Messages

I would argue that not only is belief in what you are doing important, but important to the exclusion of everything else done in ritual.  I have done magic without ritual of any type, had results, and never doubt it.  That is the most important thing that there is in magic, belief.  Everything else is just to help you focus that belief.  If you have utmost belief, you can do away with all the crutches.

Wouldn't you agree?

Bloodsong

A lot of things that are referred to in alchemy are symbolic.  The Philosopher's Stone, for example, is usually reference to a state of being.  Creating the philosopher's stone is also known as "gaining knowledge and conversation of your holy guardian angel", contacting your higher self, etc.  There is also the theory that it is possible to make an actual "stone" that will do this, but all the alchemists I know that I take seriously from their experiences, believe it to be metaphorical.

Hence, "moving the Earth" and other such achievements are likely to be closer to metaphor about the state of mind that you should be in after a successful completion of the process.  Of course, all of these processes are just steps in a much larger process, so don't get carried away with the idea that you have done any grand achievement until you have proof positive of something higher than anyone knows about.

Don't think that made much sense to even me, but the truth is in there somewhere.  I think.  Sleep deprivation sux.

Bloodsong

Here's a few more E-book libraries.  I must say that I like the idea as long as it is the only option, but once you can afford it, if the books are still copyright protected, buy a copy, even if you have read it already.  As an aspiring writer, I can say that I would like to have my things read, but for all the work I put into it, compensation is much loved.  

If the books are copy released, though, no harm, the only one getting paid off of a purchase is the publisher.  Unless it is put out by the smaller publishing houses, they make too much off their talent anyway.  Getting as bad as record labels.  Rambled on enough, now.  Here's the links:

Not in ebook format, but you can bookmark a lot easier the place you are reading:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm

From the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's public library:

http://www.golden-dawn.com/temple/index.jsp?s=library

Poking around on this site yields a lot of info, membership is free:

http://www.the-book-of-thoth.com/index.php

A standby and rather well known one:

http://www.esotericarchives.com/esoteric.htm

Hermetics home page, ebooks link on the right, lots of other stuff to see, too:

http://www.hermetics.org/home.html

Another site dedicated to Hermetics, but also has a slight Crowleyan focus:

http://www.hermetic.com/

And, as a Crowley reader, myself, I feel I should include a link that helps to explain Thelema, the spiritual path Crowley founded:

http://www.thelema101.com/index.html

Bloodsong

Nope, Win XP home, latest service pack.

Bloodsong

I got that download, but it won;t install. Any idea why?

Orion,

I agree that closed-mindedness is the enemy, but a blanket statement that all religion induces closed-mindedness is, well, very close-minded.  Take for instance Hindu.  When the first missionaries went to India and preached the gospels of Jesus to the priests of those temples, they found a very open community of priests who greatly agreed with those teachings and found them to be well thought out.  Imagine the horror of those missionaries when later they came back to find the same priests, operating the same temples, with the same images of the same gods, and Jesus' likeness added in!

To say the caste of priests of a religion is non-religious is very much non intuitive.  To say those priests were close-minded is stupid.  I would agree that the majority of CRISTIAN religions preach a doctrine of close-mindedness, but not all Christian religions, and definitely not all religions!

To those who wish to take issue with the above statement about Hindu temples' reaction to Christian missionaries, I got the information from The Complete Book of Spells, Ceremonies, and Magic by Migene Gonzalez-Wippler.  Her credentials include a degree in anthropology from University of Puerto Rico and Columbia.  If you take issues with those statements, please provide your credentials.

Bloodsong

At the risk of sounding dim, what is a .ogg file, and what program do I use to run it?

Bloodsong

Lente, great points, but seriously, think back to when you were new to all this.  If you hadn't learned from some system of names and labels, it would have been extremely difficult.  The best way to help out the people who don't realize the uselessness of labels is to let them find their own way through the labels as you had to.

As for learning black arts, you really would have to define it better.  Are you looking into the evocation of "demons" as described in the Lesser Key of Solomon the King, how to lay curses on enemies, how to protect yourself from blacker arts through the intervention of the same energies,...

