen-Series-General/dp/069109750X

I believe the above should contain a preface that lays out the proper steps for its use. But by far the simplest is the coin method:

http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/learn/consult/casting.php

When asking a question, avoid simple yes/no questions, and perhaps instead ask the proper way to achieve a certain outcome.

Motion picture uses visuals.

A skilled artist can use symbolism and metaphor.

Gaspar Noe has all the subtlety and nuance of Bill Clinton in a brothel.

You seem to be suggesting that film simply an't convey idas. I disagree. A film cannot get into your head the way a book can, but you can layer, reinforce and imply concepts in such a way that a audience can understand something that is not purely visual. A couple exaples that come immediately to mind are: Vertigo [1958], Ikiru [1952], 2001: Space Odyssey [1968], Metropolis [1927] and, for those who wish for something a bit more modern and 'accessible', Mean Girls [2004].

A good example of a DMT flash in the visual medium?

http://youtu.be/EElaqhquY00

I get the impression that you haven't spent a lot of time on the subject. You seem to have something of a passing fancy on this. I would say that you get out of these things what you put in. By everything you've said so far you are clearly not someone who has invested much time into the subject.

Spend some time on it and maybe do some Ayahuasca.

http://youtu.be/t6p9tC4_oME

http://youtu.be/l9nFs2PeWw0

http://www.amazon.com/Food-Gods-Original-Knowledge-Evolution/dp/0553371304

http://www.amazon.com/DMT-Molecule-Revolutionary-Near-Death-Experiences/dp/0892819278

http://www.amazon.com/Supernatural-Meetings-Ancient-Teachers-Mankind/dp/1932857842/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373246015&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/Inner-Paths-Outer-Space-Psychedelics/dp/159477224X

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayahuasca

/r/astrology would be a great resource too. This is a subject I dabbled in quite frequently in my younger days, since then though my attention span has meandered elsewhere. One of the better books I read on the matter, especially for a beginner, was called The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need, by Joanna Martine Woolfolk.

One thing I would point out on regards to Freemasonry and Astrology, is that in the time our ritual was originally written Astronomy and Astrology were considered by most to be one and the same. Does this mean astrology has relevance to the modern possibly scientific minded Mason? Maybe or maybe not. Astrology is however its own vocabulary of symbols and symbolism which has intertwined its way into Western culture. A lot of Freemasons live for that sort of stuff. I know that's what attracted me to explore astrology as a young man and eventually pursue Freemasonry more recently.

One interesting overlap between the two is the circumpunct which Freemasonry has taken as one of its many insignia. It is also the astrological (and subsequently astronomical) symbol for the Sun.

https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Up-Runes-Complete-Divination/dp/1578633257

This is argubably the best book on runes currently on the market. It'll teach you the meaning of the runes, how to divine with them, and even delves into rune magic if you're interested in it. The author is a Asatru and has a really good reputation in the Pagan community.

Thank you so much for your reply. Do you mean Richard Wilhelm or Hellmut Wilhelm, or both?

I found this online: http://www2.unipr.it/~deyoung/I_Ching_Wilhelm_Translation.html

And I found this on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ching-Book-Changes-Bollingen-General/dp/069109750X/ref=mt_hardcover?_encoding=UTF8&me=

I know I am being picky, but I would like a book copy. Don't get me wrong, that online version would be a valuable resource, but having a book allows me to highlight and write notes in the margins.

I would also throw in http://www.amazon.com/Enochian-Vision-Magick-Introduction-Practical/dp/1578633826

However I don't agree that Enochian is a good starting point. Do the LBRP for several months and then when the ritual is complete try conversing with the archangels around you for help in understanding and working with the elements, questions you may have, guidance, etc. It may not come in a direct spoken way but may appear as inspirations when you least expect it. When you have gotten that down skry the tattvas and see how that goes. I then suggest either the Olympic Planetary spirits or the archangels of the spheres. From there you should be in a great place for any evocationary magic.

Wow, I just started watching and one of his intro slides is, "There's lots of fiction about this stuff in movies, so there must be something to it." I can't imagine that he's going to use that as some sort of actual point, but it's kinda sad to see it even brought up...

Edti: Hrm... he's gone on to special pleading and a number of other fallacies.

I feel like a lot of this was covered in Flim Flam and elsewhere. I don't know enough about the specific stuff he's presenting as evidence to comment. It's interesting, but I'd have to look a lot further to be convinced.

