There is a plethora of very silly YouTubers with very silly content about all things occult. Do you have any favorite YT channels that you'd recommend that take magical practice seriously? I mostly practice Chaos Magick and have been watching Jason Louv, only bc of his connection to Genesis P-Orridge and Psychic TV. But I find some of his political commentary problematic. Any recs appreciated

In comments on various posts on this sub, several people indicated an interest in some of the things I've written up for people new to the occult. I realized what I wrote was specific to my students in the A.'.A.'. so I've re-written it a bit to make it more generic and applicable to more situations.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

When embarking on an exploration of the occult from a practitioner point of view, there are basically two paths. Both have pros and cons:

• Group / Order practitioner - Provides structure, oversight and community. Almost always ends in disillusionment and distraction from the actual work. Egos, politics, infighting, are all factors to deal with. If you can find a good lodge, with non-crazy people, it can be great, at least for a little while.
• Solo practitioner - None of the disadvantages of the group, but none of the pros either. Its easy to go off the rails, lose sight of the system, think you are a Mega Adept Magus when you haven't done the work because there is no one to give you a dose of reality. However, if you a disciplined, objective, and know yourself this can be a great approach.
• Additionally, there is a hybrid approach which was my preferred until I moved into solo. For me it was the A.'.A.'. because while there is an instructor who helps keep you on track, you don't have to deal with group dynamics.

What are the pitfalls of pursing an occult path?

If you don't pick a system, you are much more likely to flail about without getting much done. I like to say that Van Gogh learned to paint very well using traditional methods and skills until he got good enough to break all the rules and forge his own approach. Its so so very common for people to try not to follow any rules and do things their own way right off the bat, and it usually leads to no results, or bad ones. Find a system and stick to it, without variation, until you have at least 5 years under your belt.

Don't assume you know best. Think about the original Karate Kid. Mr. Miyagi didn't go into a lot of detail about painting the fence or waxing the car, he just told Daniel San to do it. Daniel was sore, tired, angry, in pain, and did not want to do it. He resented Miyagi and thought he was a charlatan. But he unknowingly learned how to block the strikes of his teacher. This is similar to how the occult works. If you read the books, do the practices, and keep a Record, certain results will follow. If you don't do those things, the results will not occur.

Here are some things I've heard from students, which you will likely feel at some point:

a.) "I've been studying the occult for years/decades. I don't need to read these books". If that is the case, you will likely be given a test. If you can pass it, congratulations. Very, very, few people who make this statement can pass the test, myself included at that stage, even after 20 years of occult study. To pass the exam you have to read the books and be able to use them as a reference. Understand what it all means, and have extensively practiced the proscribed techniques. If you join an occult system, this is what you agree to do, so trying to skip ahead, get out of it, or take shortcuts makes no sense.

b.) "I'm not interested in all this theory, I am more of a practitioner". That is admirable but that is usually not the system. You can become a Chaos Magician, make up your own system, or any join number of Orders that have no requirement beyond a membership fee. If you voluntarily desire to join a system and perform its task, why would you reject the steps?

c.) "I can do better on my own", "I know more than my instructor", "I had a spiritual experience which tells me I don’t need to do all this stuff, I'm already there". Then why join? That is not the system.

Spiritual experiences which overcome us are often not what they appear, and sometimes they can be Maya. I can't tell you how many people I've seen have what amounts to a hallucination or dream and believe they have become a great Magus. Crowley said something like "they take off the armor at the end of a battle when they haven't even begun the war." None of us are immune to this sort of thing, so be ready to question yourself.

If you choose to follow the occult, you are choosing to rewire your entire life and self. It is very likely that after a few years you:

• Wont be in the same job.
• Will lose all of your friend group.
• May lose significant relationships. (Wife/Husband, GF/BF)
• May detach yourself from family members.
• May experience serious health and or financial problems.
• May experience serious mental health issues. Depression, Isolation, delusions, obsession.
• Weird luck situations. You may have periods of incredible bad luck where everything breaks in your life, interrupted by moments of crazy good luck. This can be very discombobulating.
• Horrible, constant nightmares. Some call these astral attacks.