All these things can be seen as black magick, and more.  Don't forget, some fundamentalists would argue that even energy body development is a black art.  Think on this a while, then answer.  The first step to realizing that labels are fallacious is to first define your labels, then to apply them to your life so that you can see them fail, and see what really lies beyond.

Bloodsong

Its too bad they are religious

Religion is not the enemy here.  Closed mindedness due to how religion is interpreted is where the problem arises.  Unfortunately, today, that amounts to about the same thing.

To assuage any fears about this being against the will of God (however you choose to accept that label), one must be clear about why one is following the path chosen.  Are you practicing spiritual alchemy in a hope of gaining power that can help you subdue your problems?  If so, that would not only be against the will of God in a Christian sense, but would also very possibly result in nothing for your efforts.  A part of your higher mind, or possibly a higher power would prevent the necessary coagulation's to take place.

If, one the other hand, you are doing this from the thought that "we are made in God's image" applies not to our bodily shell, but to the way our souls are built, and doing alchemy to get to better acquaint yourself with your soul, and, by the principle of "As Above, So Below", to know God better, that would not be against the Will.  You are working to better yourself, not to gain empty status.

At least, that is my outlook, take it as you will.  Just remember, the Art of Alchemy is one of the purest of the Hermetic arts, and Hermeticism is one of the main tenets of the Freemasons and the Rosicrucians, both of which are very active in getting new recruits from the Roman Catholic Church, at least where I live!

Bloodsong

Air is the element associated with thought and thinking, so using them for knowledge, including intelligence gathering (aka spying), is within the sphere of the abilities of the air element.

Bloodsong

PM me with a list of the books that you have seen and want to read and your email address and I will send them to you.  I'll check them all first to see that they are pdfs.

The history of alchemy is mostly told through those who practiced it through the ages, which is also most of the textbooks, so you will likely be learning a little of both.  The history isn't really important, though, as this is, as I have said before, a path to enlightenment, which is always a very personal thing, so the only history that really makes a damn bit of difference is the one you bring in, and you already know most of that one.

Bloodsong

I agree with Orion on this one.  All of the PDFs on AlechemyWeb downloaded for me.  Any in particular you want?  I'd be more than happy to try sending them to you personally and see if they go any faster through email.

As for the Tao book, it helps with basic information.  I haven't read it myself but that is the impression I get from other posts about it.  Get in touch with the person who got it to you if you have questions on it.

Bloodsong

First, I'd not ask you to worship anything, demonic or otherwise. Personally, I view what is commonly called worship as bowing down and putting yourself at the mercy of higher forces.  You are already there from what I gather.  What you need to do is enter into training that will put you on a level playing field with what is exerting such influences on you.

The demons you have to control are within you, and always have been.  There is something in you that is very powerful that either leads you into catalyst situations to which it knows that your gifts will react, or is reacting to situations that you find yourself within in the ways that lead to the sensations, good and bad, that you have experienced.

I walk the path of ceremonial magic.  What I would do, were I you would be to first start banishings at least once a day.  A very simple for of this is the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP). For this to work, you must do a series of visualizations, motions, and prayers.  The next step would be to put yourself in touch with that which is within you that is causing manifestation of the gifts.  Evocations would work best for this.  What you would be doing is calling that part of your inner, hidden self into manifestation outside yourself for a bit of a get-to-know-you conversation and to subjugate it to your will instead of having it control you as it has been doing.  This is just a first step, but a very powerful one.  The full aspect of the path would be to put yourself in touch with the higher parts of your soul.  This is called many things, Knowlege and Conversation with your Holy Guardian Angel, Golden Communion, and the Great Work  are just a few examples.  Even this, although told through literature on the subject that it is the grand goal of the working, I think is just a first step.

A great book to begin with if you wish to pursue this path is Modern Magick by Donald Micheal Kraig.  He goes into more areas than any other book.  He doesn't go into much detail, but he does give rather extensive reading lists at the back of each of the eleven lessons.  Although the book is only eleven lessons, don't think its quick and easy.  It is neither, especially if you read the support material.  Takes a couple of years, but control will come quickly and by the end, you should be able to attain the Knowledge and Conversation.

