So why allow the potential for falling into habits and just going through the motions of some dogmatic sacrament composed by a stranger over hundred years ago?? And that's the point of this: Active participation in the expression of the Will.
Daily Creation. Reviewer: Dysgeusia Records - - May 1, Subject: so. I've been studying all things esoteric for over twenty years and i don't know what the hell shinola is or what it is intended for. I've been putting it in my hair. I wish there was a thelemite around so as to light the path so i can see what the hell i'm doing.
Reviewer: petergunn - favorite favorite favorite - September 8, Subject: do not tkae tyven too seriously This is more of a response to Tyven9.
This person runs down the author and the matrial by disounting everything that the author writes. But the only real thing he says is that the author does not know what thelema is or how it is used. Ok, but now tell the people what it really is and how it is really used. But he doesn't nor do I think tyven9 can. Having studied magick for many years I can and will tell you that for a beginner this book will give you a path to follow.
Yes there are errors in it yet there are error in the old grimores too. This beginning knowledge will help the inniate start, if that is truely what they want. It is more to weed out the mere curious from the serious student willing to put in the time ,research and practice to get deeper into the more esoteric arts.
Reviewer: mikhailmonju - - September 8, Subject: response As a response to that comment: where might we find more accurate text, other than hoping to meet someone randomly? Reviewer: graverubber - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 10, Subject: A Modern Classic For those who care about such things, this is an indispensable work.
Reviewer: tyven9 - favorite - May 17, Subject: Total Rubbish! I'm glad I didn't pay for this book because it was a total load of crap and as an initiate of Thelema for the past 38 years, this book is 1. Third, the barrier is reinforced with power symbols drawn with the magical weapon. The traditional five-pointed star or pentagram can be used, or the eight-pointed star of Chaos, or any other form. Words of power may also be used.
Fourth, the magician aspires to the infinite void by a brief but determined effort to stop thinking. Sigils The magician may require something which he is unable to obtain through the normal channels. It is sometimes possible to bring about the required coincidence by the direct intervention of the will provided that this does not put too great a strain on the universe.
The mere act of wanting is rarely effective, as the will becomes involved in a dialogue with the mind. This dilutes magical ability in many ways. The desire becomes part of the ego complex; the mind becomes anxious of failure.
The will not to fulfill desire arises to reduce fear of failure. Soon the original desire is a mass of conflicting ideas. Often the wished for result arises only when it has been forgotten. This last fact is the key to sigils and most forms of magic spell. Sigils work because they stimulate the will to work subconsciously, bypassing the mind. There are three parts to the operation of a sigil.
The sigil is constructed, the sigil is lost to the mind, the sigil is charged. In constructing a sigil, the aim is to produce a glyph of desire, stylized so as not to immediately suggest the desire. It is not necessary to use complex symbol systems.
Creating a sigil by A the word method, B the pictorial method, and C the mantrical method. The subject matter of these spells is arbitrary and not recommended. To successfully lose the sigil, both the sigil form and the associated desire must be banished from normal waking consciousness. The magician strives against any manifestation of either by a forceful turning of his attention to other matters. Sometimes the sigil may be burnt, buried, or cast into an ocean.
It is possible to lose a word spell by constant repetition as this eventually empties the mind of associated desire. The sigil is charged at moments when the mind has achieved quiescence through magical trance, or when high emotionality paralyzes its normal functioning.
At these times the sigil is concentrated upon, either as a mental image, or mantra, or as a drawn form. Some of the times when sigils may be charged are as follows: during magical trance; at the moment of orgasm or great elation; at times of great fear, anger, or embarrassment; or at times when intense frustration or disappointment arises. Alternatively, when another strong desire arises, this desire is sacrificed forgot- ten and the sigil is concentrated on instead. After holding the sigil in the mind for as long as possible, it is wise to banish it by evoking laughter.
A record should be kept of all work with sigils but not in such a way as to cause conscious deliberation over the sigilized desire. All humans dream each night of their lives, but few can regularly recount their experiences even a few minutes after waking.
Dream experiences are so incongruous that the brain learns to prevent them interfering with waking consciousness. The magician aims to gain full access to the dream plane and to assume control of it. The attempt to do this invariably involves the magician in a deadly and bizzare battle with his own psychic censor, which will use almost any tactics to deny him these experiences.
