All Beginners come to occultism because they want to transform their lives but usually fall into two distinct types.
Type (1) Want to change/transform their lives, empower themselves, develop psychic skills/abilities, learn about the ancient wisdom, perhaps adopt a personal occult philosophy or belief and discover the meaning of life. Or:
Type (2): Want to learn how to apply magical method to cure a pressing problem/situation.
The first option (1) requires considerably more effort and investment of time than type ( 2).
If you are a type (2) enquirer you do not necessarily have to burn the midnight oil before you begin to apply magic to your life - see our range of ready made spell kits (www.sorcerers-apprentice.co.uk/spelkits.htm) or/and our range of ready prepared magical oils (www.sorcerers-apprentice.co.uk/magoils.htm) which are specifically designed for a beginner to use quickly and reliably without them having to invest time and effort in learning the fundamentals of magical philosophy and method.
Those who are of the first persuasion will find what follows of immense value.
There are literally thousands of valid magical paths and methods which have been evolved by esoteric masters and adepts over thousands of years, all over the globe, in response to the local gods and cultures. The basic Human Condition is fairly standard throughout all times and all places (there is no such thing as progress - everything remains constant) so there is plenty of overlap between methods/paths. Indiscriminate use of symbology and stereotypes by the media and entertainment industries has lead to a mish-mash of ideas about the occult. This often leads the newcomer to think that everything dovetails into everything else. This causes tremendous confusion because nothing could be further from the truth. There ARE essential Truths which underpin most every methodology but every methodology which contains essential truths is not necessarily suitable for you.
Occultism is the sum total of mankind's spiritual endeavour on this planet. In previous ages it has taken a lifetime for the keen seeker to amass enough knowledge to become proficient in any one magical method. However since the Occult Renaissance began in the late 18th century various adepts have over the years attempted to refine, collate and synthesize the teachings that went before into cohesive systems. This amalgamation of the Ancient Wisdom increased exponentially in the 1960s and current advancements in the wide acceptance of alternative healing and New Age therapies are a consequence of people cherry-picking from the traditional paths of esotericism and coining new names for the hived off traditional techniques. Crystal Therapy, for instance, was 'invented' by Agrippa in the 13th century, or rather was designated as just one small part of of his treatise on Natural Magic. He revealed in a couple of chapters what dozens of supposed modern experts in Crystal Therapy have worked up to fill hundreds of repetitive books on the subject. And , moreover, Agrippa included Crystal/Gem Therapy in its proper place within a completely holistic magical method, making it far more powerful and practical in effect. Paracelsus (the 'father of modern medicine) built on Agrippa's work producing healing elixirs made from gemstone and metallic ores etc,. The forerunner of modern chemical drugs.
The objective of adepts like these was to write up their personal discoveries into a holistic magical method so that others who came after them would not have to spend years on pilgrimages to the Hand of the Pyramids, Tibet or wherever. Today you are now in a peculiarly advantageous position which has not occurred before (previously the discoveries of adepts were repeatedly suppressed by the Church or State). In today's world you can read in a couple of nights what it may have taken an adept a lifetime to collate. Today your problem is not one of access, but one of data overkill - because the bar to success in learning about genuine esotericism is the ability to locate GENUINE treatises amongst the cacophony of undiscerning pseudo books on the New Age which have deluged the market over the past two decades. This leaflet is an attempt to point you in the right direction and equip you with the knowledge to choose your path from the many which are available to you.
This depends very much on your present state of awareness and how indoctrinated your thinking is. Floundering about by yourself it could take years before you can confidently term yourself an 'occultist'. However by choosing and applying the aids I recommend here you could reach that point within a few months. Via the S.A. I have helped many tens of thousands of people along their chosen occult path and if you follow my advice you can tread in their footsteps. Personal occult development usually goes something like this.
Within the first couple of months the going seems confusing but then the fog clears and the first illumination comes. You will see that one path of occultism is ideal for you, feels absolutely 'right' and you will want to specialise in studying that in preparation to making a bigger commitment.
