Messages

Mathias:

I believe that the individuals in the A.S. practice all of the forms included in the books. For myself, I used to be a hardcore AS fan, but have found that age and experience have tempered my views. I never took to the G.D. material much and disliked the LBRP for some reason. I like my modified version of the A.S. Setting of the Wards better. It feels right and this is the most important thing. One of the first things I've learned is to not be afraid to modify a ritual to make it fit yourself better. All of the rituals we're talking about were made by fallable individuals such as us - not by Gods. Don't worry, you won't be attacked http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/images/icon_Smile_wink.gif" border=0> !
One other thing that I've found to greatly enhance the effectiveness of the Settings is to actually invoke each of the archangels in a separate ritual with the purpose of attuning yourself to its power and to ask for its help. You can use rituals modified from those found in the Planetary Magick book. The rituals found in the A.S. material can be used but something more short and sweet works just as well.

You also might want to take a look at some of Ben Rowe's work. If you're interested in the LBRP you'll find no better discussion of it than at:

http://w3.one.net/~browe/pentagram%20ritual.htm

If you don't know his work spend some time on this site. It's well worth the time.

Jim

Mathias:

I've used the Aurum Solis materials since their original publication and have shared  your enthusiasm - sometimes less, sometimes more. I have used their Setting of the Wards daily for years with some modification. For instance, I replaced their archangelic names with a more traditional grouping of Raphael, Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel. I find I get more powerful results this way. Keep in mind though that the rituals not labeled Sub Rosa Nigra (like the Setting of the Wards) seem to have been added to keep the GD crowd happy. The regular Aurum Solis material is much more involved with Greek modes of operation, and I would argue much more influenced by Thelema than they would ever admit to.


You might find the following egroup to be of interest:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aurum_solis_magick/


Osborne Phillips just published a book of Aurum Solis initiations, etc that's worth a look:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1870450523/qid%3D1023390002/202-7322152-2970203


Jim

Adrian:

I'm running Netscape 6.2.2 at 1024X768. It looks fine for the most part. The small icons at the top of the page next to the  'Home', 'Forum', 'Resources' don't show up. Instead I get black rectangles before 'Home' and after 'The Team'. I haven't noticed much else. The emoticons show up fine in the messages as do the avatars to the side. I've only been running Netscape 6.2.2 for a few days though. If I notice anything else I'll let you know.

Jim