The only method of gaining full access to the dream plane is to keep a book and writing instrument next to the place of sleeping at all times. In this, record the details of all dreams as soon as possible after waking. To assume conscious control over the dream state, it is necessary to select a topic for dreaming. The magician should start with simple experiences, such as the desire to see a particular object real or imaginary and master this before attempting divination or exteriorization.
The dream is set up by strongly visualizing the desired topic in an otherwise silenced mind, im- mediately before sleep. For more complex experiences the method of sigils may be employed. A record of dreams is best kept separate from the magical record as it tends to become voluminous. However any significant success should be transferred into the magical diary. Though one may get to fear the sight of it, a properly kept magical record is the surest guarantor of success in the work of Liber MMM: it is both a work of reference with which to evaluate progress and, most significantly, a goad to further effort.
The division favored here is more temper- amental. White Magic leans more toward the acquisition of wis- dom and a general feeling of faith in the universe. The Black form is concerned more with the acquisition of power and is reflective of a basic faith in oneself. The end results are likely to be not dissimilar, for the paths meet in a way impossible to describe. Initiates are at liberty to work with material from either or both.
The so-called middle way, or path of knowledge, consisting of the acquisition of secondhand ideas, is an excuse to do neither and leads nowhere. Duality describes humanity's usual condition.
Happiness ex- ists only because of misery, pain because of comfort, good because of evil, yang because of yin, black because of white, birth because of death, and existence because of non-existence. All phenomena must be paired, as the senses are only equipped to perceive dif- ferences. The thinking mind has the property of splitting every- thing it encounters into two, as it is a dualistic thing itself. Yet Augoeides Invocation Evocation Figure 3. The schema of Liber Lux. Man considers himself a center of will and a center of perception.
Will and perception are not separate but only appear so to the mind. The unity which appears to the mind to exert the twin functions of will and perception is called Kia by magicians. Sometimes it is called the spirit, or soul, or life force, instead. Kia cannot be experienced directly because it is the basis of consciousness or experience , and it has no fixed qualities which the mind can latch on to. Kia is the consciousness, it is the elusive "I" which confers self-awareness but does not seem to consist of anything itself.
Kia can sometimes be felt as ecstacy or inspiration, but it is deeply buried in the dualistic mind. It is mostly trapped in the aimless wanderings of thought and in identification with experience and in that cluster of opinions about ourselves called ego.
Magic is concerned with giving the Kia more freedom and flexibility and with providing means by which it can manifest its occult power. Kia is capable of occult power because it is a fragment of the great life force of the universe.
Consider the world of apparent dualisms we inhabit. The mind views a picture of this world in which everything is double.
A thing is said to exist and exert certain properties. Being and Doing. This calls for the concepts of cause and effect or causality. Every phenomenon is seen to be caused by some previous thing. However this description cannot explain how everything exists in the first place or even how one thing finally causes another. Obviously things have originated and do continue to make each other happen.
The "thing" responsible for the origin and contin- ued action of events is called Chaos by magicians. It could as well be called God or Too, but the name Chaos is virtually meaningless, and free from the childish, anthropomorphic ideas of religion. Chaos is also the force which adds increasing complexity to the universe by spawning structures which were not inherent in its component parts.
It is the force which has caused life to evolve itself out of dust, and is currently most concentratedly manifest in the human life force, or Kia, where it is the source of conscious- ness.
Liber 29 Kia is but a small fragment of the great life force of the universe, which contains the twin impulses to immerse itself in duality and to escape from duality.
It will continuously reincarnate until the first impulse is exhausted. The second impulse is the root of the mystic quest, the union of the liberated spirit with the great spirit.
To the extent that the Kia can become one with Chaos it can extend its will and perception into the universe to accomplish magic. Between Chaos and ordinary matter, and between Kia and the mind, there exists a realm of half formed substance called Aether. It is dualistic matter but of a very tenuous, probabilistic nature. It consists of all the possibilities which Chaos throws out which have not yet become solid realities.
It is the "medium" by which the "non-existent" chaos translates itself into "real" effects. It forms a sort of backdrop out of which real events and real thoughts materialize. Because aetheric events are only partially evolved into dualistic existence, they may not have a precise location in space or time. They may not have a precise mass or energy either, and so do not necessarily affect the physical plane.
