by Marcus Katz
4. Can I self-initiate myself?
No. Well, not at every grade. Sometimes you require another to pull you out of the swamp in which you may be unwittingly mired. And sometimes it is an act of Grace that must be awaited in faith. However, it all comes from you and the ever-burning lamp that is lit by your unique and individual relationship to the universe. It is up to you to continually attend that lamp of devotion.
5. What is the point of it all?
In a mystical sense, the end of suffering, seeking and the constant realisation of the ongoing unity of all things. In a magical sense, the experience of the simple magic of reality. In a philosophical sense, a congruent, consistent and comprehensive awareness of experience.
6. Wasn’t Aleister Crowley an evil person?
Aleister Crowley, one of numerous personages who we will encounter in our journey within The Magister, was indeed branded ‘the wickedest man in the world’. He was a brute of a man with a strange and strong intellect, a passion for life, and was way ahead of his time in many and most regards. He had no issues with challenging people to escape their own boundaries, thresholds and limitations, even if they were not ready to then manage that liberated state. He also held contradictory viewpoints quite gleefully, and was subject to what some would no doubt view as perverse desires and addictions. He was also capable of charm, wit and mystical poetry of the highest devotional order. On one occasion, unemployed and out of money, he designed golf courses based upon myth and applied for employment at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews in Scotland. Whether one judges the man as evil or otherwise, complex or simple, his life is notable and worth studying.
7. What do I do next if I am interested in becoming an initiate on this path?
The next volume of The Magister will continue to provide practical information, ritual and practice to open up the possibilities of this path. In the meantime, you may contact us via http://www.westernesotericism.com, the online home of The Magister and related projects.
8. If it goes wrong, can I go back?
There are various points in the initiatory system from which there is no ‘going back’, as it would be an impossible collapse of state-awareness. Our goal and ambition is to ensure that the initiate is always – within what is possible – prepared to maintain or endure the highs and lows of the journey. The mind also has a reasonable failsafe mechanism, which can shut down or reinterpret experience which is not holistically healthy to possess. It does that all the time anyway.
Reading Outline
This reading outline is divided into two parts: a general reading list and a magical curriculum. The reading list is sectioned into themes based upon the ten sephiroth on the Tree of Life. The magical curriculum is given as suggested reading by the grades of the initiatory system. Neither section is to be taken as essential or comprehensive, but may provide some nascent structure to your personal studies.
This reading list will also be provided and kept updated on the main website at www.westernesotericism.com with links and further references.
Part One: General Reading
Section 1. Kether: Essential Seeds and Overviews
a. Overviews of the Curriculum
(i) The Complete Golden Dawn, Israel Regardie or the revised and updated Golden Dawn, Chic Cicero
(ii) Magick, or Magick in Theory and Practice (Book 4), Aleister Crowley
b. Allegorical Accounts of the Journey
(i) Vision of Zosimos
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/zosimos.html
(ii) Chymical Wedding, Christian Rosenkreutz:
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/chymwed1.html
