Matt8800

No, stay with your meditation. Maybe bump it to 20-30 minutes. Then I would start to learn a few basic rituals: the middle pillar ritual (raising energy and clearing/unblocking chakras), the qabbalistic cross ritual (induce cosmic consciousness), the lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram (to clear out internal negative energy and provide protection from outside negative energy) and the lesser invoking ritual of the pentagram (to raise energy and integrate it based on your intention). There are some other rituals that can be useful for charging objects with energy (protection, prosperity, strength, psychic powers, etc) In occult philosophy, one should be strive to have balanced energy. For example, If one is naturally full of love and feminine energy, they should raise and integrate strength/power and masculine energy and vice versa.

Thank you for saying

@mandyjw Yes, all people are born with different abilities according to their karma and the way their energy is balanced. For example, feminine energy seems to be naturally more psychic. With that said, I do believe we can do certain practices now, with the proper intention, that will radically increase future spiritual abilities. The reason is that the practices purify ones karma, balance ones energies and greatly intensify ones energies. It is common for practicing occultists that have been working at the foundational practices to start recalling memories of past lives, have out of body experiences (astral projection), develop powerful abilities to direct energy, invoke the help of benevolent non-physical beings, general psychic abilities, etc, etc, etc. This is even the case with people that have never had those abilities in the past, assuming they are willing to put in the work of daily practice (including meditation). There is a practice called the Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram. You can raise energies and abilities based on whatever your intention is. CAUTION: this should NOT be performed without doing other rituals along side it to be able to balance and manage your energies properly or one can get themselves into trouble by getting too much energy without the ability to handle it yet.

@nahm I totally agree and am glad you are pointing this important point out.

In my opinion, and the general opinion of most occultists, the purpose of meditation is concentration and stilling the mind. Once someone develops concentration abilities, they can use their concentration abilities to deconstruct the ego mechanism. Deconstructing the ego mechanism allows them to get in touch with their inner guru/guardian angel to help guide them on their path. Once one has stilled the mind and influence of the ego through concentration, then contemplation of the concepts you mentioned can be done with the guidance of the inner guru/guardian angel but I personally see that as different than meditation and for other purposes. If the ego isnt quieted, then the inner guru/guardian angel cannot be heard. Or worse, one mistakes their ego's whispering as their inner guru/guardian angel. If I didnt answer the questions, let me know

@Hellspeed I probably wouldnt word it like that but I tend to agree with the general sentiment. I do believe that people can be highly enlightened but still have weak spiritual abilities. I view this as unbalanced and partially developed spiritual evolution.

I believe that the spiritually responsible thing to do is to choose to have sex with someone that they truly care about. Their spiritual "vibration" should also be a consideration. There is so much to learn in the occult, I havent focused my energies in learning astrology yet but there must be a reason why so many highly intelligent people believe in it so much. The occult incorporates astrology pretty heavily.

@nahm I dont believe one can master their ego without daily meditation. If they dont master their ego, they will be stuck with the associated suffering. Then they try to use magick to counter the effects of the suffering caused by the ego. They spin their wheels in their spiritual quest and their magic remains weak. I completely agree with where you are going with the questions. Most people have no idea what concentration really can do until they can sit as long as they want with a completely still mind. Many believe their current state of mental chaos is sufficient because they have never known any different....or worse, they are unaware that their mind is chaotic. As you are alluding to, what one seeks changes significantly when the ego is no longer in control. Every Occult master would say that meditation is the foundation of magical work. If a beginner thinks they can disagree with the masters than they arent ready to be a student. This is where people get into trouble imo. Any one that thinks they can develop powerful magick without meditation is fooling themselves. On the flip side, people that are experienced in quieting the mind can develop some very powerful magick pretty quickly.

As a side note - the occult is a non-dual mystical tradition. While they believe in the individuated soul that will continue eternally in many realms, they believe that ultimately, God is one and God is all. The goal is to master the ego so they can get in touch with, and be guided by, their Guardian Angel (Yogis call it the inner guru) for the purpose of merging into one with the Divine.

