Michael Sternbach

I would express it like this: The process of bringing matter into a higher state such as represented by the Philosopher's Stone is paralleled by an internal process that you could think of as Ascension. The Philosopher's Stone that you will have attained by then on the physical or external level supposedly has at least three powers: to cure any physical or psychological ailments; to prolong life (some say, indefinitely); and to bring base metals to the exalted state of gold.

I was looking for a good introduction to advanced practical alchemy for quite some time, and the best one I found overall so far is Robert A. Bartlett's The Way of the Crucible. http://www.amazon.com/Way-Crucible-Robert-Allen-Bartlett/dp/0892541547/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432757390&sr=8-1&keywords=bartlett+crucible I am quite sure that some others here will be quick to highlight any shortcomings and imperfections the book may have. I for one am not particularly interested in another tedious discussion about the "true way", however. My only aim here is to contribute my $ 0.02 to Rara's query.

Nothing here to disagree about.

Talking about what is noticeable, it is quite possible that you are looking at the clock more often than you are aware of, only notice the time when it's 11:11, as that stands out now and catches your attention. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. However, I know somebody who swears she sees such a number pair every single time she looks at a clock, and she feels really haunted by this. We shouldn't forget in this context that we always seem to know the time subconsciously. It doesn't take much for most people to learn instructing their subconscious before going to sleep to wake them up at, let's say, 7:37, and to actually wake up at exactly that time. I hope to have more information on that later. I suppose that is your name?

I consider card reading a "passive" use of Tarot, whereas working magick (meaning the art of affecting change in accordance with will) through it is an "active" use. Both uses can be practically very helpful, ime. Most people interested in Tarot start out with the former, but nobody said that you couldn't dive into its magickal potential right from the start. If you want to make a study of the Thoth deck, there is no way around reading Crowley's Book of Thoth - but let me warn you, it is rather heavy reading if you are lacking a solid good background in symbolism, mythology, astrology, kabbalah, numerology and a number of other topics. Lon Milo DuQuette's Understanding the Thoth Tarot serves as a good introduction to the BoT. There are too many other good books on Tarot for me to make a recommendation without knowing more about where your particular interests lie. As far as Tarot for active Magick is concerned, I know some other good books but they are treating the cards a little more intuitively, not based on such a rigorous system like Tyson's. Don't worry, it's well worth every penny. And forget about this deck allegedly not being suitable for beginners. I myself started with the Thoth and still use it primarily for most purposes. Some think that the scenic illustrations of the number cards in other decks make them easier for beginners to read in divination, but that is debatable, plus your primary interest is using Tarot for Ceremonial Magick anyway. The Thoth is an excellent choice for that, as it was created by an outstanding magickian and is one of the decks based on the system of the Golden Dawn that Tyson also uses in his book.

The number 11 is indeed, in a sense, ascending above the closed and established order that the number 10 symbolizes. The eleventh Trump of the Thoth Tarot stands for the beginning of a New Aeon of powerful individualism or individuation that defies traditional values and doctrines. And: The eleventh sign of the Zodiac is Aquarius whose Age we are about to enter (as every child knows by now).

11:11 has special significance as a signal for a collective awakening in the teachings of certain channelled entities such as Lee Carroll's Kryon: From http://www.kryon.com/k_channel11_Laguna%20Hills-11.html But if you are more into the dark and anarchistic stuff, you might like: It talks of your phenomenon of experiencing 11:11 synchronicities with clocks from about 3:45 on.

I would say that the higher being can perceive and make itself known to the lower, and in many cases the opposite holds true as well. Of course, it would be quite a shock to find that all the neighbours in your little town are levitating, going through walls etc and you are the spiritually retarded one. But no worries, the chances for that are rather small. It's an interesting exercise to look at past life experiences from a higher point of view. We should do that every one in a while.

Well, you might be interested in Julius Evola's The Mystery of the Grail - Initiation and Magic in the Quest for the Spirit then, which links the Celtic Grail myth with Rosicrucianism, alchemy, and Masonry. An illuminating book, although I must caution you that some of Evola's other books are coloured by his "Nietzschean" world view and extremist political views, not free of racism and sexism. http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Grail-Initiation-Magic-Spirit/dp/0892815736/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1432461624&sr=8-8&keywords=evola+julius

You are welcome. Please keep me posted. However, the method described in the book is designed more for evoking spirits helping you with a particular life issue, not so much moving heavy objects around (unless your problem is that a rock happens to block your house exit ). Most of the time, that's the more useful kind of Magick anyway, ime, and the most convincing one as well, Plus it will help you to develop your Jedi powers gradually, if that's what you are after. It might take some time though. Nota bene: If you want to perform astonishing acts of Magick, practice is key. Descriptions of crash-boom-bang evocations by advanced magicians can also be found in GD related material, especially in Aleiser Crowley's The Vision and the Voice, and some say one of them in fact resulted in AC's life-long possession by a demon. Remember that you are handling potent acids here - make sure you take the necessary precautions and know what you are doing. If you are in urgent need of "tangible evidence" of the Ghostbuster type, perhaps the best way to go about it would be cautious experimentation with a ouija board. Again, please be careful not to get more than you have bargained for. Psychological balance and resistance highly recommended. The way I look at appearances of spirits, saints, dragons, werewolves etc is that they occur on a "psychoid" level of reality where every consciousness is connected to every other much more obviously than on the physical plane. In other words, the categorizations into "internal" and "external", "subjective" and "objective" start breaking down here. Whatever you experience in this twilight zone will be partially coloured and influenced by your psyche's own conscious and subconscious contents, but that doesn't imply that it's limited to something "internal". And how can you be so sure that there is no helpful spirit behind many a child's "imaginary friend"? I appreciate your sense of adventure. Good luck, and remember that it might take some patience and practice before you will see something convincing enough to you.