It is from the bizarre and indeterminate nature of the aetheric plane that Chaos gets its name, for Chaos cannot be known directly. From the aetheric realm of nascent possibility only what we call sensible, causal, probable, or normal events usually come into existence.
Yet as centers of Kia or Chaos ourselves, we can sometimes call very unlikely coincidences or unexpected events into existence by manipulating the aether. Such is magic. Even the physical sciences have begun to blunder into the aetheric with their discoveries of quantum indeterminacy and virtual processes in subatomic matter. It is the aether, which surrounds the central core of the life force, with which the magician is concerned.
Its normal function is as a Kia-thought intermediary, yet its properties are so infinitely mutable that almost anything can be accomplished with it. Thought gives it shape and Kia gives it power.
Thus are will and perception extended into areas of time and space beyond the physical limitations of the material body. The differences, however, are only superficial. When stripped of local symbolism and terminolo- gy, all systems show a remarkable uniformity of method. This is because all systems ultimately derive from the tradition of Shamanism. It is toward an elucidation of this tradition that the following chapters are devoted.
The particular state of mind required has a name in every tradition: No-mind. Stopping the internal dialogue, passing through the eye of the needle, ain or nothing, samadhi, or one-pointedness. In this book it will be known as Gnosis. It is an extension of the magical trance by other means. Methods of achieving gnosis can be divided into two types. In the inhibitory mode, the mind is progressively silenced until only a single object of concentration remains.
In the excitatory mode, the mind is raised to a very high pitch of excitement while concentration on the objective is maintained. Strong stimulation eventually elicits a reflex inhibition and paralyzes all but the most central function — the object of concentration. Thus strong in- hibition and strong excitation end up creating the same effect — the one-pointed consciousness, or gnosis.
Neurophysiology has finally stumbled on what magicians have known by experience for millenia. As a great master once observed: "There are two methods of becoming god, the upright or the averse. It is during these moments of single-pointed concentration, or gnosis, that beliefs can be implanted for magic, and the life force induced to manifest.
Table 1 on page 33 shows a number of methods that can be used to attain it. The Death Posture is a feint at death to achieve an utter negation of thought. It can take many forms, ranging from the simple not-thinking exercise up to complex rituals. A very fast and simple method consists of blocking the ears, nose and mouth, and covering the eyes with the hands.
The breath and thoughts are forcefully jammed back until near unconsciousness involuntarily breaks the posture.
Alternatively, one may arrange oneself before a mirror at a distance of about two feet and stare fixedly at the image of one's eyes in the mirror with an unblinking, corpselike gaze. The effort required to keep an absolutely unwavering image will of itself silence the mind after a while. Sexual excitation can be obtained by any preferred method. In all cases there has to be a transference from the lust required to ignite the sexuality to the matter of the magical working at hand. Also in works of invocation where the magician seeks union with some principle or being , the process can be mirrored on the physical plane; one's partner is visualized as an incarnation of the desired idea or god.
Prolonged sexual excitement through karezza, inhibition of orgasm, or repeated orgasmic collapse can lead to trance states useful for divination.
It may be necessary to regain one's original sexuality from the mass of fantasy and association into which it mostly sinks. This is achieved by judicious use of abstention and by arousing lust without any form of mental prop or fantasy. This exercise is also therapeutic.
Be ye ever virgin unto Kia. The concentrations leading to magical trance are discussed in Liber MMM. Emotional arousal is the obverse form of this method. The well-known ability of fear and anger to paralyze the mind indicates their effectiveness, yet the magician must never lose sight of the objectives of his working. Nothing is to be gained and much may be lost by reducing oneself to jibbering idiocy or catatonia. Sleeplessness, fasting, and exhaustion are old monastic fa- vorites.
There should be a constant turning of the mind toward the object of the exercise during these practices. Pain, torture, and flagellation have been used by witches, monks, and fakirs to achieve results.
Surrender to pain brings eventual ecstasy and the necessary one-pointedness. However, if the organism's resistance to pain is high, needless damage to the body may result before the threshold is crossed. Dancing, drumming, and chanting require careful arranging and preparation to bring the participants to a climax.