Bloodsong

Why is it happening to you?  Well, this is gonna sound stupid, but...it's a gift.  You just can't understand it.  How do you stand on training in magic/metaphysical arts and sciences?  A good banishing ritual may aid in any effects, including the deafness that you have experienced.  Keeping a journal of what happens and dreams will help in figuring out the nature and control of your gifts, at which time, they will start to feel more as such rather than a curse!

If you need any help at all, or if you haven't had any real training in the arts and sciences of magic, email me and I can get you in line with some reading and online sites to help start you off with the banishings.  If you are a Christian and find your heart really into the particular brand you adhere to, go to your pastor/minister/priest/whatever and ask that he pray with you and/or help you learn how to pray for protection.  If you have no faith, then that may make things a little more difficult, but only slightly so, don't fret.

Let me know if I can be of any further help!

Bloodsong

P.S.  OrionsDream, are you happy with the other help received?   Probably came off wrong, but I was trying to be cordial.

In a physical street fight, the only thing from magic that can help you is the focused attention and intent.  Those are two things that can help you in anything that you do though...

A lot of the martial arts are all about this type of "magical" fisticuffs.  For example the old martial arts maxim "Chi follows I" (Energy follows Intent).  Sounds pretty much like a magical axiom to me, how about you?  Basically what it means is that when you focus your Chi, your bodily Energy, into anything, it will take the form your Intent dictates it should.  You definitely will get more out of such a punch against, say, a mugger than you will against, say, your mother (hopefully)

If you are looking into protecting yourself when the proverbial fecal matter hits the rotating oscillating machinery, my suggestion is one of these practices.  If you are looking for something with practical usage that will help you refine your magic abilities, I would suggest one of these practices.  Personally I use Tai Chi.  Easy, flowing, and the purpose of the movements are not on apparent physicality, but on strengthening your ability to manipulate your internal energy.  When you need to, that energy will be available to you for anything and everything, from figuring out how to get that big assignment you were given at work before your kid's next football game to stopping the idiot in the park from taking your paycheck's meager remnants from your wallet.

Bloodsong

Try to stay barefooted on a ground for 10 min or longer several times a day, at least once a day. Hug a tree, or press your back against a tree for 5-10 min. Imaging a tree energy pouring into your spine and spreading all over your body. Do one of these at least once a day for two-three weeks, it should help. These exercises are helpful to balance energy

Another thing to try is going outside, lying on unpaved ground, let the back of your neck and the heels of your feet have skin contact with the ground.  As much skin as you can in between helps out, but I realize this may be difficult if you live in a populated area!  Make sure your head faces North and your feet are in the South and stay that way for at least 10 minutes.  If you live in a city and people start asking you what you are doing, just tell them that for some people, the childhood joy of cloud-gazing never gets old  

What this does is helps sync up your body's natural bio-magnetic field to the Earth's.  This is helpful because, well, you're kind stuck on this planet.  This also helps hasten energy body development, but I wouldn't try doing both at the same time for at least a month, and try to align your energies once a week.  If nothing else, you have a good excuse to act like a kid, which is something too many stop doing, in my opinion!

Bloodsong[/quote]

OK, you kind of contradicted yourself toward the end there.  You start asking for help IDing battle magic and its use, aka curses and hexes, but then finish saying you are interested for self-defense purposes.

For psychic self-defense, most of the time, it isn't really necessary to know the magic being used against you, just where it is coming from.  Stronger cases would need to know who specifically is attacking you and why, and that takes care of almost everything I have gotten into with other magicians.  

Read Dion Fortune's Psychic Self-Defense for more information on the subject.

As for the nature of battle spells, it all boils down to imagination.  The techniques and spells are identical, it is the will of the magician and the intent behind it that makes the difference.  One case I had personally was an old friend didn't like the person I decided to make my wife, so he built a standard thoughtform and made its mission to cause discord in our relationship to affect our breakup.  Problem was he is never really been known for subtlety, so seeing the thoughtform while I was in meditation was simple enough.  Banishing it was the only thing needed from that, but I decided not to go that route.  Instead I managed to confuse the thing and send it back to my "friend" to complete its mission for a period of a year.  Drastic, but I figured he could've at least told me he didn't approve of my choices instead of sending something like that.

