Today I received an email advertising Pushing Ulltimates, by “Lew Paz.” I don’t know why they sent me this email, but I wasn’t thrilled.

However, to give it a fair shake, I went to the web site and looked at the publishing house’s credentials. They have only Lew’s book to their credit. Lew designed the publishing house’s trademark. I think they might be rather friendly with old Lew, personally. You know. Friendly.

So I went through the excerpts they had on their site. The book purports to be a modern philosopher’s foray into the mind and self awareness. I think. It was confusing. The excerpts show that most of this book is made up of quotes that illustrate the author’s point. He uses really big words too.

Here’s a sample from the Excerpts page:

From the works of numerous scholars of varied fields, it is clear that a vast proportion of the population is alienated from authentic self-awareness. This alienation has been described as a psychological/spiritual stultification of the evolution of consciousness, brought about by mass subservience toward external socially oriented goals, which disregard knowledge of human spiritual essence. As the great Hindu sage Sri Aurobindo maintained, authentic knowledge begins when we probe beyond appearances, beyond ossified traditional belief systems and sterile scientism. The quality of knowledge this book is concerned with is, as the scholar Henri Corbin wrote, “knowledge that changes and transforms the knowing subject.”

For serious.

Ok, now as a writer, I know how much effort went into this book. I know he thinks it’s important. He spent all that time writing, editing, and then promoting his book. Designing the web site probably took an hour or two in itself. And registering the domain must be costing him at least $15. So it’s not only time and effort, it’s real capital he’s invested into this work.

And it might actually help someone. Somewhere. With a large vocabulary. Who is easily impressed by proof-text quotes from alleged spiritual masters they’ve never heard of.

Me, I wasn’t too impressed. But since they took the time to send me an email, I decided to take the time and give it a review based on what they have publicly available.

I think it sucks. I would rather see people go out and do magic than waste a dime or an iota of time reading this kind of self-serving new age crap. Magic is free, the knowledge you need is free, and this dude’s insights… Well, let’s just say that it’s easy to find other people to quote who agree with the author becuase these aren’t exactly original.

It’s repackaged, sure, and seriously, the guy spent a long time writing it, and that’s worthy of respect, but there’s a lot of dreck that takes a long time to write available. So hats off for finishing a manuscript, Lew Paz, but next time make it more approachable, drop the quotes, and tell us what you really experienced and think about it.

“Rosco P. Coltrane” was the name to you we gave,
soon to be written in childe’s scrawl above your garden grave.
“Pets die more oft’ than people do,” I told her as she cried,
it didn’t help because to her more than a weasle died.
A friend, a toy, a pet, a joy, the girl had lost too much.
I held her as she sobbed and shook, and blubbered on, and such.

I do not understand, I’m sure, the pleasure she had found
in that smelly, creepy-looking thing that recently had drown’d.
So my silence I shall keep on this, I will not bitch or moan
or mention that we have a chance to make the Animal Stone.
For now, Rosco, I bid adieu, and hope the childe can bear it,
this grief your passing brought to us, so long you smelly ferret.

(C) 2008, Rufus Opus

Activation of the power of the grimoires to their fullest comes from two things. First you need to understand the context of the grimoires by studying a wide variety of approaches that were contemporary to one another. You need to read the Keys of Solomon, all the parts of the Lemegeton, the 6th and 7th Books of Moses, Liber Juratus, the Grimorium Verum, and most importantly perhaps, the Heptameron. You need to know the world view they are representative of by learning about neo-platonism, cosmic hierarchies, and Hermeticism. You need to know the politics of the time, and the doctrines of the Churches that were being tossed about.

Learning all that stuff doesn’t take that long, really. I read like a fish breathes water. A couple of months on Joe Peterson’s Esoteric Archive is enough to get your feet wet.

There’s still another piece to activating the full power of the grimoires, in my opinion and experience, though that must be taken. Think of it as an initiation. You’ve got to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

On a list I belong to comprised primarily of pagans who also happen to perform ceremonial magic(k), a recent post was about the Right Path. I explained in my best possible non-judgmental, non-proselytizing way that there are lots of different individual paths, but they all end up at the same place, eventually. I also included that you know you’re on the right path when you get a vision of the universe and your personal place in it.

That’s exactly what you need to really activate the grimoires. Knowing about the hierarchies is great, but until you not only know where your place in them is, but also know that you are in that place because you’ve been spiritually transformed, you don’t get to really get the full benefits.

My transformation came from church. I got a spiritual baptism that changed me at the core. I accepted what Christ did on the cross on my behalf. I saw that he made right what had been wrong for so long. I felt the cleansing of my sphere. It was a truly powerful experience that literally changed my life.

THEN I made contact with my Holy Guardian Angel. The spiritual transformation was given an applicable framework. Specific tasks were given, training programs were enacted, and at each stage progressively my sphere was sanctified, purified, and reconciled more to the place where I could operate from in power.