I only used the term biofeedback because I'm a child of the '70s/'80s. :)

I thought you could use biofeedback by simply becoming aware of your physical symptoms and how they respond to relaxation, meditation, visualization, etc. It's entirely possible that I've been using the term wrong all these years. :)

I linked the Talbot book in a previous comment, but here it is again. Basically, he discusses the theories of Bohm and Pribram that the universe can be modeled using the concepts of holography. It's an amazing read; I just wish they'd finally release it for the Kindle.

> if someone knows about religions without this assumptions (gnosticism?), please share your knowledge.

Well, there is core shamanism, which is more about methodology. In other words, it teaches how to see and then lets you go see for yourself and draw your own conclusions. There is no required assumption about the existence of a benevolent deity. If you are curious about shamanism in general, I recommend Webb's "Traveling between the Worlds: Conversations with Contemporary Shamans". A good reference on "core shamanism" would be Harner's The Way of the Shaman and Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality

My personal observation of the Entity closest to the various concepts of "God" is very limited and yet largely inexpressible.

I've personally always been a fan of the Thoth deck or the Hermetic Tarot. My main deck is a vintage printing of the Rider-Waite though. Basically just find one you resonate with and can easily interpret. Also as /u/somegermanlady pointed out, traditionally tarot decks are supposed to be a gift given wrapped in cloth.

If you want other deck recommendations, just let me know what kind of art you like and I can probably recommend something!

Welcome. Have you been to shamanism.org and/or read Michael Harner's book, Way of the Shaman? Harner is an 80-something year old anthropologist who studied with indigenous shamans in the Amazon in the 1960s and, as a result, quit academia and became a shamanic practitioner and teacher full-time. Shamanism.org is his site (or rather the site of the nonprofit shamanic studies foundation he founded). They teach classes in shamanism, publish a magazine on indigenous and non-indigenous shamans, and periodically run fundraisers to help indigenous shamans (some hurricane in Central America wrecks a shaman's home, they raise money to help him or her build a new one). I've taken one of the classes and use their drumming CDs (or rather MP3's) for most of my journeys. Good stuff.

Here's a link to that book: https://www.amazon.com/Way-Shaman-Michael-Harner/dp/0062503731

You may be interested in the debunking efforts of magician/illusionists like The Amazing Randi, Penn and Teller and Houdini. They explain clearly how many of these illusions are performed. My first book of this type was called Flim Flam, by James Randi. (https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0879751983/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_oCldBb1CNAYME)

You also may want to check out The Skeptical Inquirer: https://www.csicop.org/si

Good luck. Leaving a family tradition can be traumatic.

In line with the specific question I would suggest the following:

• [This website is useful for beginners!] (http://www.tarotwikipedia.com/)
  
• The Ultimate Guide to Tarot by Liz Dean
  
  Side note:
  The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Arthur Waite is always worth checking out. It's not exactly purely a guide book, but it is one of the earliest books to accurately discuss the origins of tarot cards. It also discusses the general meaning and symbolism behind each card, and if you are a fan of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, it's a wonderful read.
  

I'm not sure about essential to every occult library (and I realize some of these aren't necessarily considered primarily 'occult' texts), but here are a few I've found useful:

• The Golden Dawn - Israel Regardie
  
• Morals and Dogma - Alfred Pike
  
• Modern Magick - Donald Michael Kraig
  
• The Secret Teachings of All Ages - Manly P. Hall
  
• Initiation into Hermetics - Franz Bardon
  
• Sefer Yetzirah - Aryeh Kaplan
  
• The Secret Doctrine - Madame Blavatsky
  
• Liber Null & Psychonaut - Peter J. Carroll
  
• The Book of Thoth - Aleister Crowley
  
• Undoing Yourself with Energized Meditation and Other Devices - Christopher S. Hyatt
  
• Prometheus Rising - Robert Anton Wilson
  
• Enochian Vision Magick - Lon Milo DuQuette
  
• The Chicken Qabalah - Lon Milo DuQuette
  
• Brain Magick - Philip Farber
  
• Info-Psychology - Timothy Leary
  
• Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson - George Gurdjieff
  
• Initiation, Human and Solar - Alice Bailey
  
• The Red Book - Carl Jung
  
• Principia Discordia - Malaclypse the Younger

Sure ... try "Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions"

It also has a great introduction by his friend Isaac Asimov.