Lyrical exaltation through emotive poetry, incantation, song, prayer, or supplication can also be added. The whole is best controlled by some form of ritual.
Over-breathing is sometimes used to supple- ment the effects of dancing or leaping. The right way of walking is not a technique for achieving immediate results but a meditation which helps the mind to stop thinking. One walks for long stretches without looking at any- thing directly but by slightly crossing and unfocusing the eyes, maintaining a peripheral view of everything.
It should be possible to remain cognizant of everything within a degree arc from side to side and from the tips of he toes to the sky. The fingers should be curled or clasped in unusual positions to draw attention to the arms.
The mind should eventually become totally absorbed in its environment and thinking will cease. Gazing is the inhibitory variant of the above technique.
The entire attention is directed to the sight of some object in the environment while the body is kept motionless. Any natural phenomenon — plants, rocks, sky, water, or fire — may be used. There is no magic drug which will by itself have the required effect. Rather drugs can be used in small doses to heighten the effect of excitation caused by the methods already discussed.
Inhibitory drugs must be considered with even more caution because of their inherent danger. They often simply sever the life force and body altogether. Sensory overload is achieved when a battery of techniques are used together. For example, in certain tantric rites the candi- date is first beaten by his guru, hashish is forced down him, and he is taken at midnight to a dark cemetery for sacred sexual inter- course.
Thus he achieves union with his god. Sensory deprivation is the essence of the monastic cell, the mountain cave, the walled-up hermit, and rites of death, burial, and resurrection. Much the same effect can be achieved with hoods, blindfolds, earplugs, repetitive sounds, and restricted movements. It is far more effective to completely obliterate all sensory inputs for a short period than to simply reduce them over a longer one. Certain forms of gnosis lend themselves more readily to some forms of magic than others.
The initiate is encouraged to use his own ingenium in adapting the methods of exaltation to his own purposes. Note however that inhibitory and excitatory techniques can be employed sequentially, but not simultaneously, in the same operation. These beings have a legion of names drawn from the demonology of many cultures: elementals, familiars, incubi, succubi, bud-wills, demons, automata, atavisms, wraiths, spirits, and so on. Entities may be bound to talismans, places, animals, objects, persons, incense smoke, or be mobile in the aether.
It is not the case that such entities are limited to obsessions and complexes in the human mind. Although such beings customarily have their origin in the mind, they may be budded off and attached to objects and places in the form of ghosts, spirits, or "vibrations," or may exert action at a distance in the form of fetishes, familiars, or pol- tergeists.
These beings consist of a portion of Kia or the life force attached to some aetheric matter, the whole of which may or may not be attached to ordinary matter. Evocation may be further defined as the summoning or crea- tion of such partial beings to accomplish some purpose.
They may be used to cause change in oneself, change in others, or change in the universe. The advantages of using a semi-independent being rather than trying to effect a transformation directly by will are several: the entity will continue to fulfill its function in- dependently of the magician until its life force dissipates. Being semi-sentient, it can adapt itself to a task in a way that a non- Figure 4. Creating an elemental by combining appropriate symbols to form a sigil.
Liber 37 conscious simple spell cannot. During moments of the possession by certain entities the magician may be the recipient of in- spirations, abilities, and knowledge not normally accessible to him. Entities may be drawn from three sources — those which are discovered clairvoyantly, those whose characteristics are given in grimoires of spirits and demons, and those which the magician may wish to create himself.
In all cases establishing a relationship with the spirit follows a similar process of evocation. Firstly the attributes of the entity, its type, scope, name, appearance and characteristics must be placed in the mind or made known to the mind. Automatic drawing or writing, where a stylus is allowed to move under inspiration across a surface, may help to uncover the nature of a clairvoyantly discovered being.
In the case of a created being the following procedure is used: the magician assembles the ingredients of a composite sigil of the being's desired attributes. For example, to create an elemental to assist him with divination, the appropriate symbols might be chosen and made into a sigil such as the one shown in figure 4. A name and an image, and if desired, a characteristic number can also be selected for the elemental. Secondly, the will and perception are focused as intently as possible by some gnostic method on the elemental's sigils or characteristics so that these take on a portion of the magician's life force and begin autonomous existence.
