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Sex is fixed, gender is a construction, existing in society and also, what I think you're talking about, in our own mind. Minds are easy to change if they're ready to put the work in. But if you don't already feel like your gender is different than your sex, I'm curious why you want to feel that way. Not that it's actually my business, but a resounding theme in magick discussions is "be careful what you ask for." Or maybe you're simply intellectually curious.

This thread has some good leads. I'm not much further on my journey than you are, and I really enjoyed Magical Use of Thought Forms. It gave me a good framework to use when thinking about magic and deities. Secret Teaching of All Ages is overwhelming, but comprehensive and free.

I'm glad I didn't discover it too early, but once you have a better idea of what magic is, I would recommend checking out Quareia. It's a project that was funded through crowd sourcing, not quite 1/3 finished. It's the comprehensive guide that I was looking for for a long time.

The 3 most popular Tarot decks are the Marseille Tarot, Waite-Smith Tarot, and Crowley-Harris "Thoth" Tarot. Almost every other deck on the market is some variant of these 'types' of Tarot, just with a different artistic interpretation of the imagery.

This is an awesome Tarot tool and guide

The Marseille Tarot is the classic European deck, it has roots in the early formation of the Tarot in Italy and France during the Renaissance. The symbolism and structure of the 22 Major Arcana, the 16 Court Cards, and the 40 Minor Arcana or Numbered Suits (totaling 78 cards) evolved to an eventual 'standard' form that is best represented in this deck. Most Italian and French decks use the same structure today. My favorite book on interpreting these symbols is The Marseille Tarot Revealed and the matching deck CBD Tarot is amazing. Jodorowsky (yes, the surreal filmmaker) also has a very interesting perspective if you want to go deeper in The Way of Tarot.

The Waite-Smith Tarot is probably the most popular type of deck. The original images were a collaboration between the English magician A.E. Waite and artist Pamela Colman Smith. Both were members of the Golden Dawn and incorporated the G∴D∴ symbolic system of Qabalistic correspondences to the Tarot. So things like the Paths of the Tree of Life and Astrology symbols are used in the imagery and structure of the deck. G∴D∴ changed the order of the Major Arcana 8 Justice and 11 Force (Strength), in order to 'fit' the astrological signs for Leo (the Lion in Force) and Libra (the Scales in Justice) with the Qabala correspondence. So now 8 becomes 11.

The other big change made in the Waite-Smith Tarot is the illustration of the numbered suits (Minor Arcana), by using a pictoral scene of human drama, as opposed to just 10 Disks or 5 Swords. This makes the deck a little more user friendly to the oracle, it's less abstract and easier to see the story. This is probably the main reason for its popularity - most modern decks are just redesigns of the art and structure of this deck - but many are highly imaginative and artistic!

Lastly, the Crowley-Harris "Thoth" Tarot brings a new vision and structure from the Magickal system of A∴A∴ and Thelema, and updates the names, symbols, and structure of the deck "for a new aeon". A new collaboration with another English (ex)-Golden Dawn (now A∴A∴/OTO) magician, Aleister Crowley, and artist Lady Freida Harris (also an initiate of A∴A∴) resulted in another magickally powerful and inspirational deck. The biggest change is the restoration of the 8 Justice and 11 Force cards (renamed to 8 Adjustment and 11 Lust), renaming 20 Judgement to 20 The Aeon / 21 The World to 21 The Universe and the reversal of 4 The Emperor and 18 The Star. This is to align with the received wisdom of the Book of the Law:

>All these old letters of my Book are aright; but צ [Tzaddi] is not the Star. This also is secret: my prophet shall reveal it to the wise.--Liber AL vel Legis, I:57

Crowley interpreted this to mean that the order of 18 The Star in the Tarot was mis-aligned. The whole reasoning for the reversal is beyond an ELI5.

So there can be confusion between the 3 systems - but you don't have to use all 3. Find the 1 that appeals to your magical senses.

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.