Here is a link to it in Amazon, so don't take my word on this, check out the 84 reviews there. http://www.amazon.com/Flim-Flam-Psychics-Unicorns-Other-Delusions/dp/0879751983/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317469950&sr=8-1

Yep! Here's a link to a book I like.

[The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need] (https://www.amazon.com/Only-Astrology-Book-Youll-Ever/dp/1589796535/ref=zg_bs_12624_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZGX3BK2Y9EXF33W91VQW)

I also learned from cafeastrology.com and the forums at linda-goodman.com. Also a few others that I can't remember.

Please keep in mind this is just a hobby of mine. It takes a ton of time studying and practicing to get a feel for how a chart works together to describe a person. If you want a really accurate reading I'd go to a professional. Have fun! :)

My favorite books are the following:
About the Goddess:

When God Was a Woman

The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth

The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth (FSG Classics)

On occult knowledge:

The Kybalion by The Three Initiates

On sigils:

Practical Sigil Magic: Creating Personal Symbols for Success

“The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need” seems like a fit.

https://www.amazon.com/Only-Astrology-Book-Youll-Ever/dp/1589796535/ref=nodl_

“The author gives an easy, logical way to integrate the interpretations of the sun signs, moon signs, planets, and houses in any given chart, something not easily done or often seen in general astrology books”.

I loved it. There’s downloadable software that comes with the book so you can input info to get your house, planets, etc.
Plenty of information if you’re just starting out.

Oh, it's so hard to pick just three... but I would feel comfortable recommending these:

https://www.amazon.com/Prometheus-Rising-Robert-Anton-Wilson/dp/0692710604/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492139963&sr=8-1&keywords=prometheus+rising

https://www.amazon.com/Not-His-Image-Gnostic-Ecology/dp/193149892X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492139398&sr=8-1&keywords=not+in+his+image

https://www.amazon.com/Seth-Speaks-Eternal-Validity-Soul/dp/1878424076/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492140107&sr=8-1&keywords=seth+speaks

I try to read a little bit of everything, but the main topics I enjoy reading about are religion, history, philosophy, occultism/esotericism, parapolitics, UFOlogy, and psychology.

This is my absolute favorite deck. The illustrations are beautiful and it comes with a very thorough book explaining not just the cards but the suits, positions, and correlations to each card. I fell in love with it right away.

Regardless of individual opinions of Crowley the man, when it comes to Crowley the magician you'd find it hard to find a more comprehensive work on correspondences than his '777 And Other Qabalistic Writings Of Aleister Crowley, Including Gemetria & Sepher Sephiroth' https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0877286701/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_tI-BCb9K7YCF8.

This was further researched expounded on & expanded by Dr Stephen Skinner in his excellent 2008 work 'The Complete Magician's Tables'
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0738711640/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_4K-BCbS9R4B0G

There should be plenty of info in these two volumes alone to get you where you want to be correspondence-wise. I find them both invaluable. Good luck 👍

Read http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0738731536/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1464459207&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=practical+sigil+magic&dpPl=1&dpID=41PJ07r82dL&ref=plSrch it's a great primer for Modern occult approach to magickal workings.

Also this book is an outstanding primer. Don't get the kindle version, go with the real deal http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0738715786/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1464459573&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=modern+magick&dpPl=1&dpID=51203F9fNtL&ref=plSrch

You might like this one. It’s pretty intense. Can take a lifetime to get through. Worth a read. (imho) :-)

I Am That.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0893860468/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_pqh.zb7F4FVDE

Love hearing others having these types of experiences! If you want to dig deeper and gain further insight into that line of thought and experience more, check out the book “I Am That: Talks With Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj,” it’s one of those books that opens your mind to new facets of perception and awareness of how connected we all are. (Right down the rabbit hole of I am you, you are me, him, them, her... we are one type awareness... expressions of the universe using consciousness to experience life from multiple perspectives all at once, most oblivious to our connection with a false cognition of “individuality”). If you take each chapter in and mull it over before moving on to the next, it can be quite an experience.

I Am That

Hi,

You might want to check out r/TraditionalWicca.

1. Do we follow the Rede? I guess so? It's advice, not law. So sure. And in a lot of cases, it says nothing about what we're doing, so we follow our conscience. The important thing to remember here is that it doesn't even rhyme.
   