@nahm Absolutely! Magic greatly amplifies the effects of our intentions. If our intentions are tainted by the ego, those impurities saturate the practices. Also, if one has not quieted the mind to the extent that they are aware of its influence in the present moment as it is unfolding, magick can solidify the ego because of their egoic intentions. I very much hesitated posting about this at all because too many people dive into it without getting mastery over the ego. As most of us know, getting mastery over the ego takes a lot of work and few are willing to put in the work. I decided to post anyway for two reasons: harm reduction for people that are interested in incorporating this path (assuming they are willing to listen) and to let others that could benefit greatly from this path know that it is a legitimately powerful way to supercharge your current spirituality. I get the impression that many people that pursue this path do so for the wrong reasons and and can project the image to others that that is what the occult is about. Some may feel that because the occult has the potential to be dangerous that it should not be messed with. One could say the exact same thing about powerful magic in yoga and taoism. If we treat ourselves like children that cannot be trusted with strength, then we will remain spiritual children. These decisions must be left to the individual ultimately. I feel strongly that the first order of business for anyone incorporating this path is to use magick for the purpose of purifying their own energy by mastering the negative effects of the ego. All traditions have their strengths and weaknesses. I like Buddhist and yogic techniques and philosophy to master the ego. The occult teaches that identifying the effects of the ego mechanism and mastering it is critical but I dont think it is as strong in that area as some of the eastern traditions.

I would encourage you to start studying the basics before diving into any kind of magic. Its very possible to unintentionally perform black magic with karmic consequences. Treat magick like a loaded gun.....very carefully. The reason why Sadhguru wont divulge Hindi magick is because it can be dangerous if not done carefully.

@Harikrishnan I have played a bit with them but not much. I was skeptical about them but since there is so many intelligent people that believe in them so much, Im keeping an open mind. The main purpose for tarot cards in white/grey magick is for divination to determine if you should do the ritual. Sometime well intentioned magick can turn out to be black magick with karmic consequences because it interferes with someones path.

@Harikrishnan Yes, the body is considered sacred. There is no moralization but one is encouraged to choose carefully with whom one has sex with since it is considered a spiritually energetic event.

@kieranperez Yes, it is encouraged to consecrate your sacred space where you perform your magick. Your body is also considered a temple. Objects can be charged with certain energies you choose to imbue them with. With the occult, I personally think learning from books is sufficient. If someone wanted to incorporate the occult into their practice and wanted to learn more about it, I would recommend Modern Magick - 12 lessons in the high magickal arts.

@electrobeam I would strongly encourage you to keep up your daily meditation practice. It is the foundation upon which everything else in the Occult is built. I believe (and many other people believe) someone's success in working with energy/magic will be strongly affected by how much they have mastered their mind. We must see past the illusion of identification with the ego before we can know who/what we really are. Without meditation, its virtually impossible to escape the orbit of the ego. All traditions that work with energy have meditation as a critical component. It is necessary to develop the concentration needed. I can sit for as long as I want now with absolutely no thoughts. All my previous meditation work is paying huge dividends with my work now in the occult. I still meditate every day, no matter what. If you want a good meditation technique, try kasina meditation. You simultaneously develop your concentration and visualization ability. Kasina mediation is where you visualize a specific shape with a specific color and hold your attention on it. Many occultists overlook meditation and go straight to the energy work techniques. This is like trying to run a marathon without ever exercising or eating right prior. I would recommend studying how Kabbalah and the Tree of Life fit it with the occult. This is a critical spiritual component and needed for enlightenment in the Occult path imo. Both subjects can be very complex so one must be dedicated to its study but its worth it!

I agree that there is a lot of beauty and truth in Taosim. There are a lot of similarities between Taosim and the Occult. The Occult borrows heavily from Kabbalah and its tree of life. The tree of life is a representation of many things but one big representation is between polarities of divine attributes. It says that beauty and divine expression happen when there is balance. It is very similar to the concept of yin and yang.

@Harikrishnan Like anything else, its all about regular practice. I have incorporated some of the rituals in my daily routine and I have felt huge changes in my energy. My energy is balanced, charged and flowing without blockages. I wish I could think of words to describe it but its made a big difference in my life and my spiritual evolution. I feel like my spirituality just took a huge leap forward.

@JohnnyBravo While there may be some Taoist techniques that do not use visualization, any magic in Taoism always involves visualization. Energy work/magic that does not involve visualization is impotent. https://healingtaousa.com/articles/a-history-of-early-daoist-visualization/ https://daoistgate.com/learn/daoism/ "Complete Perfection Daoists are traditionally celibate, live exclusively in monasteries, and practice “internal alchemy” which seeks to refine the body through breathing exercises, meditation, and visualization practices." The three pillars of powerful magic are breath-work, concentration and visualization. The visualization part is usually something that only a Taoist master will teach directly to his student (same with Yoga), which is why the west usually practices a weak form of Taoism. People can hurt themselves and others if they learn how to use the fuel of magic without being able to control it. The only Taoist master I know that has communicated these visualization techniques publicly through books is Mantek Chia. He discloses in his books that practicing the techniques without a teacher could be dangerous. The occult is different because one can learn how to use magic powers safely and properly because of the way the techniques are taught in the West through written word. In the past few years, Taoist masters in China have become extremely interested in western occult. Its spreading like fire in Asia.