It was like being trained to use the equipment in an Air Traffic Control Tower. I learned to read the weather (astrological conditions), the radar (astral viewing/scrying), the codes to give the airplanes (seals, sigils, names), and the most efficient ways to direct landings and take-offs so that the operations were strategically coordinated (the frameworks of the grimoires). I learned disaster recovery techniques (sell the crystal skull and set wards against Tezcatlipoca), and emergency situation protocols (how to use the lead Seal of Solomon from the Goetia). I learned the ins and outs of the job, and then I got to work at the controls myself with the trainer right behind and slightly above me making sure everything went smoothly. We started at a small airport with a few airplanes (the Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals attributed to Trithemius), and worked my way up to more advanced Work involving a lot more craft (Enochian now, sheesh).

Every step of the way, the transformation I experienced in church during a praise and worship service has been added to, magnified, and made more meaningful. I no longer attend church regularly. I relate to God through my magic, my meditation, my contemplation, and even in the back-aching inscription of alternate alphabets into wood, stone, and metals. I pray a lot more and talk a lot less. All the knowledge and conversation with my HGA, all the learning from books, all the conjuring of Angels and Demons, it’s meaningless without that initial transformation.

Do you have to be a Hermetic Christian with Gnostic tendencies to get the most out of the Grimoires? I can’t say you must, because I never got jack shit out of them before I was one. I don’t have anything to compare it to. But I can tell you that based on my experiences, it certainly does help.

Comments were acting weird today. I had switched the format a few weeks ago, and there were no problems, but today it went ker-put. I’ve changed the entry format, and it seems to be working now. If you had comments to make, feel free to make them now.

Activation of the power of the grimoires to their fullest comes from two things. First you need to understand the context of the grimoires by studying a wide variety of approaches that were contemporary to one another. You need to read the Keys of Solomon, all the parts of the Lemegeton, the 6th and 7th Books of Moses, Liber Juratus, the Grimorium Verum, and most importantly perhaps, the Heptameron. You need to know the world view they are representative of by learning about neo-platonism, cosmic hierarchies, and Hermeticism. You need to know the politics of the time, and the doctrines of the Churches that were being tossed about.

Learning all that stuff doesn’t take that long, really. I read like a fish breathes water. A couple of months on Joe Peterson’s Esoteric Archive is enough to get your feet wet.

There’s still another piece to activating the full power of the grimoires, in my opinion and experience, though that must be taken. Think of it as an initiation. You’ve got to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

On a list I belong to comprised primarily of pagans who also happen to perform ceremonial magic(k), a recent post was about the Right Path. I explained in my best possible non-judgmental, non-proselytizing way that there are lots of different individual paths, but they all end up at the same place, eventually. I also included that you know you’re on the right path when you get a vision of the universe and your personal place in it.

That’s exactly what you need to really activate the grimoires. Knowing about the hierarchies is great, but until you not only know where your place in them is, but also know that you are in that place because you’ve been spiritually transformed, you don’t get to really get the full benefits.

My transformation came from church. I got a spiritual baptism that changed me at the core. I accepted what Christ did on the cross on my behalf. I saw that he made right what had been wrong for so long. I felt the cleansing of my sphere. It was a truly powerful experience that literally changed my life.

THEN I made contact with my Holy Guardian Angel. The spiritual transformation was given an applicable framework. Specific tasks were given, training programs were enacted, and at each stage progressively my sphere was sanctified, purified, and reconciled more to the place where I could operate from in power.

It was like being trained to use the equipment in an Air Traffic Control Tower. I learned to read the weather (astrological conditions), the radar (astral viewing/scrying), the codes to give the airplanes (seals, sigils, names), and the most efficient ways to direct landings and take-offs so that the operations were strategically coordinated (the frameworks of the grimoires). I learned disaster recovery techniques (sell the crystal skull and set wards against Tezcatlipoca), and emergency situation protocols (how to use the lead Seal of Solomon from the Goetia). I learned the ins and outs of the job, and then I got to work at the controls myself with the trainer right behind and slightly above me making sure everything went smoothly. We started at a small airport with a few airplanes (the Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals attributed to Trithemius), and worked my way up to more advanced Work involving a lot more craft (Enochian now, sheesh).

Every step of the way, the transformation I experienced in church during a praise and worship service has been added to, magnified, and made more meaningful. I no longer attend church regularly. I relate to God through my magic, my meditation, my contemplation, and even in the back-aching inscription of alternate alphabets into wood, stone, and metals. I pray a lot more and talk a lot less. All the knowledge and conversation with my HGA, all the learning from books, all the conjuring of Angels and Demons, it’s meaningless without that initial transformation.

Do you have to be a Hermetic Christian with Gnostic tendencies to get the most out of the Grimoires? I can’t say you must, because I never got jack shit out of them before I was one. I don’t have anything to compare it to. But I can tell you that based on my experiences, it certainly does help.

Because it’s War!

Voting is a Martial act. A revolutionary act. Every Vote we make as an American (or other) citizen is a declaration of War on tyranny. Regardless of the candidate elected, democracy wins against authoritarian regimes, monarchies, despotism, fascism, communism, oligarchies, and dictatorships.