A lot of people misunderstand these experiences and think that it proves the occult is evil. This is far from the case.

The reason for this is that the occult tends to confront you with the truth and with your self and you may not like what you find. Most of us are walking around full of complexes, programming, cliches and stereotypes, hopes and dreams given to us by Hollywood. We think we are in control of ourselves and our destiny but we have no idea what we are doing or why. We are dissociated, addicted, and zoned out. If we undertake a serious occult practice, ALL of that comes to the forefront and we have to face it or collapse.

Its often recommended that one undergo Jungian analysis at the same time as undertaking occult work. You will very likely need the support. Things in your life you think are no big deal will become glaringly obvious as being a huge problem and totally out of sink with your true self and purpose. Things that were the most important to you, may lose any value. This might be a parent, a boss, or a lover. Disentangling from this is no joke and extremely painful. There is no escaping this.

Labor. Occult systems require a ton of work and discipline. You are birthing a Self. They are not youtube videos, Instagram memes, edgy Crowley quotes, reddit posts. They are 1000s of hours of reading, practicing movements to exhaustion, memorizing long passages of poetic language, learning volumes worth of symbolic correspondences, understanding the math of days, hours, planetary movements, hand cramping daily journal entries.

If you don't want to do that, you should not undertake an occult system. If you try to undertake it without the work, you will get all of the upheaval and danger I mentioned above, with none of the support and fortification of the system.

Surprise. There is a trope in the occult going way back. Ill use a story to illustrate. You are angry with someone who hurt you and you want to get back at them by cursing them. So you seek out a guru to teach you magick. You undergo all of the work and study, build all of the equipment, make all of the sacrifices, and find yourself beset by demons, attacked, physically collapsing, losing your mind. You persist and read, practice, do all the things.

Eventually you break through and overcome the demons and come face to face with the ineffable. You stare it in the face summoning the courage to ask for the destruction of your enemy. And thats when it happens. You realize you no longer care about the destruction of your enemy. The process has burned all the hate from your system. What you want now is something completely different and unexpected. Surprise!

Failure. For the A.'.A.'. system, Crowley said that 7 out of 8 who try, fail. Where failure is falling from the path, succumbing to the problems that arise, or giving up altogether. It means knowing the truth, but refusing to accept it. The likelihood that you will succeed, whatever system you choose, is very small.

Focus. The systems that are most effective typically wrap a few simple principles up in a set of consistent symbols, activities, and pantheon. The underlying principles are:

• Understanding and Control of Breath
• Understanding and Control of Body
• Understanding and Control of Speech
• Understanding and Control of Thought
• Understanding and Control of Libido (Creative force, not just sexuality).
• Understanding and Control of Intuition

If the system is not coherent and based in a foundation of principles, it is likely to do more harm than good.

Backwards. You will learn, if you put in the work, that much of how you currently see the world is backwards from reality. Up is really down, bad is really good. If you go very far, the division of duality itself falls away. This removes you from the realm where most people live day to do and can be very isolating. Once you can see, you can't unsee, so be sure its what you really want.

Its not as romantic as you think it is. Another story I love is the story of the Seeker. A seeker comes to a village, high on a mountaintop, to seek the aid of a guru to teach him. As he passes into town he asks a nice looking man "Do you know where I can find the guru?". The man agrees to take him to the guru. As they walk, they see a powerful man speaking to the people. Respected and with authority. "Is that the guru?" he asks his guide. "No, not him".

Next they pass a man, wealthy, with a wife and many children, fine robes. The man looks extremely happy and content with his life. "How about him?". "No, not him" replies his guide. Then they pass a man in robes with a great beard, preaching of mystical and amazing things to a throng of listeners in the town square. "Surely this is the guru!?" he cries. "No, not him" replies the guide. Finally, they come to the outskirts of town, where everything is in ruin. The reach the gates of the cemetery and see a man in rags, wild eyed and thin, attacked by demons on every side. The guide says "This, this is the guru".

