Beginner in the Art of Magick

I know that title may confuse or send people into a loop with their ego, but what I am posting here is for advice and for someone to give me a little nudge in the right direction. So far I've read the Grimorium Verum, and I'm still studying it but I want to work with a system that's more comfortable for my beliefs. Though I'm having problems finding other reads beside the $200 love spell they advertise on Google lol.

I'm merely asking for tips, advice, a little bit of guidance, not for more pseudo-scientific debunking.

Thank you

reply to post by EpochIX


I like the loads you can get for peoples cigarets at the magic store. its always a good laugh. i would buy some of those.

Greetings,

I believe i can aid in your endeavors, what path would you care to traverse down?


or a more coherent inquiry,

what avenue of 'Magik' would you care you follow?

reply to post by EpochIX


Check occult forums.. they would be more helpful than the people here are going to be I would link some, but I am sure that pisses off the admins..

reply to post by EpochIX


While I don't know what your "beliefs" are that you are looking for an occult tradition to conform to, I can tell you from experience that you will obtain results from the practice of any system, despite their tendency to contradict each other completely. The reason being is that "magick" doesn't work because you draw "power" from other-worldly beings or forces, but because reality itself is dependent upon being observed and interpreted by sentient beings, and therefore can be manipulated by the observer. That is if we are able to overcome the boundaries that we place upon ourselves.
My favorite occult author Austin Osman Spare did a very good job of describing the psychological machinations of that which we call magick, without attributing anything to any power other than his own mind.
A man who walked in his footsteps named Peter Carroll does an excellent job of clarifying Spare's terminology and has created an incredible tradition himself.
I highly suggest you read these men's work, as they might teach you something based on reality, not fables and meaningless garbage that you are likely to be inundated with if you learn from the traditional occult systems.
Edit to add: You may wish to begin with Peter Carroll's work before moving on to the man who inspired him, as Carroll is far easier to read for a beginner. Spare's work is more poetry than an instruction manual. When you do start reading Spare though, I suggest that you begin with The Book of Pleasure.

reply to post by Q:1984A:1776


Interesting, I have been doing some studies of my own on the power of the subconscious! Thank you so much for the reads! You earned yourself some brownie points, my friend!

Candle Magick is a good place to start. Nice and easy to start off with, then you can incorporate tarots and whatever feels right to you later on. Don't do love spells or anything against anyone's will. Best advice I would give is, if it doesn't feel natural to you, don't do it. Book wise, Vivianne Crowley wrote one of the best ones I ever read called: Wicca, the old religion in the new millenium.

reply to post by EpochIX


I have been an occult practitioner for many years.

Unless you really know your deepest intentions (Know thyself) we all think we know but true Magick will find any leaks. In other words, unless you have been taught extreme mental discipline since your formative years do not mess with it. You need to have the ultimate discipline of the mind and emotions. Hidden desires and needs you may not realize you have will not rear its ugly head until its too late.

Unless you were raised with this type of rigid training Magick will find the leaks in your intention and chaos will ensue. It will tear your life apart if you are good at it and in the end you will know yourself. The problem is the path to the end will be a series of smoking bridges and sorrows to last many lifetimes.

It is not recommended.

reply to post by EpochIX


Here is what you do:

1) Find two obtuse angle sticks
2) Rub them together for 38 secs
3) Smear them with rosemary and olive oil
4) Dip them in Dove feathers and then in worm guts
5) Chant "for thee, for thee, for thee"
6) Take stick in right hand
7) Slap yourself hard across left cheek


Its that simple my friend.

I always like these threads as it's something i'm totally unfamiliar with. If I can't prove it scientifically it doesn't exists is my thinking so I enjoy reading and learning about other realms and things. Hope you get your answers and keep us posted.

Reply to post by LoneGunMan

theres always chaos magick for those cases

but i agree with the general tone you intended to portray to the op.

its not about how you do it, its about the will and intent you apply when doing it.

and that is something that cant be taught.

has to be discovered and mastered by the apprentice.

to the op, heed the words of advice and caution when dwelling into occultism, but please, do what you will.




Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by LoneGunMan


Well we all have to start somewhere, good or bad, I'm still willing to take those risks as I have already had one incantation backfire on me. I'm finally getting over it but I do progress with only the utmost caution necessary. Right now, I'm merely conducting my own studies into the matter. And honestly, I'm confident in my skills thus far. There will be times when I will doubt myself but I always fight the feelings that aren't beneficial to my progress. Thank you for the advice!

reply to post by testtubebaby


I write my own incantations thank you very much.

reply to post by EpochIX


Be very careful, friend. I am adept at Magick, studying it for years. My very first High Magick spell went wrong, and costs me 10 grand, a home, and my first wife. I got better at it, but like I said, be careful. No one can teach you Magick, you have to learn by yourself. Here are a few links for you.

THE KEY OF SOLOMON THE KING

The Lesser Key of Solomon

Ancient Grimoires List

The Kybalion

Enochian Magick

The Sword of Moses

Grimoire X
(If the United States Government practiced magick, Grimoire X would be classified Top Secret)

Remember this always: The Law of Karma effects all, none can ever escape this law. Karma follow swiftly when you practice. Another thing: Cleanse yourself before anything you do of a Magickal nature, and prepare yourself fully. Some High Magick rituals last for several hours.

I learned a great many things doing Ritual Magick, I met my Higher Self, or Holy Guardian Angel, learned to Astral Travel almost at will, and learned the art of self healing. I also got my present wife through Magick. Do not let anyone tell you it isn't real, or doesn't work, it is, and does. those who say that know nothing about it, and never will. Once a spell is cast, practice the Witch's Tenet: The Will to Dare, The Knowledge to Perform, and the Desire to keep quiet. End every spell with: "As it harms none, so I mote it, let it BE!."

That is all you get from me. My Karma is all repaired now, i wish to keep it that way. Hope you like reading!

reply to post by autowrench


This is the post I've been waiting for! Thank you so much! May I ask if it's normal that my eyesight has gotten far better since I've began to practice the art? Because when I look at things now, if I stare long enough I can see these little tiny spheres of light swirling everywhere. As I stare deeper and focus on something, it's almost like the ground begins to glow, the light focuses solely on my point of interest, and the shadows flicker between red and black, back and forth until I take my eyes off of it. It may be something else, though.

Yes, and not only your human eyesight, but also your third eye sight, or second sight.
As you practice, you always have a choice, every single thing you do is based on one of two things: Love, or Fear. To Will, To Dare, and To Keep Silent. Follow the one rule above all others, the Golden Rule. Stay away from practices and Grimores that are interlaced with Christian Dogma, these were written by Priests. The best Magick comes from within. Find that within that speaks to you in a Female voice, that is the key to enlightenment and evolution.

reply to post by autowrench

Grimoire X (If the United States Government practiced magick, Grimoire X would be classified Top Secret)

That's a new one to me. I can't find much on it.

What would make it top secret? What is in there that isn't in any other grimoire?

Just curious. And suspicious.

Magick is the science and art of causing change (in consciousness or the external environment) to occur in conformity with will. There are many different systems and they all work as long you have the right frame of mind. And it is this frame of mind that is hardest to achieve.

You must combine the certainty that what you are doing will work with a total disregard as to whether it does or doesn't work. Essentially you have to know it will work but not care if it doesn't. The easiest way to not get something is to want it.

Your first step must be to strengthen your mind. Magick involves a lot of visualisation, and concentration. You must be able to still your mind, you must be able to hold images and create things within your imagination, and also you must be able to concentrate intention for periods of time without getting distracted or losing focus. For this reason I highly recommend you start meditating if you haven't already.