2. Shocker: The Is No Universal Threefold Law in Wicca.
   
3. Yes. You should read A Witches Bible by Stewart and Janet Farrar. Chapter 12 of Part II is the best explanation of this I've read from a traditional Wiccan perspective thusfar.
   
4. Some of us do. Some of us work with a dual Goddess (Lady of the Moon/Mighty Mother), but we all generally acknowledge that it's the same deity. Different witches view her differently.
   
5. Keep pure your highest ideal. Strive ever toward it. Let naught turn you away. \<3

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I'm a fan of this science deck depending on the vibe I'm going for. When on the opposite end of the feels, I go with the Tarot of Ceremonial Magick. I've also been known to use the Jungian Archetype Deck but it is very hard to read (IMNSHO) and I recommend Robert Wang's book to go with it.

I'll also dabble with a Thoth Tarot, too.

But, tell the truth and shame the devil, I get my best readings, both for myself and giving to others, with the good ole' Rider-Waite. Its the set I learned on, using the visuals adds to my read and its simple

you ever read graham hancock's work? you might enjoy his book "supernatural". he has an interesting theory on this. Even if you think he is a crackpot it's still an interesting read.

http://amzn.com/1932857842

Graham Hancock talks a lot about some similar subject matter in some of his books. The ones I am thinking of
Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind and Fingerprint of the Gods

>His quest takes him on a detective journey from the stunningly beautiful painted caves of prehistoric France, Spain, and Italy to rock shelters in the mountains of South Africa, where he finds extraordinary Stone Age art. He uncovers clues that lead him to the depths of the Amazon rainforest to drink the powerful hallucinogen Ayahuasca with shamans, whose paintings contain images of "supernatural beings" identical to the animal-human hybrids depicted in prehistoric caves.

It's a good book by good authors. If you're interested in it, purchase it.

Never heard this before, but I would like to know.
My own Incubus theory is that the song A Crow left of the Murder is about the book The Holographic Universe I read this book and the lyrics to the song seem to relate to the book a lot. Every pece contains a map of it all is key in holographic principle. Also there is an episode of MTV Cribs where Brandon shows this book on his bookshelf and says its a really good read.

This one is good, but i recommend the Complete Magicians Tables by Stephen Skinner.

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Magicians-Tables-Stephen-Skinner/dp/0738711640

Better laid out, more complete, and provides a commentary for each table in the back to offer some explanation.
As well, AC made some mistakes back when Liber 777 was published that the Author of CMT addresses

GrandLordThoth, you may be interested in The Complete Magician's Tables, The Magician's Companion, and The Magician's Tables for some ideas/inspiration regarding how to best organize and present the information you're collecting.

To ease the struggle, release all expectations of hops that it be this or that animal, bird, insect, or fish. Also, no need to compare with the friend who's got the wolf.

Once started and gone through some levels... (that's a part of it), ask or openly invite what animal might assist you best at this time.

Foundation for Shamanic Studies FSS offers some courses.

Pick up The Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner. It's a basic starting place.

You'll also want to deepen your understanding of whomever appears.

I've read the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and Rumi, so don't think I am a stranger to the idea of God as all; at times I find it so attractive, even, that I joke that I could be a "Hinjew." But having read the Torah far more times than the average man--although I do not know how many times you've done so--I can instantly spot confirmation bias regarding it. After reading these texts, you looked back at the Torah with the assumption that "God is all," when, in fact, the evidence of such in the text of the Torah itself is so thin. Off the top of my mind, I can think of maybe 5 verses in the Pentateuch that may plausibly--although not likely--relate to this Hindu/Buddhist/Dauist/Sufi view of "God is all." The Bible, unlike some find pleasure in believing, is not a book with infinite information density; its writers were human, all too human, and--unless the text were to be grossly misconstrued--were unfamiliar with such a conception.
But this won't convince you, as you seem to be locked into that reality tunnel. In myself as well, as I said, the thought often appears and brings me much solace. But at other times, I'll ridicule it (perhaps owing to the on-off stages of my depression). So, if you want an idea of what I'm talking about, try picking up a copy Prometheus Rising and take a look at yourself through another lense. You think that since you've found solace, you've discovered the meaning of consciousness, but you have much to explore.