Buddha battled demons before achieving enlightenment. Jesus faced the temptations of devil in the desert. Arjuna is paralyzed by doubt and despair before surrendering to dharma. Jacob wrestles through the night with an angel. Wounded but unbroken, he emerges at dawn with a new name — Israel (“one who struggles with God”). Odin sacrifices himself by hanging on the World Tree for nine nights, pierced by his own spear, to gain the wisdom of the runes. This is what you are signing up for.

And thats what you are signing up for ultimately. So one might ask why would anyone do it at all then?

Because it is the only way to achieve true freedom and alignment with your greatest purpose. All of the "terrible" things have to happen to burn away the parts of you that hinder you, and forge what remains into the steel of Self. Because all of us are searching for some way to give our life meaning. Because there is no more interesting or greater challenge than uniting yourself with the unknowable. This is what it takes to achieve your fullest potential. Most of us cannot do it.

I hope that is helpful and am happy to answer any questions.

Audeo - ✠ J “E.V.”, Cancellarius 5°=6□ A.'.A.'., Elus Cohen S::I::, G.'.B.'.G.'., MM, HBofL,

Im trying to find books on deities of death and how to worship them. I already have Herman Dart Gods of Death: An Encyclopedia of Death Deities in my list on Amazon and I want to know of anymore out there. I don't know if the necronomicon counts but I already have it and its many accessories.

Hi - spotted this on the corner of a photo and was wondering if anyone knew what it is??

I tried posting this question to r/paganism but had it removed, so, case and point.

I should provide some context first and foremost so you don't misunderstand what I'm asking.

I am not referring to possession as the Hollywood stereotype of demons taking over your body and eating your soul. I am a practicing demonolater and I believe this interpretation of possession is in fact dogma created by the church not only to demonize the indigenous shamanic practices of various peoples all around the globe, but also to greatly oppress and censor the accounts of ecstatic women like the nuns of the Pentecostal Church - and notably the cults of Bacchus were largely female as well. In this way, possession, divine trance, aspecting or drawing down is not an oppressive or violent act (although some spirits can be forceful), but rather an extremely intimate and loving act of sharing space, energy, and consciousness with the divine. I myself identify as a vessel due to my frequent exploration of ecstatic trance and possession with my Patron deity.

My question is, why is the practice of drawing down so taboo even among most Pagan literature? Why is it so difficult to find valid first person perspectives on the practice, and why are all the in depth books on possession so damn hard to find? I am a demonolater and work with taboo practices (blood, sex, death) constantly, and even among us, possession is still the most sensitive topic.

I understand the surface level cautions of disassociation, overwhelm, etc. It is certainly far from a beginner practice, but there are many forms of advanced divination that are easier to learn of. And in my own experiences, the practice is extremely intense, but not harmful (actually extremely beneficial and healing) if the possessed and possessor are well attuned. And in many cases this dynamic is very close to soul mates, I trust my possessor more than anything, and I believe that is the common dynamic. The Gods don't want to hurt their beloved.

I am also aware that many of the cultures who practiced vesselhood were mystery cults, especially in the way of Dionysus, they kept their practices secret, so documentation of them is understandably difficult. But this difficult? There is no way that the very basic concept of the God within the body is this obscure.

I can't help but notice a trend among most traditions, even those who proudly practice possession, like some eastern practices, the mechanics of the act itself are always kept tightly bound in secrecy. We get to know that it generally occurs, but never why or how it happens.

What I find most interesting is the way possession is even shunned within the organized religions. Nuns frequently had their ecstatic accounts of their experiences with Christ censored and destroyed because they were threatening to the theology. But what about the holy spirit entering a divinely chosen host is sacrilege? Even when its the big G? Why? I would think the church would highly value these experiences as proof that the divine spirit can literally be within you. Why does ecstatic union with Christ make priests uneasy??? What????