(iii) The Wake-World, Aleister Crowley:
www.hermetic.com/crowley/libers/liber095.pdf
Section 2. Chockmah: Academic Works
a. Western Esotericism
(i) Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation, Henrik Bogdan
(ii) Western Esotericism, Kocku von Stuckrad
(iii) The Path of the Chameleon, Nevill Drury
(iv) The Place of Enchantment, Alex Owen
(v) The History of British Magic after Aleister Crowley, Dave Evans
(vi) The Book of English Magic, Philip Carr-Gom and Richard Heygate
Section 3. Binah: World-Views and Cosmologies
a. Hermetic Teachings
(i) Hermetica (translated by Brian P. Copenhaver) pp. 5-6 for the grades, p. 53 for the Hymnodia (prayer to the Sun)
(ii) The Emerald Tablet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Tablet
b. Neo-Platonic Teachings
(i) Timaeus, Plato
Particularly E.8, ‘Time, the Moving Likeness of Eternity’
c. Gnostic Teachings
(i) The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels
(ii) The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, Geza Vermes
d. Kabbalistic Teachings
(i) Ascensions on High in Jewish Mysticism, Moshe Idel
(ii) Sepher Yetzirah, William Wynn Westcott
(iii) Sepher Yetzirah, Aryeh Kaplan
(iv) The Mystical Qabalah, Dion Fortune
(v) The Kabbalah Decoder, Janet Berenson-Perkins
e. Christian Mystical Teachings
(i) Bonaventure: The Soul’s Journey into God, the Tree of Life, the Life of St. Francis (translated by Ewert Cousins)
(ii) John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent (translated by Colm Luibheid and Norman Russell)
(iii) Meister Eckhart (translated by Edmund Colledge and Bernard McGinn)
(iv) The Spiritual Canticle and Poems of St. John of the Cross (translated by E. Allison Peers)
(v) The Interior Castle or The Mansions (Saint Teresa of Jesus)
(vi) The Mystical Writings of Rulman Merswin (translated by Thomas S. Kepler)
(vii) The Book of the Nine Rocks
(viii) The Cloud of Unknowing (translated by James Walsh)
(ix) The Mystical Doctrine of Saint John of the Cross (selected by R.H.J. Steuart)
Breaks the ‘dark night of the soul’ into stages and grades, such as the Passive Night of Sense, the Active Night of the Spirit, the Purgation of Memory, etc. See also the ‘Ascent of Mount Carmel’
(x) Pseudo-Dionysius (translated by Colm Luibheid)
f. General Mysticism
(i) Mysticism, Evelyn Underhill
(ii) A Dazzling Darkness: An Anthology of Western Mysticism, Patrick Grant
(iii) An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mysticism and Mystery Religions, John Ferguson
g. General Philosophy
(i) The Story of Philosophy, Bryan Magee
(ii) The Perennial Philosophy, Aldous Huxley
Section 4. Chesed: Western Esoteric Schools and Teachers
a. Western Esoteric Schools and Teachers
(i) The Training and Work of an Initiate, Dion Fortune
(ii) The Way of Initiation and Initiation and Its Results, Rudolf Steiner
(iii) The Hidden Way Across the Threshold, J.C. Street (1887) Particularly ‘Chapter XIII: The Great Mystery, or the Hidden Way’
(iv) The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, Godwin, Chanel and Deveney
b. Contemporary
(i) The Experience of No-Self (Bernadette Roberts)
(ii) The Spectrum of Consciousness (Ken Wilber)
(iii) The Love-Ananda Gita, Da Free John. Particularly pp. 305-306, ‘There are degrees of Realisation’
(iv) The Adept, Da Free John. Particularly, pp. 79-84, ‘The Adept is the Unborn Reality’ and ‘Appendix: The Seven Stages of Life’
(v) The Inner Reality, Paul Brunton
(vi) The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga, Paul Brunton
(vii) Le Millieu Divin, Teilhard de Chardin
(viii) The Cosmic Consciousness of Edward Carpenter, Richard M. Bucke
c. Sufi Mysticism
(i) Daughter of Fire, Irina Tweedy. Also published abridged as The Chasm of Fire.