In the case of pre-existing beings, this operation serves to bind the entity to the magician's will. This is customarily followed by some form of self-banishing, or even exorcism, to restore the magician's consciousness to normal before he goes forth. An entity of a low order with little more than a singular task to perform can be left to fulfill its destiny with no further inter- ference from its master.
If at any time it is necessary to terminate it, its sigil or material basis should be destroyed and its mental image destroyed or reabsorbed by visualization. For more powerful and independent beings, the conjuration and exorcism must be in proportion to the power of the ritual which originally evoked them.
Any of the techniques of the gnosis can in theory be used in evocation. An analysis of some of the more common methods follows. Theurgic Ritual depends solely on visualization and concen- tration on complex ceremonial to achieve focus.
However the effect of increasing the complexity is often to create more distrac- tion rather than draw attention to the matter at hand. Will becomes multiple and the result is often disappointing. Conjura- tion by prayer, supplication or command is rarely effective unless the appeal be desperate or prolonged till exhaustion ensues. This type of ritual can be improved by the use of poetic exaltation, chanting, ecstatic dancing, and drumming. The Goetic tradition of the grimoires uses an additional technique.
The grimoires were compiled by Catholic priests, and much of what they wrote was deliberate abomination in their own terms. Transport the whole rite to a graveyard or crypt at midnight and one has compounded a powerful mechanism for concentrating the Kia by paralyzing the peripheral functions of the mind by fear. If the magician can maintain control under these conditions his will is singular and mighty.
The Ophidian tradition uses sexual orgasm to focus the will and perception. It is interesting to note that poltergeist activity invariably centers around the sexually disturbed, usually children at puberty or, more rarely, women at menopause. During these periods of acute tension, intense excitation can channel the mind and allow the life force to manifest frustration outside of the body by hurling objects around.
To perform evocation by the Ophidian method, the attri- butes of an entity in sigilized form are concentrated on at orgasm and may be afterward anointed with the sex fluids. The process is rather like the deliberate creation of an obsession. If enough power can be put into it, it will be capable of independent existence.
Incubi and succubi are pre-existing entities created by other peoples' pathological sexuality. Incubi traditionally seek sexual intercourse with living females and succubi with males, often in sleep. Unfortunately they are both predatory and stupid, with little power or motivation for anything but sex. Sacrifice has been used in the past to create fear or terror, or to invoke the gnosis of pain in support of Goetic type evoca- tions.
However, this method easily exhausts itself and the sor- cerer may end up wading in oceans of blood, much as the Aztecs did, for very little result. Blood sacrifice is most effective and most easily controlled by the use of one's own blood, which is customarily allowed to fall upon the sigil or talisman of the de- mon.
However, the power to control blood sacrifice usually brings with it the wisdom to avoid it in favor of other methods. Conjuration to visible appearances to prove to oneself, or others, the objective reality of spirits is an ill-considered act. The conditions necessary for its appearance will always allow the retention of the belief that such things are the result of hypnosis, hallucination or delusion.
Indeed they are an hallucination, for such things do not normally have a physical appearance and have to be persuaded to assume one. Fasting, sleep, and sensory dep- rivation combined with drugs and clouds of incense smoke will usually provide a demon with sufficiently sensitive and malleable media in which to manifest an image if commanded to do so. The medieval idea of a pact is an over-dramatization, but it contains a germ of truth. All one's thoughts, obsessions, and demons must be reabsorbed before Kia can become one with Chaos.
However useful such things may be to him in the short term, the sorcerer must eventually recant. The paradox is that as Kia has no dualized qualities, there are no attributes by which to invoke it. To give it one quality is merely to deny it another. As an observant dualistic being once said: I am that I am not. Nevertheless, the magician may need to make some rear- rangements or additions to what he is.
Metamorphosis may be pursued by seeking that which one is not, and transcending both in mutual annihilation. Alternatively, the process of invocation may be seen as adding to the magician's psyche any elements which are missing.
It is true that the mind must be finally surren- dered as one enters fully into Chaos, but a complete and balanced psychocosm is more easily surrendered.
The magical process of shuffling beliefs and desires attendant upon the process of invocation also demonstrates that one's domi- nant obsessions or personality are quite arbitrary, and hence more easily banished. There are many maps of the mind psychocosms , most of which are inconsistent, contradictory, and based on highly fanci- ful theories. Many use the symbology of god forms, for all mytholo- gy embodies a psychology. A complete mythic pantheon resumes all of man's mental characteristics.