P.S. There's no such thing as ground-breaking thought "for my age." There is only thought. I would take that as another insult to my intelligence, but after this discussion I know you mean well.
P.P.S. If you are actually interested in Prometheus, I can send you a pdf copy I have.

Sure!

The book basically talks about the way we come to conclusions in everyday life, the things we believe and why we believe them. The author delves into commonly held (and untrue) beliefs like the belief that there are more E.R. visits during a full moon, etc. While he does debunk some of these myths,this isn't a "debunking" book like Flim-Flam. Some of the most interesting stuff he talks about involves confirmation bias and how we evaluate inconsistent or ambiguous data. If this type of stuff interests you at all, I cannot encourage you enough to pick up this book from Amazon or your local library.

Astrology for Yourself: How to Understand And Interpret Your Own Birth Chart https://www.amazon.com/dp/0892541229/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ZlIiDbGF9SFXJ

I've found this book really helpful.
It recommends you order a birth chart from their service but that isn't necessary, you can get it for free on astro.com

i highly recommend this one.
I bought it a couple of years ago and i love it.

https://www.amazon.ca/Only-Astrology-Book-Youll-Ever/dp/1589796535

Yeah, I agree. Your ideas are directly in line with some of the advaita Vedanta gurus. you might enjoy:

https://www.amazon.com/I-Am-That-Nisargadatta-Maharaj/dp/0893860468

Any answer to the question "who am I?" using words (language) will be limited and incorrect because the world is far more dynamic, complex and mysterious than human languages, which are just apes making noises at each other.

But here's an idea:

There was a guy called Nisargadatta Maharaj who wrote a book called I Am That. The book itself is supposed to be profound, but you can understand the most important lesson from just the title.

When answering the question "who am I?" most people point to things outside of themselves and say "I am this" or "I am that." They say they are a Christian, Australian, Lawyer who is named Bob Smith. Are all these things who you are really? No, they are just the result of outside accidents. If you had been born in a different place 100 years ago all these things would be different.

Most people are too "close" to their identity and thoughts to see this reality. By observing your thoughts, meditation helps you create a distance and objectivity.

So "who am I?"... The answer meditation might give you is not something you'll be able to write down on paper. As another commenter said, "Have a look at what's experiencing the thoughts." This is almost like a spotlight turning back to shine light onto itself. When you look at who or what experiences your thoughts, what do you find?

It’s really against the spirit of the AA exam to ask for outside help. It’s an entrance exam, and they are going to judge your qualifications based upon your responses to the exam questions.

Do it on your own, without any outside help. If you are accepted, you know it’s because of you.

Also, I recommend Eshelman’s book on the system of the AA to see if you “mesh.”

The Mystical and Magical System of the A .'. A .'.

The arms of the Goddess encircle thee, greenwand. The arms of the God are open and welcoming. Hail and welcome, seeker of the old ways. Ask your questions, and you will find them answered.

Allow me to explain one or two of the principles of magic, and bear with me, this takes up an entire chapter in The Inner Temple of Witchcraft, which I highly recommend you purchase as the first piece of your library. And let me say before I start, I was there. I came to Wicca because I too wanted to regain my spirituality.

So here's the principle you're kind of hinting at for yourself. The Principle of Vibration. Everything vibrates, because everything is made of atoms. What we understand in Wicca/Witchcraft is that these vibrations are unique and that they can be read. Your brain, being made of atoms, knows its pattern of vibration. When that vibration changes, you can tell. It's the feeling in the pit of your stomach and things like that. The vibration changes because of wave interference from other sources of vibration. (Amazing how this stuff is actually grounded in science, idnit? The only thing that's hard for science to grasp is how we can know our own vibrations and read others). A vibration that interferes with yours too much is the idea behind people who "clash" and can't seem to get along. Objects vibrate too and can be read, but I think this post has gone on long enough. I'll let you ask a question or two for a while.

Al

It's real because reality is multi-dimensional and you are constantly shifting between infinite parallel variations. Sages throughout the ages and shamans today can see other realms that overlay ours. Positive thinking is built on this construct. It's only new that we have the Internet to compare notes on similar "misrememberings"

I would add I have real MEs and that I also think timelines are splitting in an accelerated manner that we are noticing. I also had an NDE. I also would not discount a demiurge/illusion master, global lab experiment operated by future humans, digital reality, Dark City scenario, or a psy op. I am open to all explanations.