Some excellent answers here but the short answer is yes, Catholic as a I am, I have recognized the ritual and rites of Catholic practices to be deeply spiritual, holy, and “ceremonial” magick in a sense. It’s important that no matter what you practice that there is no “lip service” where you treat the prayers and litanies as blah blah blah but instead pray with fervor and focus on the Word and sacrificial Rite of the Mass.

I’ve been watching The Mystery School on YouTube by mindandmagick and he does a great job of explaining magick and the important of ritual on the subconscious. As a practitioner of it he talks about his ceremonial magick temple(room in his house) and how sacred he treats it and how seriously he preps for rituals and decorated his temple. He doesn’t let anyone in that room either and has no disturbances interrupt him. This got me thinking about the Mass and how the church demands the same sacredness and solemnity. It’s all meant to prime our subconscious and build our energy and intent to a communion with a higher power intent on doing good will in the world.

Catholics have magick. We have the Prayer to Michael the Archangel for protection. We have the Rosary Novena for petitioning for favors. We have chaplets and the Holy Sacraments. We have our spiritual cleansing ritual in the form of the Sacrament of Confession and believe in fasting and prayer to bring ourselves closer to God. And of course, the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

I like reading a book compiled of prayers from various mystics and saints that are powerful when wielded with faith, like anything, it’s all about faith in what you’re doing. No lip service! Prayers and Heavenly Promises

My answer to this question is the same answer Richard Feynman gave when asked whether anyone could be a physicist. More or less. These things are not perfectly analogous, but the end result is true: Yes, anyone can learn to be a magician, barring some sort of severe mental disability or whatever. No one is "born into it" in any real sense other than -- we are all, when born, attuned to the state of our greatest power. The cultures and mores we absorb, the environment and our surrounding circumstances, modulate this state, almost always in a derelict way.

Most of the work you will do to achieve your natural magickal abilities consists in unlearning concepts. I think that the writings of Don Maguel Ruiz would be worth looking into with respect to this subject, although I would also recommend what I do for generally beginning in the occult, esoteric, and magick: the Kybalion, the Bhagavad Gita, and my personal niché favorite: Egregores: The Occult Entities That Watch Over Human Destiny by Mark Stavish. These works internalized into true understanding will be sufficient for any reasonably intelligent person to become a master of their own mind.

if a spell is the abbreviated version of spelling, then surely the internet is the most sophisticated spell ever yet devised what with knowledge and literature once being confined to the upper castes of society and now made available to the mass-collective of minds. and what is an artistic creation but a magickal evocation, now delivered to your mind with the click of a button from the other side of the world, this is technomagick! a book you might find interesting is Techgnosis: Myth, Magic and Mysticism in the Age of Information

haven't i, with this post - just performed an act of magick by influencing your mind reading this, creating new associations and influencing you towards the direction i've decided to put into this little byte sized spell ?

what if a world, directly designed by the mind instantaneously was available in the form of hyper-connected virtual reality realms where all sensations were simulations and one could design-on-the-fly, the visions, tastes, sounds, smells and tactile sensations one wanted to imbibe? i'm sure you're all familiar with the notion that it's statistically assured in probability, that we are living in a simulation already due to intelligence evolving to greater and greater understanding somewhere in the universe and creating it's own new simulation of a new universe ad infinitum.

Patrick Dunn wrote the clearest, most no-nonsense explanation of the relationship between science and magic that I've read. Note that when he says "the scientist" and "the mage," he is aware he's making broad generalizations. As a linguistics professor, he wears both hats.

>For the past few centuries, Western culture has learned to perceive reality empirically - that is, fundamental beliefs rely on conclusions solely derived from observation. This approach is known as the scientific method. This systematic method is something of an anomaly in human history, though it has allowed us to make advancements far beyond the dreams of our ancestors. In the past hundred years alone we've split an atom, traveled to the moon, turned gold into lead, found treatments for countless diseases, and cracked the human genome. The scientific method is useful for understanding reality, and the mage would do well to understand and be able to employ it as necessary.

