Thread for the Occult & Esotericism [Resources]

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Sciborg_S_Patel

Release 2.0 of the Standard Spiritualist and Occult Corpus (SSOC) Available

The work that the IAPSOP is doing to preserve these documents is incredibly important, as much of this material is in danger of disappearing as libraries and organizations disburse their collections due to funding and space constraints. Having access to this material in a digital format also allows researchers and interested individuals to discover the true depth and breath of this area of human experience which often finds itself pushed to the margins in the historical accounts provided by mainstream media.
 
Out of curiosity I looked for a book which I already own (originally published 1919) and yes it is there ... it is indeed a huge resource.
 
Ouspensky in London

My new book, Revolutionaries of the Soul (Quest 2014) is a collection of articles and essays written over the last twenty years or so, taken from various publications, such as Fortean Times, Quest Magazine, Lapis and others. The 16 mini-biographies form a kind of “Who’s Who” of modern esotericism; included in the mix are essays on C.G. Jung, Rudolf Steiner, Madame Blavatsky, Colin Wilson, Jean Gebser, Emanuel Swedenborg, and several others.

Here is an excerpt from my essay on P.D. Ouspensky, best known as the most intelligent and articulate disciple of the enigmatic esoteric teacher Gurdjieff, but who was a brilliant philosopher and thinker in his own right. The essay is about Ouspensky’s impact on London in the 1920s, and the opening sections show what Ouspensky had to go through in order to get there.
 
Is there anything actually interesting in that archive? Haven't found anything yet. I've never come across any occult literature that wasn't totally gay and mostly bullshit. Stupid crap written by some wannabe in the 1850s when people had their heads even further up their asses than we do today.

Anyhoo, I've just begun viewing John Anthony West's Magical Egypt Series - The Invisible Science... Pretty good stuff.
 
Haven't found anything yet. I've never come across any occult literature that wasn't totally gay and mostly bullshit. Stupid crap written by some wannabe in the 1850s when people had their heads even further up their asses than we do today.

Or maybe - many nowadays - have their heads much "further up their asses" than those writers and are unable to glean effective info from those writings. Hmmm . . . I started writing that as fun snark/sarc but now realize that it is almost certainly the case. Reminds me of that quote about the Tao. :)
 
Is there anything actually interesting in that archive? Haven't found anything yet. I've never come across any occult literature that wasn't totally gay and mostly bullshit. Stupid crap written by some wannabe in the 1850s when people had their heads even further up their asses than we do today.

Anyhoo, I've just begun viewing John Anthony West's Magical Egypt Series - The Invisible Science... Pretty good stuff.

The best part is the funny pictures. I love those.
 
Is there anything actually interesting in that archive? Haven't found anything yet. I've never come across any occult literature that wasn't totally gay and mostly bullshit. Stupid crap written by some wannabe in the 1850s when people had their heads even further up their asses than we do today.

Anyhoo, I've just begun viewing John Anthony West's Magical Egypt Series - The Invisible Science... Pretty good stuff.

Giving the anti-gay sentiment in at least some occult literature, I'm assuming you mean "silly" and/or "low quality" by "totally gay"?

Honestly, it's not clear to me the writings of any tradition are much better than the occult/esoterics. As time changes one must see new, applicable ore in old dross right?
 
I think this stuff is interesting from an academic or intellectual point of view. They can give you a real perennial kind of feeling.

But I think when people try to practice and do the work it is sometimes better to have a voice that is of your time, even of your own culture perhaps. There are so many trappings in all this stuff that it is easy to get lost without a voice that speaks directly to you. I've been a spiritual consumer and some of the stuff that really seems good for some folks makes me gag. And of course it depends on what your final destination is as well.
 
I think this stuff is interesting from an academic or intellectual point of view. They can give you a real perennial kind of feeling.

But I think when people try to practice and do the work it is sometimes better to have a voice that is of your time, even of your own culture perhaps. There are so many trappings in all this stuff that it is easy to get lost without a voice that speaks directly to you. I've been a spiritual consumer and some of the stuff that really seems good for some folks makes me gag. And of course it depends on what your final destination is as well.

I think most of what people see as logical endpoints or the final gnosis is really just - or at least partially - the fulfillment of certain personal tastes.
 