Section 5. Geburah: Workbooks, Practices and Techniques
a. General Workbooks
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(i) Prometheus Rising, Robert Anton Wilson
(ii) A Year to Live: How to live this year as if it were your last, Stephen Levine
(iii) On the Prayer of Jesus: Unceasing Prayer, Ignatius Brianchaninov
(iv) The Art of Contemplation of Ramon Lull (translated by E. Allison Peers)
(v) Meditation and Kabbalah, Aryeh Kaplan
b. Meditation and Visualisation
(i) The Inner Guide Meditation, Edwin Steinbrecher
c. The Abramelin Working
(i) The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage (translated S.L. MacGregor Mathers)
(ii) The Sacred Magician, William Bloom (diary account)
(iii) The Book of Abramelin (New Translation), Georg Dehn, translated by Steven Guth
Section 6. Tiphareth: Rare Works by Adepts
a. Rare Works by Adepts
(i) The Path of the Magus, Eldon Templar
(ii) The Hymn of Jesus, G.R.S. Mead
(iii) The Way of an Initiate, A. Greville-Gasgoigne
(iv) The Hours of Isis, Evelyn Eaton
Section 7. Netzach: Methods and Practices
a. Astrology
(i) The K.I.S.S. Guide to Astrology, Julia and Derek Parker
(ii) The Watkins Astrology Handbook, Lyn Birkbeck
(iii) The Horary Textbook, John Frawley
b. Tarot
(i) 78 Degrees of Wisdom, Rachel Pollack
(ii) Tarot Plain and Simple, Anthony Louis
c. I-Ching
(i) Total I-Ching, Stephen Karcher
d. Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism
(i) The Spiral Dance, Starhawk
(ii) Eight Sabbats for Witches, Janet and Stewart Farrar
e. Alchemy
(i) The Golden Game, Stanislas Klossowski De Rola
(ii) The Alchemy Reader, Stanton J. Linden
(iii) Transformation of the Psyche, Henderson and Sherwood
(iv) The Black Arts, Richard Cavendish. See ‘Chapter 4, Part 2: The Making of the Stone’
(v) Anatomy of the Psyche: Alchemical Symbolism in Psychotherapy, Edward F. Edinger
(vi) The Hermes Paradigm, Rubaphilos Salfluĕre
(vii) In Pursuit of Gold and The Pass-Keys to Alchemy, Lapidus (David Curwen)
(viii) The Forge and the Crucible, Mircea Eliade
f. The Fourth Way Work
(i) The Fourth Way (P.D. Ousepensky)
(ii) Waking Up: Overcoming the Obstacles to Human Potential (Charles T. Tart)
(iii) Gurdjieff: The Key Concepts, Sophia Wellbeloved
Section 8. Hod: Essential Reference Works
a. Dictionaries and Reference Works
(i) 777, Aleister Crowley
(ii) A Dictionary of Symbols, J.E. Cirlot
(iii) An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols, J.C. Cooper
Section 9. Yesod: Psychology
(i) The Feeling of What Happens, Antonio Damasio
(ii) The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Julian Jaynes
(iii) Mind Time: The Temporal Factor in Consciousness, Benjamin Libet
(iv) Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious, Timothy D. Wilson
(v) Breakdown of Will, George Ainslie
(vi) The Illusion of Conscious Will, Daniel M. Wegner
(vii) Field, Form and Fate: Patterns in Mind, Nature and Psyche, Michael Conforti
(viii) A Psychology with a Soul: Psychosynthesis in Evolutionary Context, Jean Hardy. Particularly on p.138, ‘the Self is depicted somewhat more precisely in the Kabbalah’
Section 10. Malkuth: Science
a. Science
(i) The Unfinished Universe, Louise B. Young
(ii) Chaos, James Gleick
(iii) Gaia, J.E. Lovelock
(iv) The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins
Section 11. Da’ath: Fiction
a. Novels
(i) Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
(ii) Valis, Philip K. Dick
(iii) In the Country of Last Things, Paul Auster
(iv) The Mind Parasites, Colin Wilson
(v) Foucault’s Pendulum, Umberto Eco
(vi) The Chymical Wedding, Lindsay Clarke
b. Short Stories
(i) I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon, Philip K. Dick
(ii) ‘The God’s Script’ in Labyrinths, Jorges Louis Borges
(iii) ‘The Lottery in Babylon’ in Labyrinths, Jorges Louis Borges
Part Two: A Magical Curriculum
I have here listed and linked several books for reading by grade. Whilst any book can be read at any time, they are arranged here by grade in order to provide a graduated curriculum. This is a partial list only, as an extended list with commentary is given in following volumes addressing each grade. Further, this list only covers the Outer Order, but is given to highlight several books that may not reflect the usual recommendations found elsewhere. This list will also be maintained with links at:
www.westernesotericism.com.