Old Grimoires are fascinating but they are unnecessarily complex, outdated and the symbols and rituals carry centuries of unknown 'resonances' of which you know nothing about. You do not know the motivations and intentions of the original authors (although some are easy such as the spell to make a woman dance naked for you at midnight), nor do you know who else has used them and for what. Do you even know if they have been translated properly? Also, unless you are some sort of mystical catholic priest, the fact that you (im assuming) probably do not fully believe in angels and demons you are trying to command, at least in the same way that the original authors did, this can seriously skew the end product resulting in all sorts of random results and possible backfires. I would also caution against using sigils, seals or other symbols from any source other than your own making for the same reasons, unless your intuition tells you otherwise.

The best systems of magic for beginners are probably Wiccan type spells such as candle magic etc, and my favourite - Chaos Magic. This is what Q:1984A:1776 is talking about when he mentioned Austin Spare and Peter Carrol. Spare was a very gifted occultist who live early last century and his practises were refined and simplified by Peter Carrol in the 70s into what is now known as chaos magic. It is not necessary to believe the Lord and Lady, or Isis or the 4th choir of the Seraphim, or the demon armies of Bael. It simply comes from within, your higher self channelling the energy all around us, which really is the true source of all magickal power.

I don not believe as LoneGunMan stated that you have to have to be some ultimate mental disciplinarian to even begin to practise magick. The very unfolding of your life is magick coming forth from your unconscious mind. You simply want to bring that into the conscious realm. Or in the case of chaos magic, consciously control your unconscious. Ultimately however, it is your attitude, beliefs, and your level of consciousness that will truly dictate your success. The closer you align these with the intentions of your higher self, the less you will find the need to use magick. For everything you require will happen anyway. (In fact truthfully, this happens already. Most people just don't realise yet)

Good luck

I really don't have time to make a long post, but I've been studying and practicing for a long time.

Last night I was watching "The Mind of Alan Moore" on Roku and he talks a lot about being a Magician and Western Magickal thought. This is the guy that did Swamp Thing, The Watchmen, and V for Vendetta.

Anyway, I have to say I agreed with him more than about anyone else I've ever heard speak on the subject.
Here's a snippet of it, but I really recommend the whole thing

i can't say what you should do, because is your option and choice. but i can tell you how I found my path, maybe it can help you.
This is like finding what brand of cigs you want to smoke, for it's taste, price, etc. I started smoking the same brand my ex smoked, then i didn't liked them, i found a menthol version of those, then they raised the taxes and those cigs became over expensive for me, and i ended up smoking a cheap menthol ones that are pretty nice in taste too.

for Magic, I started learning about wicca. I didn't liked it at the end because i'm a loner and here it's kinda hard to find more people who wants to go into a forest and do rituals. So, what I did. I started to read LOTS of books about everything that seemed interesting. I can't even number how many paths i've read about, and how many books i did read (but i can tell you how many i've finished!)... finally, i found a little essay by Grant Morrison in the .torrent i've downloaded with The Invisibles comic called Pop! Magic... and everything that looked overcomplicated in other paths suddenly started to be so freaking easy.
The same with cigs, now i'm working on chaos magic and it's really nice, and suits me a lot, it's pretty good for loners, even when doing massive rituals are incluided there's always a way to get the same results by your own, you can make your own rituals to perform them as you will, and basically everything is doing by your own will. There's a lot of laugh and fun on it, and if something doesn't work, you can try it again till you get it. I have been on this path for a year at least and i so like it. I know that one day i'm going to get bored and turn into something else, but for now, i'm happy.

what books do i recomend you? as someone said before, Peter Caroll is great, Phil Hine is GREATEST (i laughed like mad with his books, they're over easy to understand even for me that i'm not a native english speaker), the said essay of Morrison (also his comicbook The Invisibles is a good reading), and some Sherwin, specially the Book of Results and Theatre of Magick.
now i'm reading other writers that influenced those authors, and time to time i hate they're so complicated for writing (what's the deal of writing in old english? it has been over complicated to me to understand, dunno, Crowley, because of that... and there's no spanish translation of the big majority of those books)

Still, to find what you want or what suits you the best, go and search for it by yourself. Years ago somebody told me about chaos magic and i didn't paid attention to him, now we laugh together about that, almost 10 years later.

Good luck!
- Cags