Magicians will often use a pagan pantheon of gods as the basis for invoking some particular insight or ability, as these myths provide the most explicit and developed formulation of the particular idea's extant. However it is possible to use almost anything from the archetypes of the collective unconscious to the elemental qualities of alchemy. If the magician taps a deep enough level of power, these forms may manifest with sufficient force to convince the mind of the objective existence of the god.
Yet the aim of invocation is temporary possession by the god, communication from the god, and manifestation of the god's magical powers, rather than the formation of religious cults. The actual method of invocation may be described as a total immersion in the qualities pertaining to the desired form. One invokes in every conceivable way. An assortment of psycocosms or mental maps. Magicians may wish to invoke some of the qualities represented by the symbols in each. Here we see A the seven classical planetary forms; B the four classical elements; C the three alchemical elements; D the Taoist yin-yang; E the five Vedic tattwas; F the eleven Kabbalistic sephiroth; G the eight Taoist trigrams; and H the twelve astrological qualities.
Liber 43 himself into identity with the god by arranging all his experiences to coincide with its nature. In the most elaborate form of ritual he may surround himself with the sounds, smells, colors, in- struments, memories, numbers, symbols, music, and poetry sug- gestive of the god or quality.
Secondly he unites his life force to the god image with which he has united his mind. This is accom- plished with techniques from the gnosis. Figure 5 shows some examples of maps of the mind. Following are some suggestions for practical ritual invocation. Example Invocation of the War God The initiate stands in a pentagonal chamber lit by five red lamps. He is robed in crimson and the skin of a great bear or wolf. He is girded about with weapons of steel, and an iron crown or helmet adorns his head.
He has prepared his body by fasting, by rigors, by scourging, and by stimulants. He has constantly turned his mind to things of Mars during the preparations.
He casts sulphur, oak, and acris resins into the thurible and anoints his body with tiger balm. He beats a martial air upon a drum to open the temple, or else fires a loud weapon into the air. He has banished all foreign influences from the mind by what means he may a pentagram ritual being preferred.
Drawing blood from his right shoulder with a dagger, he traces the sigil of Mars on his breast and the Eye of Horus on his brow. With a sharp sword, he draws the symbols of Mars about him in his mind's eye in lines of crimson fire and visualizes himself in the form of the god Horus.
Then he begins his war dance while an assistant, if he has one, continues to beat the rhythm, apply the scourge, or discharge firearms. Martial music may be played by some machine. As he dances wildly to his god he chants: Io Horus Horus! Horus to me come! Thou art me Horus! I am thee Horus! This he continues until the god taketh him into an ecstacy. There is no limit to the inconceivable experiences into which the intrepid psychonaut may wish to plunge himself. Here are some ideas for constructing a latter day black mass as a blasphemy against the gods of logic and rationality.
The Great Mad Goddess Chaos, a lower aspect of the ultimate ground of existence in anthropomorphic form, can be invoked for Her ecstasy and inspiration. Drumming, leaping, and whirling in free form movement are accompanied by idiotic incantations. Forced deep breathing is used to provoke hysterical laughter. Mild hallucinogens and dis- inhibitory agents such as alcohol are taken together with sporad- ic gasps of nitrous oxide gas. Dice are thrown to determine what unusual behavior and sexual irregularities will take place.
Dis- cordant music is played and flashing lights splash onto billowing clouds of incense smoke. A whole maelstrom of ingredients is used to overcome the senses. On the altar a great work of philosophy, preferably by Russell, lies open, its pages fiercely burning.
Saturn, the God of Death, might be invoked in the following manner. The initiate first prepares himself by fasting, sleepless- ness, and exhaustion. He retires to chamber, which is in near total darkness, being illuminated only by three sticks of a resinous, cloying, musty incense.
He weighs his body down by wrapping sheets of lead around his limbs, trunk, and head. Otherwise his body is cold and naked. To a slow, monotonous drumbeat, he conducts a mock burial of himself.