Malkuth: Neophyte / Zelator
What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do, Neil Eskelin
Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, Susan Jeffers
The Middle Pillar, Israel Regardie
The One Year Manual, Israel Regardie
The Unfinished Universe, Louise B. Young
Field, Form and Fate, Michael Conforti
The Spectrum of Consciousness, Ken Wilbur
The Golden Game: Alchemical Engravings of the Seventeenth Century, Stanislas Klossowski de Rola
Journey Notes: Writing for Recovery and Spiritual Growth, Richard Solly and Roseann Llyod
Create Your Personal Sacred Text: Develop and Celebrate Your Spiritual Life, Bobbi L. Parish
Yesod: Theoricus
The Act of Will, Roberto Assagioli
What We May Be, Piero Ferrucci
Prometheus Rising, Robert Anton Wilson
The Inner Guide Meditation, Edwin Steinbrecher
The Examined Life, Robert Nozick
The Dice Man, Luke Rhinehart
Waking Up, Charles T. Tart
I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon, Philip K. Dick
The Experience of No-Self, Bernadette Roberts
Hod: Practicus
Beyond Logic and Mysticism, Tom McArthur
Straight and Crooked Thinking, Robert H. Thouless
Symbolic Logic, Lewis Carroll
Vicious Circles and Infinity: An Anthology of Paradoxes, Patrick Hughes and George Brecht
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, Edward O. Wilson
Nervous Breakdown: What is it? What causes it? Who can help? Jenny Cozens
Labyrinths (particularly ‘The God’s Script’), Jorge Luis Borges
The Knee of Listening, Bubba Free John
Netzach: Philosophus
A Year to Live: How to live this year as if it were your last, Stephen Levine
In the Country of Last Things, Paul Auster
The Perennial Philosophy, Aldous Huxley
Additional reading for these grades and further materials for the Adept grade and above will be referenced in future volumes of the Magister and are provided within the Crucible Club.
Bibliography
A full linked version of this bibliography will be maintained for reference and use at www.westernesotericism.com with titles added as the Magister progresses.
Author names are repeated for multiple titles to assist reference on Kindle.
Abbot, R. & Warrington, P. The Works of Arthur H. Norris, Volume I. Natural Living Books: Northamptonshire, 2012.
Abraham, L. A Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1988.
Abram, D. The Spell of the Sensuous. Vintage Books: New York, 1997.
Adler, M. Drawing Down the Moon. Beacon Press: Boston, 1986.
Ankarloo B. & Clark, S. (editors). Witchcraft and Magic in Europe. University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia, 1999.
Anon. Notes of An Adept: Being the
Outline and Study of the Grade Zelator Adeptus Minor. Portal Publications, 2005.
Arguelles, J. Earth Ascending. Bear and Company, 1988.
Ash, E. Hypnotism and Suggestion. William Rider & Son: London, 1912.
Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. (editor). The Forgotten Mage: The Magical Lectures of Colonel C.R.F. Seymour. Thoth Publications: Loughborough, 1999.
Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. First Steps in Ritual. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1982.
Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. The New Book of the Dead. Aquarian: London, 1992.
Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. The Ritual Magic Workbook. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1986.
Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. The Shining Paths. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1983.
Assagioli, R. Psychosynthesis. Turnstone Press: Wellingborough, 1975.
Assagioli, R. The Act of Will. Crucible: Wellingborough, 1990.
Babinsky, E.L. (translator). The Mirror of Simple Souls. Paulist Press: New York, 1993.
Bach, R. Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. Pan Books: London, 1978.