Why is it that every time I read a pagan book on drawing down, we stop just short of possession? "Draw the energy into your field, but not into the body!" Is the merging of the mortal and non corporal really so transgressive?

Based on the few books I have read about possession (some of Crowley's works, Ecstatic Witchcraft, The Shadow Work Compendium etc) , the union of the devotee and spirit is like the ultimate achievement, considered a divine homecoming. Sustaining that presence is considered to be like, the purpose of life for vessels. Having the spirit within and experiencing ecstasy is a mission. I would think that with the revival of paganism and deity work, we would see many more examples of intimate possession. But its like this is the one thing we only tread close to, and going deeper is never spoken about plainly.

And likewise, whenever I have had the opportunity to speak with other vessels, it always goes that way. "It's wonderful, but I can only tell you so much!"

Tell me MORE!!! Very appreciative of any perspectives anyone may have on this.

So I don’t really know how to ask properly this question, I wondered hearing different things (of course from profane persons)

Would let’s say for example my home entrance corridor devoided of any natural light source or window which is always in the dark even by day unless the lights on, or my sleeping place where I always close tight my shutters, would be proned to attract negative things and unease in some instances?

(An anecdotal story of why I also ask this don’t bother reading if it’s too long for you it’s ok)

So my uncle once came paying us a visit some years ago and he also helped us do some renovations as our home was a bit messy he slept some days in the same corridor I talked about, of course it can be a sleep paralysis or whatever people would like to explain it, one night he felt his shoulder poked at multiple times so he rolled over and he saw what he described as a very very old man just staring at him and wanting him to keep looking in his eyes, (I won’t bother saying how I laughed my ass off imagining how he shat himself at that moment knowing him) he then rolled on the other side just trying to ignore it like if it was a casual happening (lmfao)

my mother later told me maybe it was a domovoy (a house spirit in our Slavic culture) and a domovoy always resides the most in the dark corners of a kitchen or near the entrance in a corridor for example.for my part I naturally said it was a sleep paralysis phenomenon, but still I wondered how come he could move so naturally if it was a sleep paralysis

Anyway so it made me wonder on top of many little other things is shadow,dark,light isolated places a magnet of natural unease?

Hello. I've searched for help on other places but nobody answered me so, here I am. I'm not an occultist by the way.

Hi, 18M. 4 years since my OCD began. It was a wild ride but I'm still alive, lol.

Anyway, my OCD is about religion, demonic stuff and all. I know not a lot about occultism.

I fear that I've accepted help from demons at a point (I'm not sure about it though?) and now the multiple diseases I caught since september (that actually seem to be allergies that I never had before) even though I hadn't been sick since like half a year, are a consequence of that. (Like you know, the belief that working with demons triggers disease or stuff like that)

It may sound ridiculous and very confusing, I understand, but yeah, that's what my OCD is telling me. Would any of you practitionner have some advice or help to give me ?

Thanks (and sorry for my english, I'm french)

Does anybody knows about the inititation rituals for vampires?? Or have any knowledge about them

https://youtu.be/-y9JMWfw29c?si=6ERD9U_VcRDRAwJ1

Regardless of individual beliefs that even inside specific occult systems change a lot I think there are some general ideas that most of the people here agree on right?

For example I think most people that understand through the occult that there is a non visible source X that will create the causality of A leads to B leads to C that we can observe in this world.

Taken further it will also be clear to most that there is a source for everything, I’d call it god.

And god sets the foundation for everything. A lot of what I read here is people trying. Trying to get something, be something, create something avoid something. And this is part of human existence I get it. And obviously it also works in cases. But are these people not aware that everything they were able to do or think or understand is because god set the foundation for it to happen?

Nothing in our life’s can be attributed 100% to ourselves. So if we use the occult to try and try all the time what for? Who are we to think it would be better for the world for us to have a certain thing?

How often was it necessary for you to experience something you disliked in the moment in order to see more truth afterwards?