Two Chaos Magic Practices

I. The Capsule of Intentionality

...Write things in these sacred linguistic/intentionality containing spaces only when you are in the place of your deepest self — a calm, compassionate spacious place. You can write down intentions that you aim to follow lifelong, but you can also write down the carefully defined practices, disciplines, boundaries, specific guidelines of any sort, that you want to follow. Any of these parameters (what I call "Lifeline Mission Parameters") can be altered, but only if you are again in a calm, compassionate state and coming from your deepest self.

Then, as you go through life, aim to follow whatever you set up in your Capsule of Intentionality. This practice is based on the principle that it is rarely wise to override what you set up in a deeper state of consciousness while you are in a lesser state of consciousness.

So, for example, if I record in my Capsule of Intentionality (while in a deep, calm, compassionate level of awareness) a parameter that I avoid eating sugar foods, but am approaching a party in which there will be tempting, sugary deserts, I can allow a change, or a temporary suspension of my parameter, if I am able to return to such a deep state of consciousness and write in the change. On some particular occasion, I might find that there are valid emotional and/or social reasons for allowing such an exception.

If, on the other hand, I'm in a state of even subtle speedy compulsion energy (notice that different states have very different time signatures), then it would be better not to override capsuled parameters and I should stick with what I set up in a higher state of consciousness. Before you write anything into your sacred document, ask yourself the question: Am I in a deep, calm, compassionate state? That is the threshold before you can write new words in your sacred document. Be wary of creating a parameter that is too galling or ascetic and which you don't have the will to follow. It is often better to create gentler, more flexible parameters that you stick to, rather than overly strict ones that you violate frequently.

It may be practical to write in your sacred document that a digital version of it on your smart phone is also valid. This way, if you travel away from your Capsule or Journal of Intentionality, you can make alterations and amendments...

II. Vibration

...If I project myself into a timeline in which I eat a large bowl of ice cream, I foresee pleasure vibrations as I eat it, and then a lowering of frequency and overall energy after. That's my evaluation based on intuition and life experience for me, but you need to supply your own.

We would be living in a much healthier world if people made a mindful, vibratory evaluation of any solid, liquid or gas (smoke, vapor) they choose to allow across the portal of a bodily orifice and become part of their body (you are what you eat, breath and drink). A way to turn that into a practice is to inwardly (or aloud if in solitude) say the word "vibration" before ingesting anything.

You could also say "vibration" inwardy before any energetic transaction such as sex, spending (or other financial transaction), choosing a cultural experience (music, movie, game, sport), or initiating or choosing to participate in a conversation (or other mode of communication such as an email).

At any decision nexus — what website to go to, or television channel, or any activity you can choose to spend time on — inwardly say vibration before allowing the choice to pass through the gateway of change into actuality. Saying this word (really saying it, saying it with presence, feeling and awareness rather than by mechanical rote) is a reawakening to the reality of vibration and an opportunity to choose vibratory transactions that accord with your True Will.
 
Caveat: I'm not claiming anything in the following actually works, I just think it's an interesting read.

‘Hex Sex Codex’—Get a Free Download Of Our New Sex Magick Book


If it’s been a bit quiet here for the last few weeks, it’s because I’ve been even harder at work—I’ve just put together a new e-book, HEX SEX CODEX: The Ultraculture Guide to Sex Magick.

It’s more than just a book, in fact: It’s a full-color, fully illustrated PDF that gives an in-depth explanation of the sigil method of magick, as developed by the artist Austin Osman Spare from the earlier work of Cornelius Agrippa, and later popularized by the chaos magick movement. I think of it as a “coffee table e-book.”
 
Or maybe - many nowadays - have their heads much "further up their asses" than those writers and are unable to glean effective info from those writings. Hmmm . . . I started writing that as fun snark/sarc but now realize that it is almost certainly the case. Reminds me of that quote about the Tao. :)

Giving the anti-gay sentiment in at least some occult literature, I'm assuming you mean "silly" and/or "low quality" by "totally gay"?

Honestly, it's not clear to me the writings of any tradition are much better than the occult/esoterics. As time changes one must see new, applicable ore in old dross right?

I was joking (note the last sentence). I admit it wasn't very funny.
 
:eek: Really? lol. I would extend my apologies for my response but, even on re-reading your post I don't see any clue that it's facetious. Oh well. No foul, no harm ;)

Well, as gabriel once wrote to me:

"As with all replies on this board, I look at the detail and previous form... and it will be balanced against the validity of everything else you've written."

Smart guy.
 
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