You can see it at the voting booths. Doubt about the outcome, desire to be on the winning team, consternation about the lack of decent choices, hope that whatever happens, they’ll be alright…

It’s not the same as facing bullets, but the war rages on.

Now, what about other countries? What day do they vote on, and what does that tell us about how they perceive voting? Is it just America that has a Martial attitude about everything governmental? Are there any countries that vote on Fridays?

Step 1:

Think of SOMETHING you want to do.

Step 2:

Figure out what the steps are between where you are today and where you would need to be to do the SOMETHING you want to do.

Step 3:

Follow the steps. If you find you didn’t plan well, adapt the plan. Start over at Step 2 with the new information.

Step 4:

When you’re ready to DO SOMETHING… DO IT.

Notes:

Repeat as needed.

Well, ladies and gents, I’ve got some plans warming.

The Invisible College is a thing I’ve spoken of before. I’m going to start using a blog I set up before to track how I use magic to influence my world. I’d like to invite anyone interested in writing posts for the blog to contact me, and I’ll add you to the list of authorized writers. I ask that only those who are comfortable talking about how they practically use magic to control their world contact me.

The rest of this post is an example of what I would expect to see at the Invisible College Blog, only better written, more creative, and less rambling. I do tend to ramble.

Barbatos in 2009

I was looking through the Goetia descriptions today, and found this description of Barbatos:

Makes you Dr. Doolittle, opens treasures sealed by magicians, divination, reconciles friends and those in power

I know, where did I ever find such an awesome and detailed description of the spirit? From my spreadshet. One of the columns I have for the Goets is a quick-reference guide to their abilities.

No, you can’t have it.

Reconciles Friends and Those in Power

Hey, that sounds like the kind of help a leader of the US might need after taking over from a bumbling Texan with more financial backers than brains who single-handedly pissed off most of the countries of the world over the last eight years. That’s also the kind of help I’d like to see get to work in Iraq’s Parliament, the Palestine-Israel situation, and Russia-Georgia.

So, rather than experiment on my own country’s leadership, I’m going to start in the backwater nations. A quick Google news search tells me that there are ample opportunities for Reconciliations between those in Power in many parts of the world. How wonderful for me!

I’m going to start with Somalia. The following dudes are having issues:

President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed & Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein

Granted, I don’t have a large amount of info on the background of their problems, but I don’t want to have to know. I want to gauge the effectiveness of Barbatos in bringing reconciliation between two political leaders. These dudes are the first target. I’ll find some others later to get a wider sampling. If it looks like Barbatos is good at bringing reconciliation without any major catastrophes as a result, then I’ll help Obama out in his efforts with Iran, Russia, and France. I’ll also target the GOP and the Democrats, see if we can get a little peace in congress so we can make some progress.

Hmmm. Maybe I’ll look for a spirit that makes Wall Street people SMART for a change. 😀

Well, ladies and gents, I’ve got some plans warming.

The Invisible College is a thing I’ve spoken of before. I’m going to start using a blog I set up before to track how I use magic to influence my world. I’d like to invite anyone interested in writing posts for the blog to contact me, and I’ll add you to the list of authorized writers. I ask that only those who are comfortable talking about how they practically use magic to control their world contact me.

The rest of this post is an example of what I would expect to see at the Invisible College Blog, only better written, more creative, and less rambling. I do tend to ramble.

Barbatos in 2009

I was looking through the Goetia descriptions today, and found this description of Barbatos:

Makes you Dr. Doolittle, opens treasures sealed by magicians, divination, reconciles friends and those in power

I know, where did I ever find such an awesome and detailed description of the spirit? From my spreadshet. One of the columns I have for the Goets is a quick-reference guide to their abilities.

No, you can’t have it.

Reconciles Friends and Those in Power

Hey, that sounds like the kind of help a leader of the US might need after taking over from a bumbling Texan with more financial backers than brains who single-handedly pissed off most of the countries of the world over the last eight years. That’s also the kind of help I’d like to see get to work in Iraq’s Parliament, the Palestine-Israel situation, and Russia-Georgia.

So, rather than experiment on my own country’s leadership, I’m going to start in the backwater nations. A quick Google news search tells me that there are ample opportunities for Reconciliations between those in Power in many parts of the world. How wonderful for me!

I’m going to start with Somalia. The following dudes are having issues:

President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed & Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein

Granted, I don’t have a large amount of info on the background of their problems, but I don’t want to have to know. I want to gauge the effectiveness of Barbatos in bringing reconciliation between two political leaders. These dudes are the first target. I’ll find some others later to get a wider sampling. If it looks like Barbatos is good at bringing reconciliation without any major catastrophes as a result, then I’ll help Obama out in his efforts with Iran, Russia, and France. I’ll also target the GOP and the Democrats, see if we can get a little peace in congress so we can make some progress.

Hmmm. Maybe I’ll look for a spirit that makes Wall Street people SMART for a change. 😀