Bloodsong

What kind of results are you trying to achieve?  It seems almost as if you expected to post a request for alchemical knowledge here and be inundated with immediate enlightenment.  It doesn't work that way, you have to find things through a LOT of personal study, research, and thought on your own ethos and psyche.  This will lead you to what you want to change, and then that will lead to true alchemy.  This isn't something that happens universally either, it is a different event for everyone, so we can't give you enlightenment even if we have attained it, although I doubt anyone here has quite attained that lofty goal yet.

I don't mean all of the above to sound rude, or anything, it is just simple fact.  There is no single equation that leads to attainment of enlightenment.  If it doesn't apply to what you are talking about, please, answer the question I started with as completely as you can, and don't be afraid of length, we are used to long posts around here.  

Bloodsong

Quick and easy answer to the question about the password is so that the owners of the site have a running total on how many different users are accessing the site.

As for what is Wicca:

It is a full system of religion based mainly on the ancient practices of indigenous peoples the world over and the writings of Gerald Gardner immediately following the repealing of the Witchcraft Laws of England.  There has been immense growth in the religion since the book "Witchcraft Today" was published, and the American continent now has a reported number of "traditions" (think, Catholics, Protestants, et. al. are all Xian, trads are different types of Wicca) somewhere in the thousands, with many being unreported and millions being solitary practitioners, not following any certain tradition.  If you would like to know more about the basics inherent to almost every trad, this is as good a place as any to start:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm

Bloodsong

What you need to remember first and foremost is that Wicca is a modern offshoot inspired (some would say evolved from) ancient religions of indigenous peoples.  Most of these old tribes were most concerned with fertility, and that was what they worshiped.  The horns on the head of the "Horned God" are representations of the fertility of horned beasts in spring time, the time of the year he rules.  If you don't think this is a reasonable parallel to draw, I invite you to observe how often deer, or even cattle for that matter, can mate in a single day if given opportunity!

The reason I think the horns became associated with Satan in Christianity was due to the insistence that sex was the gravest of sins.  Here these people are worshiping it!  We must stop them!  That was the basic evolution of that, win converts.  We aren't talking about the most educated of people, we are talking about primitive cultures, most thought, if our gods couldn't help us defeat them, that must mean that their gods are stronger and we should listen to them concerning this.  At least that was what my Comparative Religions teacher said in high school.

Just my 2 cents.

Bloodsong

The Book of Thoth library directory:

http://www.the-book-of-thoth.com/modules.php?name=Sections

I couldn't find any worthwhile alchemy tutorials online that aren't pay for service things, sorry.

Bloodsong

I am not sure if you were telling me to keep going, but if you want to read more on where I initially heard this from, I read it in Manly P. Hall's "Secret Teachings of All Ages, Chapter XXV, "The Qabbalah, the Secret Doctrine of Israel".  You can read it here:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/sta27.htm

I've also read it through Regardie, but finding his books online is a bit more difficult as the Ciceros still own rights to his legacy of writings.

Bloodsong

I define spirituality as the faithful search for God (however you tend to view that concept) outside the confines of religion, doctrine, or dogma.

The development of the energy body, in my opinion, serves to let one know that one is more than the crude physical matter, a part of God.  What one must work out, is how to use that form to gain a greater intelligence of God.

AP is not only a reliable tool in the spiritual quest I am on, but almost can it be considered a necessity!  Without projecting, either inwards or outwards, the path to learning the reality in one self that one must tread to gain tools to walk the outward path would be next to impossible.

I already PMed you with them, but for NE1 else looking for this:

http://www.the-book-of-thoth.com/index.php

Is a good site all around, although it does have an obvious bent toward Crowley, it isn't all Thelema, so it won't drive non-Thelemites insane.

Another good one for looking at Alchemy interests:

http://www.alchemywebsite.com/

Another thing to think about is that in Qabala, Air is one of the three primal elements: Fire, Air, Water.

According to Qabalistic theory, those three were synthesized to create the Fourth Physical element, Earth, through the Spirit of the Creative Powers (not sure what God Name was used to depict this Fifth Element.)