Perspectivism Nietzsche

Allegory of the Cave

Four Worlds of the Kaballah

Vadim Zealand Reality Transurfing series
Edit I did not know these were so expensive now. I have pdfs and mobis of them I think if anyone wants. They are translated from Russian and are about how to use multiple universe theory to control your life. The premise is we do not manifest things into this reality instead we transition into realities where we have those things.

Michael Talbot - The Holographic Universe

Gnostic Warrior

Vijñāna

Epistemology of Kant

Jung

Barbara Marciniak

Abraham Hicks and the Law of Attraction

Edit Additions:

A Course in Miracles

Institute of Noetic Sciences founded by astronaut Edgar Mitchell

David Lynch on Consciousness, Creativity, and the Brain

It's the "thoth" tarot. I'm loving this autocorrect though lol

Thoth Tarot Deck https://www.amazon.com/dp/1572815108/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_OoL0DbFGQWQEZ

Many people I know who seriously work with the runes will periodically stain them with their own blood as an offering. The runes are considered to be independent spirits by many, rather than just a divination "tool" and should be treated very respectfully and cautiously. Remember that they are embedded in a cultural context and it's important to understand Heathen cosmology and theology properly to work with them. A few recommended resources: this book, this one and this site.

I'm highly surprised no one's mentioned Advanced Magick for Beginners yet. It's one of the best chaos magick books I have ever read, and would recommend reading it before even diving into Gordon White's stuff. And this comes from my 7 years experience in new age/new thought/occult studies and practices. Also, the Psychonaut Field Manual gets an honorable mention.

Are you going through an A.'.A.'. Student Examination?

Let's break this down.

What is a Talisman?


Answer: A talisman is an object believed to contain certain magical properties thought to draw good luck to the possessor, or offer the possessor protection from possible evil or harm. - Wikipedia

What is Numerology?


Answer: Numerology is any belief in the divine, mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events

How do I find the meaning/ideas/associations of a number?


Liber 777
The Complete Magician's Tables - Skinner

Is there a recognized way to go about this?


References to materials to get you started.

Do you have any further questions or anything you would like to know in particular?

Google is awesome, so is https://www.biddytarot.com/tarot-card-meanings/ and https://www.incandescenttarot.com/cardmeanings. I liked The Ultimate Guide to Tarot and also Kitchen Table Tarot. I've also heard that WTF is Tarot, and How Do I Do It? is also good, but haven't read it myself.

I would also advise patience. Runes are powerful symbols, runes convey messages, runes influence the world around us. Not being familiar with the runes could make you regret this decision for the rest of your life. This requires a lot more than a day to think about.

What actual message are you trying to convey? That would certainly help us help you. I'm not a runic scholar myself, in any sense. Although, I've heard great things about the first half of this book. I haven't read it myself yet but I did recently purchase it.

The Holographic Universe theory has been stating this for a while. David Bohm and the implicate order. It's fascinating stuff and it makes total sense, I highly recommend it.

Once you have a clear idea what meditation is about I highly recommend "I am that" by Nisargadatta Maharaj

http://www.amazon.com/I-Am-That-Nisargadatta-Maharaj/dp/0893860468/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414876267&sr=8-1&keywords=i+am+that

It gets right to the very core of being. It answers any question you can have (Q&A Style). Maharaj is a realized man who were vistited by people and asked questions, which were taped and later written down to this book.

Maharaj reached enlightenment by always staying with the feeling "I am". After 3 years realization happened.

Diana Paxson's Taking Up the Runes is very well-regarded by almost everyone.

And if I can sneak in a bit of self-promotion, while learning the runes myself (not that I'll ever be done learning) I created a playing card deck with runes, images, and meanings on them. It's helped some of my friends learn as well. It's mostly based on the meanings given in Taking Up the Runes, plus a little bit of extra I've picked up here and there.

> Think that's not accurate.

You're seem to be thinking from the part of your brain that ususally does the wanting.

maybe read some Kahneman - Thinking fast and Slow or Robert A. Wilson - Prometheus rising to get a better understanding. There's also good training exercises in the latter one.

Taking up the Runes, by Diana Paxson, is pretty good.

If you're looking to dive headlong into practice, I found Advanced Magick for Beginners to be a helpful, fun read.

Read and do the exercises from this short but epic book.