>The scientific method assumes the laws of reality are more or less constant. The mage, on the other hand, follows Heraclitus' maxim: "One cannot step in the same river twice." Scientists often recognize some truth in this maxim. But if reality is not more or less constant, the scientific method is a moot practice. Obviously, the world in many ways does remain constant over a period of time - the sun will probably come up tomorrow and we can safely assume that all the oxygen atoms in the atmosphere won't suddenly condense over London, causing the rest of the world to suffocate. The assumption of constancy is what leads scientists to expect they can make future predictions based on repetitive results. And for the most part they can.

>Even science recognizes, however, that some things are not subject to this method. One cannot, for example, repeat a work of art in the same way one can repeat an experiment. The repetition of an experiment results in the accumulation of evidence, which either proves or disproves the validity of a hypothesis. The repetition of a work of art does not prove anything about the art - it's just a copy. Like art, magic is not subject to scientifically controlled repetition, because it deals with the subtle states of self, mind, and holistic reality at the moment of the act of magic. Sorcery is utterly untestable, which is fine. It doesn't have to be.

>Unlike scientists, mages approach reality intuitively rather than empirically. A scientist observes a phenomenon, makes a hypothesis about it, and then gathers data to support or disprove that hypothesis. A mage, on the other hand, observes the symbol systems interacting to make up our world. A mage may have many hypotheses, and feel no need to gather data to prove any of them. A mage perceives the world not as a constant interaction of immutable laws - although often and in many ways it is - but as an ever-changing interaction of arbitrary and constantly shifting symbols. Each symbol, each fundamental building block of reality, connects to some other symbol - or more likely a series of symbols - themselves connecting to others, and so on. The scientist tries to understand and systemize the world; the mage simply tries to experience it.

>An astute and well-educated reader might insist that atoms, or perhaps energy - not symbols - are the fundamental substance of existence. I will discuss symbols more fully in the next chapter, but let me further clarify here. Energy makes up all the matter we perceive in the universe, but our reality does not merely consist of matter. In fact, if you list the things that most impact your reality, I suspect immaterial, even abstract, symbols - love, money, health - appear most frequently. Even the significance of matter itself is often more symbolic than material. The little pewter wizard on top of my computer does not simply remind me of lead and tin; to me, it is a gift from a family member, a little joke on myself, and an object that manages to fall and bruise my toe every time I move my computer.

--Postmodern Magic

Depends on what you want to do with them Re: tulpas just because they're psychological doesn't exclude them from being magickal. Don't have a lot of experience with tulpas, i have plenty of friends and they take a lot of setup.

If you're looking for a less permanent solution, I'd recommend looking into servitors, I've had some decent success with them. This book should be all you need to get started:

Magickal Servitors: Create Your Own Spirits to Attract Pleasure, Power and Prosperity https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523403462/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_TQRgDbZK6TAM7

Frater Xavier from the youtube channel Mind and Magick also has a course on servitors, which is also pretty good.

https://gumroad.com/mindandmagick#ndQcA

Traditionally, to be initiated meant to join a group or secret society. It can also imply participation in a life-changing spiritual/religious ceremony or rite which links you to others who have had the same experience e.g. being initiated into the mysteries at Delphi/Eleusis/etc. Once you've joined a group, you can technically claim the title of an Initiate and begin your training. Initiation implies a Beginning. The term Initiation likely comes to us in the occult world through (translations of texts from) ancient mystery religions, Freemasonry, and especially from The Golden Dawn, a late 19th c. British Hermetic order whose members included Aleister Crowley and W.B. Yeats. Until very recently (by my reckoning - I'm probably much older than most of you), Hermetic orders and Golden Dawn style magick were the only legitimate entrance points into this world. You almost HAD to be initiated into a real group to receive good information, training, and mentorship. Note that initiation into some (usually Hermetic) groups also involves an attunement process whereby the officers of the lodge ritually invoke/implant various energies into the sphere of the recipient so as to open him up psychically and hasten development. THIS is what initiation means to most older practitioners that I've known and worked with. It works, but it's not always a pleasant experience. Being forced to immediately deal with years of one's internal issues over a period of a few weeks can create considerable instability.