@abrakamowse I know a bit about it but havent read it. The Corpus Hermetica also has a lot of old teachings which form the backbone of occult philosophy.

@The Blind Sage The first book I stumbled upon was High Magick written by Damien Echols. I first saw him on a Buddha at the Gas Pump interview on youtube and I became intrigued. There is also a book called Modern Magic - 12 Lessons in high magic which is basically a beginners handbook that can take someone quite far. Terence McKenna did some great talks found on youtube about alchemy (another word associated with occult) and the occult.

@Genghis Khan Yes, magick/occult is very real. It is the western path to enlightenment. I have found that all the traditions have their strengths and weaknesses. After studying Buddhism and Yoga very intensely for several years, my "inner guru" led me to realize that my next step of spiritual evolution was going to involve energy work. Yoga has very powerful energy work (magic) but one is not going to learn very much unless they follow a guru. If you do follow a guru, you may find out many years later that energy work is not his strength and learn very little. Taoism is very powerful magic but is more limited in its uses and difficult for a westerner to fully grasp and master. The occult is energy work on steroids. I dont think any traditions can touch it in that arena. A lot of people would disagree but that is simply because there is a weird bias in the west that true spirituality can only be found in the east. The philosophy is a bit different than Buddhism or Yoga. Rather than claiming the physical world is "unspiritual" and that one should just dissolve the self and wait for death/liberation, Occultists believe that the physical world is created by the divine and should be mastered and engaged in like all the other realms in a process of eternal spiritual evolution. They believe one must dissolve the ego identification by seeing through the mechanism of the ego. They use the ego as a tool, created by the divine, for divine purposes. They believe in observing the mechanism of the ego through meditation and disassociating from the aspects that are animalistic or of lower vibration. Once one has fully broken their identification with the ego, they can discover their True Will of their higher Self/soul. The True Will is generally associated with looking outward to how you can serve other beings for their greater good. High Magic is employed for the purpose of achieving ones True Will and spiritual purification/evolution. Energy work in all the traditions I have studied (Taoism, Yoga, Buddism, Kabbalah) involve intense visualization, breathwork, rituals, concentration and certain physical movements. The occult has pretty much of what they all have but a lot more imo. Magick/the occult incorporates a lot of Kabbalah/Jewish mysticism into its ultimate view of God/reality. I would highly suggest just sticking to High Magick, which is for the purpose to become one with the divine. I also do some rituals for health and prosperity because both can be used to help meet my spiritual goals. Despite what many say, there is nothing spiritual about weakness, poverty and sickness. With that said, be VERY careful with using the occult for prosperity. That can very easily solidify and inflate the ego. Keep your intentions based in love and that will guide you. Personally, I have combined what I have learned from Buddhism, Yoga and the Occult. For me, it is a complete spiritual practice. If you want your have the experience of seeing your chakras light up like a christmas tree, magick is the way to do it. It didnt take me long to being able to have powerful experiences of moving energy around me and through me. Iearned quickly how to identify "bad" energy and replace with "good" energy. (me meditating 1-1.5 hours a day for the last 3 years was a factor) My significant other doubted whether magic was real. We did a ritual to summon an arch angel and the angel appeared. Im not going to go into too much detail about what happened but it was an extremely powerful and beautiful experience. Lets just say my significant other is now totally on board with magick. Magick is a tool. It can be used for "good" or "bad". Whatever you use it for, it amplifies it greatly.

@Quantum_fluctuations All those are concepts. Get rid of the concepts and exist purely in this exact present moment. That is where God, beauty and love exist. Stay in that moment because that is where truth is.

@thesmileyone Never feel guilty about anything. Do whatever you want to do as long as you live a life of love and beauty. Get drunk if you want. Do drugs if you want. Keep evolving and your wants will evolve over time.

@Aakash If you ask a buddhist, they will say there is no self identity that exists. If you ask a yogi, they will say the ego identity is false but the individuated spirit/atman is self evident if you just look. I think they are both true on different levels.

@Tiny Nietzsche Why play piano? Why drink in the beauty of a sunrise? Why appreciate art? Fill your life with beauty and you will never regret it.