Lotus7 Posted December 26, 2012 Hello all! It has been a while since I have posted, but glad to be back. I am so glad that we now have a hermetic forum!!! Before I begin I must say that early on in my discovery of hermetics and magik, I was a bit skeptical and even a little creeped out by the system. Especially when I began reading up on the outlandish wanderings and ramblings of men like Aleister Crowley... That being said, I was also very drawn to and intrigued by this path! I would drift away from it for a while, and yet somehow would always find myself being led right back to it. I now see my bias as simple ignorance and realize that the path of the white magician as a beautiful gateway to freedom and enhanced existence. Ok.... So I am sure many of you have read "Frabato" by Bardon (or really his assistant Otti). Now,I understand that Frabato is a work of fiction mostly and that Otti was a bit over-zealous. However, he speaks a bit on destiny in the novel, and I can't help but question if my seemingly magnetic pull towards IIH and the hermetic tradition as a whole is entirely coincidental or if I am "destined" to follow this path. I have read IIH and Rawn Clark's commentaries and find the techniques to be very mechanical. I am not attempting to spark a heated debate on destiny nor technical differences in Bardon's system. In fact I don't really know what I am attempting to get at Maybe just some of your experiences in either Bardon's system or hermetic science as a whole. A new year is approaching and I have a lot of soul searching to do as to where I want my life's road to travel from here.Any experience or advice shared is greatly appreciated! Â Love and light,Mateo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apech Posted December 26, 2012 Hello all! It has been a while since I have posted, but glad to be back. I am so glad that we now have a hermetic forum!!! Before I begin I must say that early on in my discovery of hermetics and magik, I was a bit skeptical and even a little creeped out by the system. Especially when I began reading up on the outlandish wanderings and ramblings of men like Aleister Crowley... That being said, I was also very drawn to and intrigued by this path! I would drift away from it for a while, and yet somehow would always find myself being led right back to it. I now see my bias as simple ignorance and realize that the path of the white magician as a beautiful gateway to freedom and enhanced existence. Ok.... So I am sure many of you have read "Frabato" by Bardon (or really his assistant Otti). Now,I understand that Frabato is a work of fiction mostly and that Otti was a bit over-zealous. However, he speaks a bit on destiny in the novel, and I can't help but question if my seemingly magnetic pull towards IIH and the hermetic tradition as a whole is entirely coincidental or if I am "destined" to follow this path. I have read IIH and Rawn Clark's commentaries and find the techniques to be very mechanical. I am not attempting to spark a heated debate on destiny nor technical differences in Bardon's system. In fact I don't really know what I am attempting to get at Maybe just some of your experiences in either Bardon's system or hermetic science as a whole. A new year is approaching and I have a lot of soul searching to do as to where I want my life's road to travel from here.Any experience or advice shared is greatly appreciated!  Love and light,Mateo   I suspect that if you find yourself drawn back to this path then you have a connection to it which you might find helpful to follow.  I'm interested that you find Bardon 'mechanical' because this is exactly what I would say. My teacher always stressed that there is no method to this work ... in the sense that you cannot follow a set of steps mechanically to achieve your goal. Some writers make it sound like this ... even though it may be that they don't really mean it. This is by no means special to Hermeticism there are some schools of Buddhism which suggest that it is a matter of simply repeating so many repititions and you will automatically achieve enlightenment. There is method of course but nt a mechanical one. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted December 27, 2012 IME doors intended for one to walk through sorta appear at the right time. Very few 'coincidences' on the path. You're in the right place here for wise advice and encouragement. Good Luck on your journey. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lotus7 Posted January 4, 2013 Hey thanks guys! I truly feel that I have been "led" to this path rather than it being simply a coincidental occurrence. What would you recommend to read to begin with? Like i said I have read IIH and Rawn's commentary and I plan to begin the steps in IIH in the next week or so. However, I love to read and I know you all are a bit more knowledgeable than myself, so... any recommendations or experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for bringing light to the world! Â Love and light, Mateo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted January 5, 2013 Phil Rickman's two novels The Bones of Avalon followed by The heresy of Dr Dee  Good fun plus sound background.  Enjoy. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lotus7 Posted January 5, 2013 Thanks GMP! I'll check them out after work tonight!! I am very excited to begin this new chapter in my life! A point that Bardon makes time after time (as well as many other authors) is that if one is only willing to gain solid knowledge of a topic or practice, books will suffice. However knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom only comes from the practical application of the knowledge, i.e. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!! Thus far I have been simply a knowledge man with very little practice to show. I am very much looking forward to the UNDERSTANDING On a side note, I have always very much enjoyed reading Seth Ananda's posts on here, not simply from his Hermetic perspectives,but from yoga to philosophy and so on... So,Seth if you read this give me a shout; you have been a great inspiration to me! (I guess I could refrain from being lazy and just PM you.... but alas I must go to work at the moment) Anyways, Thanks again GMP! Â Love and Light<Mateo 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sloppy Zhang Posted January 6, 2013 I have read IIH and Rawn Clark's commentaries and find the techniques to be very mechanical.  I'm a huge fan of William Mistele's perspectives on Bardon's practices. His website is here: http://www.williammistele.com  Basically he's coming at it from the perspective of Western society being heavily steeped in Fire, Air, and Earth energies already, with very little respect, acknowledgement, or practical workings of the Water element- feeling, naturalness, emotion, sympathy/empathy, etc.  So obviously the steps will seem "mechanical"- the way that they are presented, the way they have been translated, and the way they have been adopted has been done through the lens of Western culture- which is all about logical progression, rational thinking, and connecting separate pieces (various combinations of Air, Fire, and Earth elements).  I'd read through his commentaries as well as the archives of some of his past articles. Very interesting stuff. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