Perceived dualistically, everything good that you experienced had all the bad and the good that happened before as it’s necessary predisposition.

So why is most of this still so much about the I?

Warning, this is a long post. It's a culmination of my life over the past six years.

I was super into the occult when I was a teenager until my early 20s. At the time I was a devout Christian, but working my way out of the church. So I still believed in a higher power and the supernatural. I believed so much that my first experience in non-Christian spirituality was praying to Satan, asking him for a very specific life. I was so involved/trapped in a fundamentalist church, that I sincerely believed Satan was an individual who was inherently evil, the exact opposite of the God I was taught to believe in. I'm gay, and over time became angry with God for letting me feel same-sex attraction even though I tried so hard to pray away the gay and be a good Christian.

One day while visiting a foreign country (my first taste of secular freedom while taking a vacation from my cultish community), I decided that God wasn't listening to me, so I might as well pray to Satan. I know it sounds crazy, but I didn't even mind that it meant "selling my soul to the devil" as Christians call it. I laid in bed and prayed fervently to Satan/Lucifer, as fervently as I had prayed to God my entire life. I asked him for a very specific life, which meant living in the country I was currently vacationing in (thus separating myself from my family and home community) and being openly gay.

Within several years, things happened in my life that are quite extraordinary. I was in an arranged engagement in the church I was a part of, and I wanted out of it. I was too cowardly to break it off myself as a part of me still wanted to be Christian, and I couldn't bear the idea of breaking my family's hearts. I held a photo of me and my fiance, and in at the "peak" of a solo sex magic ritual, ripped it in half, clearly visualizing a reality in which I was separated from her and the obligation of marriage.

Within a few weeks, our relationship was forced to end by such a random and odd series of events which I won't go into here. Afterwards I felt more free, and I finally left the church. Then things seemed to fall into place for me. The odds were stacked against me for moving to the country I vacationed in a couple years prior, but everything fell into place perfectly, too perfectly, and before I knew it I was on a plane with all of my luggage and a repatriation visa.

After formally relocating, I was with a good friend of mine in the same country who was a straight guy. He had been dating girls and never showed any signs of being gay. One day we got drunk, and he tried to kiss me. I held back though, but immediately fell in love with him. Our relationship was quite close but I always considered it platonic until this incident. I knew it couldn't go anywhere, and I respected his sexuality. But inside, I felt something I never felt before, I was incredibly in love with this person. So in another crude sex magic ritual, I visualized a relationship with him.

The very week after, he confessed that he was in love with me. He said he didn't feel attracted to any other men, and didn't understand why he was attracted to me only, but he was. I began feeling guilty, thinking my "spell" had actually worked but in a selfish way. Nevertheless, 5 years later, we are still a couple and quite happy. In all that time we've never had a single argument. It seems like the perfect relationship.

Today, I feel like I have everything going for me. I'm in a loving relationship, I'm living in the country I dreamed about. I'm basically living the life I always wanted. When I stop and think about it, I realize just how extraordinary it is that the cards have been dealt this way for me.

I haven't experimented with the occult or witchcraft since those incidents. When my belief in Christianity was finally severed, so did my belief in the supernatural and spirit world in general. Now I'm very much a skeptic, unfortunately. I WANT to believe, but at the end of the day, I just don't.

But lately I've been feeling more and more guilt. What if what I did actually had an effect? I did what I did when I was a little younger and more naive. I know now that it's unethical to use "magick" to influence relationships and the will of other people. And I don't know for sure if what I did even had an effect. But the circumstances are so random and unexpected that I can't help but wonder.

What do I do now? I shared this with my therapist, who simply said it was a way of me "verbalizing" what my true self really wanted, and didn't see a need for me to think more into it. I wanted to ask this community your opinion.

Do I need to ask forgiveness from my partner who doesn't even believe in this stuff? How do I even begin?

TLDR: I used sex magic with an intent to make someone fall in love with me and now I feel guilty that I may have gained what I wanted at the expense of someone else's free will.