Then read this and diligently work the practices for years.

Magick and meditation can't give you easy answers to the hows and whys of existence, but they will give you the tools and discipline to make the best of the time that you do exist.

Aside from Liber 777, Stephen Skinner's The Complete Magician's Tables is quite good.

I also like to refer to Harold Roth's correspondences at his Alchemy Works website.

For Rider-Waite deck I use The Ultimate Guide to Tarot by Liz Dean. It has the best definitions and meanings of cards. (most accurate in my opinion) I have a bunch of tarot books and this is my go to one. This is it on amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Tarot-Beginners-Revealing/dp/1592336574/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499005869&sr=8-1&keywords=the+ultimate+guide+to+tarot

DMT: The Spirit Molecule :: describes how DMT spikes are released when we're born and die and the connections the author believes are made once we understand that the pineal gland is the seat of the spirit.

The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History by Terence McKenna :: Discusses origins of mankind and the probable development of higher-consciousness through psilocybin and other entheogens. Also discusses beings in realms that closely resemble the same realms discussed in the book My Big T.O.E. below.

Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind by Graham Hancock :: Discusses how, through different culture's entheogens (natural cultural psychedelics), one can see/visit/communicate with other beings co-evolving with us through history. Just like humans are evolving in this plane, this author believes that the stories of Elves or Fairies are the same beings that have now become Greys/Aliens in today's mythos. He discusses his journeys and experiences as well as other's first-hand accounts on certain entheogens and the patterns seen.

Not In His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief by John Lamb Lash :: discusses how the current Judea-Christian god is a counterfeit-mimic deity (villain of the galaxy basically) and how we're trapped in a false-copy (matrix) of a more perfect realm. Goes through the Gnostic mythos that shows and explains how they came to write/believe such concepts.

My Big T.O.E./Theory Of Everything by Thomas Campbell :: doesn't use psychedelics to achieve other states of consciousness but uses transcendental meditation and science to map non-physical matter realities. The author is one of the early students from the Monroe Institute (of Out-of-Body experience fame).

It sounds like you're able to work a lot with correspondences. For that alone I'd recommend Stephen Skinner's Complete Magician's Tables. You'll find numerous correspondences between quite a few plants and planets, signs, entities, etc. From there you can work out when to harvest, perhaps the type of metal tool, things you can use them for, etc.

Going a little more plant-centric, Cunningham's Encyclopedia is a nice reference.

edit: linked to skinner's book

https://www.amazon.com/Astrology-Yourself-Understand-Interpret-Birth/dp/0892541229

This is a workbook that uses key words to build up your birth chart and help you understand it on a deeper level. Highly recommend!

Indeed, Taoism has shamanic roots. But keep in mind that Taoism is much broader and more complicated than most people realize. I recommend reading Taoism: An Essential Guide by Eva Wong for a better understanding of how it evolved from shamanism.

https://www.amazon.com/Taoism-Essential-Guide-Eva-Wong-ebook/dp/B00ATMWJZ8

As for books on shamanism, Michael Harner’s “The Way of the Shaman” is considered classic.

https://www.amazon.com/Way-Shaman-Michael-Harner/dp/0062503731

Edited: grammar, additional book link

I would recommend getting a Raider-Waite Tarot Deck. It's a great place to start and one of the most widely used decks.

Spend some time looking at the images and finding out what speaks to you. Just build an intuition with the cards.

If that's not enough a great introductory companion to that deck is Liz Dean's the Ultimate Guide to Tarot.

Liz Dean's an Ultimate Guide to Tarot

Raider Waite Tarot

I thought this book ( "All Around the Zodiac" Bill Tiernay ) was really useful when I started. You may also like "The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need".

Not OP, but:

They're sigils--not in the old school medieval ceremonial sense, but in the contemporary chaos magician sense. Grant Morrison did a nice talk on them once. Basically, sigils are visual representations of a specific intent.

tl;dr--witchcraft.

Here's a nice link: http://www.mookychick.co.uk/health/spirituality/magical_sigils.php

Here's an often cited book on sigil making: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Sigil-Magic-Creating-Personal/dp/0738731536

There are essentially two ways. 1) do some soul searching and journeys yourself, or 2) have a shaman do a power animal retrieval for you.