With extreme caution he may take small quantities of atropine-like solanum alkaloids. Then he meditates on himself in the aspect of a corpse or skeleton arising slowly from the tomb in a tattered winding sheet and assuming his scythe of office. In works of invocation, nothing succeeds like excess. During the evolution of life there have been many stagnant periods and some reversals. But overall, the inherent superiority of the most flexible, adaptable, inclusive, and complex creatures, cultures, men, and ideas always wins out.
To seek these qualities is to achieve more liberation than any bizarre feat of renunciation or reorganization of political power is likely to create. It is a mistake to consider any belief more liberated than another. It is the possibility of change which is important. Every new form of liberation is destined to eventually become another form of enslavement for most of its adherents. There is no freedom from duality on this plane of existence, but one may at least aspire to choice of duality.
Liberating behavior is that which increases one's possibilities for future action. Limiting behavior is that which tends to narrow one's options. The secret of freedom is not to be drawn into situations where one's number of alternatives becomes limited or even unitary. This is an abominably difficult path to tread.
It means step- ping outside of one's own culture, society, relationships, family personality, beliefs, prejudices, opinions and ideas. It is just these comforting chains which seem to give definition, meaning, char- acter, and a sense of belonging to most people. Yet, in casting off one set of chains, one cannot avoid adopting another set unless one wishes to live in a very reduced and impoverished style — itself a limitation. The solution is to become omnivorous. Someone who can think, believe, or do any of a half dozen different things is more free and liberated than someone confined to only one activity.
For this reason Sufi mystics were required to master a handful of secular trades in addition to their occult studies.
Chief among the techniques of liberation are those which weaken the hold of society, convention, and habit over the initiate, and those which lead to a more expansive outlook. Sacrilege: Destroying the Sacred Energy is liberated when an individual breaks through rules of conditioning with some glorious act of disobedience or blas- phemy. This energy strengthens the spirit and gives courage for further acts of insurrection.
Put a brick through your television; explore sexualities which are unusual to you. Do something you normally feel to be utterly revolting. You are free to do anything, no matter how extreme, so long as it will not restrict your own or somebody else's future freedom of action. Heresy: Alternative Definitions By seeking out ideas which seem bizarre, crazy, extreme, arbitrary, contradictory, and nonsensical you will find that the ideas you previously clung to as reasonable, sensible and humanitarian are actually just as bizarre, crazy, and so on.
Whatever is suppressed, restricted, ridiculed, or despised, almost always contains a telling counterpoint to mainstream ideas. In argument always disagree, especially if your opponent begins to voice your own opinions.
Iconoclasm: Breaking Images Immense gulfs exist in human affairs between theory and practice, means and ends. Contrast pornography and romance, cordon bleu gluttony and skeletal famine, dignity and masturbation. Consider violence as entertainment. Mass slaughter for idealism's sake. Look at what goes on in the name of religion and the consumer society.
Relish the cacophony of neurosis, fantasy, and psychosis which guides material sensationalist culture to an uncertain end. Picking through society's dirty underwear, we discover its real habits. You can extend this list indefinitely and indeed you should. For human folly is without limit though society does much to disguise its darker side. Cynicism, sadness or laughter is the magician's privilege. Your own body. It asks only for food, warmth, sex and transcendence.
Transcendence, the urge to become one with something greater, is variously satisfied in love, humanitarian works, or in the artistic, scientific, or magical quests of truth. To satisfy these simple needs is libera- tion indeed. Power, authority, excessive wealth and greed for sensory experience are aberrations of these things.
Anathemism: Self-destruction Sidestepping conventionally still leaves you with a mass of prej- udices, idiosyncrasies, identifications, and preferences which give comfort and definition to the personality or ego.
An idea cannot be said to be completely understood till you understand the con- ditions under which it is not true. Similarly you cannot be said to possess a personality until you are able to manipulate or discard it at will. Anathemism is a technique practiced directly upon your- self.
Eat all loathsome things till they no longer revolt. Seek union with all that you normally reject. Scheme against your most sacred principles in thought, word and deed.
You will eventually have to witness the loss or putrefaction of every loved thing. Carroll has taken methods from Austin Osman Spare, shamanism, paganism, and Chaos science and synthesized them into a new system of practice.
His approach combines methods from shamanism, paganism, and chaos science. The book includes a selection of extremely powerful rituals and exercises for committed occultists with instructions that lead the reader through new concepts and practices.
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