In essence, yes. I occasionally have a casual conversation with my "spirit guide". However, depending on the task, you may wish a "grounded" contact to a spirit helper. You can achieve this by performing some symbolical act on the physical level. I would especially recommend reading Donald Tyson's Portable Magic - Tarot Is the Only Tool You Need which translates a Golden Dawn rite for evoking an elemental spirit into a method that can be done with a Tarot deck and some imagination alone. That's sort of a difficult question because we are dealing with "psychoid space" here, where your visualizations themselves can acquire some kind of objective existence. That doesn't exclude the possibility that you are connecting to sources external to your psyche. Even Aleister Crowley sometimes interpreted Magick as psychology. But then, what is the psyche in reality?

You see, Dusty, that's exactly the question: Can all things be sacred without there being things not sacred? For that matter, can there be love without hate? I would say, yes, there can be. Because in this case we (conceptually) transcend the realm of duality.

Seriously, I do think you might have a problem appreciating others' helpfulness and kindness. Perhaps she is reflecting a problem you might have in that area yourself? But alright, if you actually feel your friend sucking your energy out (and that could happen especially if you are not radiating it out freely ), there is some free advice: Do the simple "Psychotronics" exercise, which I personally found helpful during certain stages of my development: Visualize around yourself a sphere made of unbreakable acrylic glass, or an impenetrable glowing energy shield, whatever works best for you. It might be blue or violet, if you like. Keep dwelling on your shield and how it deflects any attempts to invade your personal sphere for about five minutes in the morning and in the evening. Note changes in your energy level.

Because the Dao is sacred, everything is sacred, basically: Every being, every object, every experience. But in practical terms, there are sometimes good reasons to avoid or dispose of certain things.

But maybe she is self-sacrificing enough to learn... But seriously, I can visualize the two of them doing yoga together very well. That would be a good start.

But I might in fact know the perfect partner for her, who will enable her to express her desire for caring and tolerance to the full! Especially if she doesn't mind playing video games. Wouldn't that be a win-win-win scenario? The two of them move together, are so happy in luuv, and you'll be happy too, pal, because you get rid of her and she no longer threatens your sovereign independence.

Wow... Is your room mate pretty and single? Oh, I forgot, I am not... :D

Fwiw, I consider inviting you to the illustrious circle of the eighth level dwellers. Based on the fact that you are happy and content, and have mastered the Law of Distraction. LOLOL

That's what this boils down to, and you said it well. I would add, however, that what we vaguely call intuition is partially the guidance provided by the higher self which is our telos or omega point, yet exists within us now already (everything exists simultaneously from a superior perspective). We have it within us on our innermost levels, and all that any spiritual practice can do is to help manifest it.

Well, your intuition might guide you to a certain tradition for you to follow, even if only for a while. You must give your intuition prevalence over everything else. Learning to distinguish between helpful and deceiving information is itself part of the initiation that leads to the inner self.

This is based on the idea that the goal of any spiritual path is the actualization of your own inner self. Doesn't it make sense then that only this inner self can lead you to its own realization by providing guidance via intuition and synchronicity? Following a certain tradition can be at least part of this journey, of course, but it is no coincidence that spiritual teachers as diverse as Buddha, Djwhal Khul and Seth all emphasized that their words should only be accepted insofar they hold true in the seeker's intuition and experience. For what may be a valid path for one person, may not be suitable for another. And for some people it's really best to follow a certain path for awhile, then take what they have learned from it with them to another.

I don't think it's adequate, anyway, to split healing into physical, emotional etc here as many of the Chinese remedies etc that may be suggested cover both physical and non-physical parts of the human system. A division between preventive and curative medicine makes more sense to me, but again, the lines will blur on a forum like this one.

Relatively, they could be discerned. From an absolute perspective, every definable level would be equally infinitely below the Infinite. This brings to mind the theory (known both in Hinduism and in modern cosmology) that the Universe periodically gets created and destroyed, just to start from scratch again. Or perhaps there is an evolution taking place from one Universe to the next? That would make sense... I basically agree with you. However, we should bear in mind that it seems like on some level, time as we know it ceases to exist, hence there are no "earlier" and "later" stages of an entity's evolution.

So has Brooke Shields. Does that make her a higher being?

Wouldn't that render the idea of there being different levels meaningless, in a way? The concept that there are different "levels" that we can neatly one by one attain to appears to be flawed. We may be advanced in one area and retarded in another. Moreover, on some level time as we understand it exists no longer, and everything that we have ever been and will ever be exists at once.