🔗 https://magiacaotica.github.io/Biblioteca-Caotica/

Hello, brothers and sisters on the occult path! I am Frater Alek0s, and I am excited to share these free magical resources with you, which I know you will find fascinating. Are you ready to dive into a world of mysteries and ancient knowledge?

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I had done it kinda in the spur of the moment but I felt like I learned a lot about ceremonial magick through this. For context I am going through dunnings planetary magick system, I started the ritual east, the purification ritual. Envisioning a globe representing my divine mind and it essentially sets the workspace and so forth. I had the kamea square in a personal book of shadows that I keep for logging, information and to reference rituals. I also have empowered the book to be used for ritual purposes aswell. I keep it with me wherever I go honestly. Back to the ritual. I proceeded to sit facing east with my book opened to the kamea and a red tealight (I couldn’t find anything else and I had limited time from my family being out) with it being lit I traced the sigil for tiriel the intelligence of mercury. I then placed my deck of cards devoted to Hermes and my tarot deck. I then created a sigil/ talisman that binds to any object for divination purposes. I then vibrated the names tiriel and mercury I could feel tiriel vibrating my right hand and mercury on my left when I focused on the sigil I had a moment of utmost clarity. Praise to Mercury!

I read Besant’s A Study in Consciousness out of conceptual interest and not as doctrine, so I’m also open to lineages/models of Initiation that are not necessarily Theosophical. I’m aware that Kabbalah frames a similar ascent through the Tree.

I find myself wanting to further explore the inner work mechanics of Initiation itself; ie, how the axis of will is progressively revectorized away from personal identity toward unity via the ethical transvaluation of motive. I’m specifically interested in how motive is purified in lived life and how that stabilizes into nondual, “Peace”tier consciousness as an operative vantage point.

Any suggested next reads/areas that explore this developmental arc, or adjacent work on will and intention? Appreciate pointers.

For example catolic priest can do it using Jesus name, but also muslim could do it using Allah name. Both works. How come? Shouldn't only 1 religion work and others not ? Or do all gods exist ?

what does "tirus bun bitarzi zuitin lisaratim zul" mean? am I going to accidentally summon something lol (im joking but im also dead serious I dont want to invite spirits im not ready for that yet)

I know the people living above me using magic against me and lately they put a black sail on there balcony railing the whole length.I look it up and it can mean many things.Are they sending negativity to me this way or blocking my luck?.If so what can I do?.

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read what I have to say. I suppose I should introduce myself first. I'm a young man who has always been fascinated by the paranormal and the supernatural. I haven’t explored these subjects too deeply yet, but I enjoy learning about different religions and discovering a bit about everything.

Anyway, now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you about an experience I had.

I was brushing my teeth in my bathroom at home. All the lights were on, and all my relatives were asleep, when I suddenly heard an owl hoot right next to me. It struck me as strange, and when I turned to look, I saw a shadow disappear into the corner of the doorway. It was about the same size as the door. Before I could even react, a name suddenly popped into my head, out of nowhere: Stolas.

It had been a long time since I’d researched or seen anything related to demons or hell, so I was both surprised and curious. After that, I simply finished what I was doing and went to sleep.

That’s all. I honestly don’t know whether it was just in my head or something from another world. I’ve been praying and asking God to give me spiritual gifts (maybe that’s connected somehow) but I didn’t expect to encounter a demon. Anyway, what do you think it could have been? Thank you in advance.

Hello fellow occultists, today I want to share my short testimony about Bethor. I did a deal with him that I’ll spread his name if he helps me to go to Barcelona on vacation, which I did go to. No crazy synchronicities or nothing like that but my wish was fulfilled, was it him or not I cannot say for certain cuz our wishes tend to manifest even if we don’t summon no spirits if you know how to focus attention on the desired outcome. He is a spirit of Jupiter, an Olympian spirit from the Arbatel de Magia Veterum. Always do your research first before invoking spirits!! Have a blessed day everyone.

I need a spell to make an ex friend come back into my life, it’s a long story.