Within six months you will develop ultimate confidence in the fact that your chosen path is giving you more succor and advancement in weeks than the whole of your earlier life achieved. You will become avaricious for Right Knowledge, will be on-message with your inner-guide, will find almost everything you read contributing deeply to your development. You will feel more confident, more secure, more empowered and more in command of your destiny than ever before. You will find that you gravitate to other Seekers (and they to you). You will have begun to experience regular psychic happenings of a minor kind. Synchronicities, deja vus, knowing what people are going to say before they say it. You will find your divinatory attempts growing in effect, you will remember more of your dreams and will find them highly pertinent as though your inner-guide is leading you (and it will be!).
Within another couple of months you will develop a new paternal approach to your fellow humans - you will be released from basic insecurities and fears - you will have a compulsion to 'serve' to assist others in their lives; and all the time you will become more and more ecstatic over the potentials that occultism has given you. Things you attempt succeed, often with surprisingly little effort. You will find you have new talents, new skills which help you in your life and work. Modes of self-expression (art/writing music etc) will develop spontaneously where you originally believed you were hopeless. Other 'gifts' will spontaneously occur and you will begin to achieve spiritually and mundanely.
During all this you will be drawn beyond the theory and realise that you must actually remove the bonds which bind your mind using ceremonial magic if you are going to enter other worlds and achieve full empowerment. By 'ceremonial magic' I am of course referring to all forms of spellcasting, ritual and ceremonial observance. Your initial forays into ceremonial magic will highlight your limited skills and so you will use esoteric methods to begin to develop innate capacities which before you had not imagined. The ability to manipulate the elemental forces, control and direct your thoughts and your powers of visualisation into extraordinary levels. You will ceremonially observe the occult festivals of the year and this will synchronise you with the powerful primordial forces of Gaia. All of this will bring a 'rightness' - a feeling of having for the first time actually fitted into your place in the universe. .
By the end of the first year your life and the life of those close to you will be transformed for the better and you will for the first time realise just how much there is to know of the Ancient Wisdom and be glad that what it offers is so immense. By this time you will have a small library of reference works and source works. Your knowledge about Life will have expanded a thousand fold. You will have learned not just about esoteric matters, but about how the esoteric interfaces with the mundane and so you will acrete knowledge to yourself beyond that which is taught in universities. You will be so grateful about what you have achieved that you will want to persevere and fulfill yourself. Soon BIG questions about life, reality, multi-dimensional existence, the plasticity of time and space, interdimensionality of the spirit, the reasons for ceremony and ritual, the control and direction of elemental power, exteriorisation of the astral sheath - all these things and more will become clear - but I have already said too much. At this juncture you will be at a completely new beginning, searching for an adept or master to work with and what comes next will be even better for it concerns magical memory and locating your reincarnatory path over multiple lifetimes.
All Human beings have a similar growth curve. We all reincarnate, live, love, procreate, strive to express our uniqueness, grow old and pass on to further dimensions. On the way destiny and fate combine to create situations where we all experience elation, depression, success, failure, wonder, hope, grief, etc,. Our spiritual progress on the quest for freedom of thought is similar. We will all undergo various 'initiations' (initiation means 'to begin anew') automatically as our awareness grows and we develop our skills and perceptions and become aware of the other-worlds.
The problem is one of time. You want to get to a state of awareness and knowledge QUICKLY and avoid the kind of books which rehash or rehearse useless information in favour of the books and teachers which can actually open doors in your perception.
However before you can make a proper commitment to a particular path or magical school you need to put yourself in the place of things; learn the basic dialogue, become aware of the secret history of the esoteric, see what paths are open to you and what they consist of. Ultimately the only thing that can tell you exactly what YOU need is that little voice from within - your inner-guide/holy guardian angel. Until you activate that a trustworthy teacher is essential and that is what this mini-course attempts to provide.