If you're interested in learning more about this topic, I highly recommend studying the rituals and Initiation ceremonies of The Golden Dawn, along with their commentaries describing the energy work that temple officers have to perform which isn't always described so well in the ceremony transcripts. While many groups/societies merely run you through a bit of psycho-drama/theatre in the hope that you might be affected subconsciously thereby, there are some that actively perform energy work to open up chakras and implant various energies and connections so you can learn to make use of them in your study. You still have to do the work, but the work becomes slightly easier, or at least more guided.

Edit: See John Michael Greer's book Inside a Magical Lodge. It'll answer many of your questions about what Lodges/Orders do and how they typically do it.

I see that there are many great answers below so I won't repeat them. I will however suggest a great beginner book, Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig that will answer a lot of your questions and give you some good material to start out with. It covers a lot of the basic material and explains a lot of the jargon and terms you might not know if you start off with something more advanced like Crowley. You can also browse /r/occult, it seems to be more active than /r/magick, and there's a good bit of info on the sidebar there.

This is, by far, the best edition I've laid hands on. Compiling the entire Lemegeton, as well as fun extras like the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (with original latin!), it's just pretty and perfect.

http://amzn.com/B0082ATCXQ

Jan Fries is like my favorite author on these subjects. Check out Seidways

He really does his homework and stays true to the roots of what he's writing about. Doesn't really do fluff or make stuff up, and he at least tells you when he does.

​

Raven Kaldera also deserves a mention. While he doesn't have anything specifically about Seidr, his books about Northern-Tradition Shamanism are like no others. He may not stay as true to the historical practices but he treats it more as a living-breathing religion and goes deeeep into his practices.

http://www.northernshamanism.org/books.html

So much of the history behind these practices is completely unknown so its hard to find good, accurate sources. SO many people just make something up and sell it as ancient knowledge. So keep as discerning eye as possible.

Best of luck!

Could you recommend any other resources for using astrology in this way (other than the link you posted)? I do understand the very basic aspects of using moon phases as you've stated, but I would love some further reading on other astrological events/timing that potentiate specific magickal work.

I recently came accross Ivo Dominguez Jr's book, "Practical Astrology for Witches and Pagans: Using the Planets and the Stars for Effective Spellwork, Rituals, and Magickal Work" but haven't purchased it because I thought there might be some online resources I could explore first.

Thanks!

If it's distracting you find a new version of meditation. but if you enjoy the darkness i'd look into grabbing a mind fold. They're pretty great I use them for most of my longer meditations. no pressure of the eye lids , soft foam that shapes to the face, very little light gets through. They were made by a visionary artist to aid his journeying (later sold the patent).https://www.amazon.com/MindFold-Relaxation-Mask/dp/B010WC5UNW/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1550790089&sr=8-2&keywords=mindfold

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

this book https://www.amazon.com/Summoning-Spirits-Evocation-Llewellyns-Practical/dp/1567183816/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542258334&sr=1-1&keywords=evocation focuses on evocation but also has some great basic points for beginners

If there is any magick 101 book, it's Modern Magick by Donald Michal Craig. I've been practicing for years and this is one of the best books I've seen. It's pretty all encompassing without missing important details. It's mostly hermetic principles, but covers a wide range of practices. If I were to get an apprentice this would be the book I taught them by.
https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Magick-Twelve-Lessons-Magickal/dp/0738715786

There are three books I use to connect with angels. It shows all of their sigils and info. Here's the three I have right now that I really like:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1976755581/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1539093190/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1520537611/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig

A bit of daily practice goes a long way. Keep a record of your activities. Make it fun !

If you're dabbling in this stuff anyway, try getting yourself a copy of [Modern Magick](Modern Magick) to get ground to stand on. Pretty much all magick is mind/psycho magic anyway.

The book includes thorough explanations of rituals that might help you right now (relaxation ritual, magick attack reversal, & I.O.B. style self-exorcisms) and later once you get both feet on the ground.

Modern Magick: Twelve Lessons in the High Magickal Arts