If you're interested in doing it for yourself, I recommend reading this book by Michael Harner:

The Way of the Shaman

The Psychedelic Experience by Timothy Leary and Ram Dass

http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Timothy-Leary-The-Psychedelic-Experience-The-Tibetan-Book-Of-The-Dead.pdf

I AM THAT by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

https://www.amazon.com/I-Am-That-Nisargadatta-Maharaj/dp/0893860468

Be as You Are By Ramana Maharshi

https://www.amazon.com/Be-As-You-Are-Teachings/dp/0140190627/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526748482&sr=1-1&keywords=be+as+you+are

The Way of The Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman

https://www.amazon.com/Way-Peaceful-Warrior-Changes-Lives/dp/1932073205/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526748504&sr=1-4&keywords=the+way+of+the+peaceful+warrior

I read this book about 7 years ago. I'm sure you would like it if you haven't come across it, yet.

i used this workbook when i was starting out, it was an excellent resource

>able to pierce themselves with large swords / skewers, after their rituals.

Fuck that. I can do that. You can do that.

If they can do that, then anybody can do that.

If you can't do that either, then they can't do it. It's what magicians call a "trick".

>They wouldn't be able to do so before the rituals.

Bullshit.

If they can do it after the ritual, then they can do it before the ritual.

>I have seen it

I believe that.

But what you saw wasn't supernatural or paranormal.

It was just people sticking pointy objects into themselves (or pretending to.)

I've seen someone doing that too. The guy doing it specifically said that it was just a trick. I have no idea how he did it.

The most likely explanation based on what I saw is that he just stuck a pointy object into his body. I could be wrong about that.

>you are dismissing that they are illusionist who have nothing better to do but perform in temples or along the street??.

Please, please, please -

read this

Net of Magic: Wonders and Deceptions in India, by Lee Siegel

- http://www.amazon.com/Net-Magic-Wonders-Deceptions-India/dp/0226756874 -

It's a very good book about the thousands of illusionists in India who have nothing better to do but perform in temples or along the street. The author is an anthropologist and a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, and a good friend of a lot of these street illusionists.


and read this

Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions, by James Randi

- http://www.amazon.com/Flim-Flam-Psychics-Unicorns-Other-Delusions/dp/0879751983/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312470111&sr=1-1 -

Yes, you know what you saw. But you don't know anything else.

The people that you saw were doing magic tricks. People have been doing these tricks for thousands of years. They know how to fool people.

They fooled you.

Call all you want, after reading- (A holographic universe) I became interested in his work.

This is one of the best: https://smile.amazon.com/Taking-Up-Runes-Complete-Divination/dp/1578633257

She compares a bunch of different meanings provided by various people, explains the history and the uses, and generally gives you the clearest foundation.

Also: avoid Blum.

Here's a good resource: https://www.amazon.com/Mystical-Magical-System-Step-Step/dp/0970449607

For a biography I suggest This one

you can find works here
and some more here.

If you like Liber Null I suggest picking up Frater U.'.D.'.'s book on sigils. Which can also be found here

You might be interested in Graham Hancock take on this subject in Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind

http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Magick-Beginners-Alan-Chapman/dp/1904658415

In this book it offers this framework for ANY magic (I cut and pasted this from a review - it appears in the book repeatedly):

1. Decide what is to occur.
   
2. Ensure the occurrence has the means of manifestation.
   
3. Choose an experience (ritual experience).
   
4. Decide the "Ritual Experience" means the same as the intended occurrence.
   
5. Undergo Ritual Experience.
   
6. Results.
   
   For example
   
   
7. It will rain today
   
   
8. It can rain from the sky via gathered clouds
   
   
9. Spilling water onto the ground from a cup
   
   
10. Spilling water onto the ground means it is raining
    
    
11. Spill water onto the ground
    
    
12. It rains in the near future
    
    According to Mr Chapman's theory following those 6 guidelines will enable you to create your own rituals, complicated or simple. On some level what you put in, you will get out.
    
    Edit: Chapman, not Carroll.

My suggestion is to get a Rider-Waite-Smith deck, or a Rider-Wait-Smith Clone like the Morgan Greer deck or the Universal Tarot by Lo Scarabeo.

You can use the little white book that comes with them to learn the bare bones basics.
Also I've found that this book has A LOT of information on each card including reversals. https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Tarot-Beginners-Revealing/dp/1592336574/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487351896&sr=8-1&keywords=ultimate+guide+to+tarot