Only your inner guide can know exactly what your nature will respond to and what is required in this incarnation to complete your karma. Contact with your inner-guide will come as a matter of course after you have immersed yourself in esoteric matters for some months. In the meantime you need some mechanism to avoid the many, many time-wasting teachings, inaccurately portrayed philosophies , moral humbug and downright misleading information which appears in many New Age books at the moment. This is what this leaflet sets out to do - to equip you with a basic knowledge of the occult, show you what is available and explain generally what the various mystery schools teach. It is worth it's weight in gold for the genuine seeker.
The following selection of occult teaching-aids constitute a mini-course in practical magic for the most popular mystery schools today. Do not be daunted by the number of items included; you will naturally gravitate to one particular aspect and need not obtain ALL of the items listed in each section. At the moment your ideas of each of these magical paths is untutored and as your knowledge grows you may find a path (one which you maybe had not originally considered) becomes compelling for you. For instance, anyone with an intuitive interest in Witchcraft/Paganism is likely to choose A Guide to Paganism instead of Transcendental Magic, a classic of hermeticism from the first section. However, after reading the former the newcomer may find that Paganism does not fulfil their preconceptions hence can expand his/her knowledge by returning to purchase Transcendental Magic or any of the other recommendations of information relating to the different paths of magic. Similarly, in Section 2 you do not need to purchase every psychic method listed, just those you think will apply to your situation. If you find that one ineffective then try some of the others. You do not therefore need to spend a fortune to begin your quest. Get what you feel you really need and refer to this guide for supplementary recommendations as and when required. Having said this the idea with these recommendations is to prepare a rounded knowledge of and practical ability with the major forms of magic so you will work against your own interests and have a skewed view of the options if you do not select at least one from every section to start with.
There are three major streams of esotericism popular in the west today.
Whatever your interest it will fall under one of the above (e.g. Shintoism =1 Voodoun = 1 Chakra Therapy = 3, Chaos Magic = 2 Neo-Satanism = 2 etc., )
Be aware that this distinction is technical, not moral. In magic, like science, we deal with the technical methods first. Morality is a matter of choice at the point of focus. No magical method is inherently evil or inherently good. It is the use to which the method is put which creates evil or good effects. You are always in control of that because you can always choose what to do and what not to do. Ergo, reading a book on Satanism is not going to turn you into a Satanist unless you want so to be. Magicians know from their training how wild and unpredictable untrained human emotions are. Thus in magic we develop powerful control over our emotional centres and are therefore much less likely to commit evil acts than ordinary folk. (the true meaning of that which appears obvious always resides in its opposite)
How does one differentiate between these confusing alternatives and choose the ones to explore? Well, obviously Voodoun is genuine Shamanism (ancestor worship) but it's European shamanistic equivalent is Witchcraft - hence depending upon your genetic makeup you may prefer one or the other. That is, though there is no bar on a Caucasian learning Voodoun, he/she has his own gods and will generally find them more effective than those of a different location or race. A white European will usually find that Witchcraft/Paganism will produce better results for them and feel more at home (in an inner sense) with Witchcraft than with Voodoun. Even so, there is absolutely no restriction on what you can investigate (everything which is possible is permissible).
Equally, any black or Asian person who has been born and brought up in a European environment may choose to investigate/practice European Witchcraft but should also consider Voodoun or Sufism (the mystery sect of Islam), or Tantrism (a mystery sect of Hinduism) etc., as these may 'unlock' gates to the gods for them more easily. Different strokes for different folks. Similarly, though Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophy many Taoists today are Westerners and there are some orientals who have adopted Qabbalism (the Judaic Mystery Tradition) as their forte. What I am doing here is illustrating the all-inclusive nature of esotericism whilst giving you an idea of which path/belief may be more viable to you, bearing in mind that this leaflet will be going out to people all over the world. The idea is to get you to THINK about magical methods which may at first appear alien.
So the first thing to do is to learn what the LOCAL magical traditions are where you were born/brought up and see if you are intuitively drawn to them and then investigate to find out whether they suit your nature. If it doesn't work for you then junk it and explore another.
Here are some recommended works to introduce you to the various paths and give you the knowledge and information you will require to make your initial forays.