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A Magickal Curriculum.

  
 
Olulabelle
20:32 / 28.02.04
Recently I had a dream which insisted that I begin learning about Enochian and Enochian magick. Because I know next to nothing about Enochian, I have been approaching it from a 'beginner' level, but (at least on the web) the words 'Enochian' and 'beginner' would seem not to tally. Enochian seems to be something that isn't even thought about at this kind of level, and in fact you appear to have to be very advanced in magickal theory in order to understand most of the obscure written references about it.

If you approach magickal learning via the web from the basic, beginner standpoint, you are bombarded with money-making, 'magickal degree' type schools of magick (of which there are remarkable amounts) and you have to sift through the dross to find anything of even vague intellectual interest and relevance.

So naturally I thought, 'we can do better than this' and I turned to Barbelith.

Barbelith Magick Forum search results for Enochian? 0.
Barbelith Magick Forum search results for Curriculum? 0.
Barbelith Magick Forum search results for School? 0.

So anyway, it struck me during this hunt for information that there are a lot of threads started here which are trying to gather together book lists, or asking for help with magickal practice, or generally asking for advice regarding learning a subject, or looking to discuss a particular theory. And I thought maybe what would be useful was if we were to try and put together a thread which would be the Barbelith Magickal Curriculum.

So, if there were a 'proper' degree in magickal studies then:

Which books would be on the reading list?
Which topics would be studied in modules?
Which magickal theories would be covered?
Which practical exercises would be undertaken?

What would be the end goal of such studies?
What should a student be hoping to achieve?

I think we come from a lot of different standpoints and we do seem to head towards this path on a regular basis. For example, Illmatic's thread about relevant reading on mysticism and enlightenment would be something I would probably incorporate.

And basically, I could have done with there being one, I think it could be a lot of help to people and also it would probably be very interesting to create.
 
 
---
21:56 / 28.02.04
Well i don't know about any type of framework for magic but i have a good link here : Esoteric Archives

I've also been reading the Corpus Hermeticum which is here online, and there's also The Secret Doctrine a huge book by Blavatsky, Ficino on Alchemy which is on probably the best Alchemy site on the net, loads of magical texts in this link, with Enochian magic aswell, and loads here including a lot of work from Crowley, including full texts of his.

All i do is read and read and then a pattern or a path through the chaos emerges, if you wanted to read through the stuff in those links you'd be reading for years, but if you have some type of idea of what you want you should easily find many types of guidance in that stuff.
 
 
agvvv
15:15 / 02.03.04
I`m bumping this one..seems like a really interesting idea..
 
 
Nobody's girl
15:24 / 02.03.04
Some caution may be advisable at this point, after all

"I must create my own system, or be enslav'd by another man's." - William Blake
 
 
Aertho
16:46 / 02.03.04
Oh :P

Another's man's sytem? I own NONE of my own ideas, thankyou very much. I'm just as much a repository and recycling engine of thoughts and myths that came before me as anyone else on this board. Iff anything, I'm a host to sites of inspiration that form bridges between belief and communication, and then realy them from my perspective. I don't look for credit becasue I know that inspiration isn't mine to own either. ...If I hadn't thought of it, somebody else would've... I'm doing my divine responsibility to share these thoughts to move the whole collection of us forward.

Poop on William Blake, he's five cards away from where we are. We're all human, we all obey the same primal drives, we just have different perspectives. Fuck weakling postmodernism. Add up the perspectives and get to the point already. All our base are belong to us all. I take no credit. I'm Bene Gesserit bi-otch.

Seriously though. I don't think there's a problem with coming up with a curriculum or collective tome of magickal knowledge. There ARE human absolutes. There IS more that unifies us than separates us. Focus on THAT, you scared little hippies. No offense. I can be a hippie sometimes too
 
 
Nobody's girl
17:38 / 02.03.04
Chill, dude. No offence meant, I've always been a tad wary of someone else's idea of what is "correct" to learn is all. In my opinion, particularly with magickal work, you should experiment and study what appeals and is relevant to you for best effect. I'm averse to the power imbalance of Teacher and Student roles in magick, it leads to all kinds of egotistical bullshit (from personal experience).

Having said that, I think that a list of reccomended books and sources is a great idea.
 
 
---
18:39 / 02.03.04
I think it would be cool if we explianed our own systems! I'm just getting back into spellwork though so i'm gonna need a week or two to get a good idea of what i'm doing.

Reminds me, i was going to make a thread about calling on fictional characters.......

I'm perfectly happy working in my own way but i'll definately give as much info as i can about how i go about things, it would surely be interesting to hear how other poeple cast etc, but i can also understand people wanting to keep their work personal.

Also : with Enochian magic being 'High Magic' i'm a little wary of getting into it. Yes, i would be worried about doing that myself, but i've been away from magic for a good while and i feel like a newbie again so i don't really count. (oh and just incase someone's thinking that i'm knocking myself, i'm not, i just mean that i'm not ready for HIGH magic yet. )
 
 
ciarconn
14:49 / 03.03.04
I like this idea.
Do not think of it as an imposition... think of it as posible alternative roadmaps... Think of what would you recommend to a total beginer...

Which books would be on the reading list?
Which topics would be studied in modules?
Which magickal theories would be covered?
Which practical exercises would be undertaken?

What would be the end goal of such studies?
What should a student be hoping to achieve?
What is the profile of a "graduated"

I know the basis of chaos magick y freedom of belief... so we could think of different options for startin, different sources... a jigsaw curriculum...

what do they study at the Invisible School?

Or alternatively... What is YOUR curriculum. Define which paths have you followed, in which order... what worked, what didn´t, What fit, what crashed... This might work as an excercise, and would give others some valuable knowledge
 
 
EvskiG
16:27 / 03.03.04
I think Crowley's A.'.A.'. student and probationer ranks were a good idea. First read through enough books to get a basic grounding in the theory and history of magic. Then spend a year or so studying and practicing whatever seems interesting, while keeping a thorough record of your experiences. Only then should you start a systematic practice.

Since I'm a bit of a structure freak, if I were setting up a program for a total beginner I'd probably recommend the following:

* Start studying yoga, aikido or tai chi at a studio or dojo of your choice. Try to go to a class weekly and practice daily.

* Start psychotherapy. Your choice of the type. Get archetypal with a Jungian. Get orgasmic with a Reichian. Whatever.

* Read a few basic, modern books on theory and practice. Nothing too weighty, dogmatic or medieval. I'd suggest Pop Magic by Grant Morrison, Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson, The Essential Golden Dawn by Chic and Tabitha Cicero, Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig, and Condensed Chaos by Phil Hine.

* Choose one or two practices and try to do them every day. As a Golden Dawn/A.'.A.'. fan, I’d probably pick the Liber Resh exercises and the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram as set forth by Kraig in Modern Magick. If this was too impractical or too much of a burden, I’d recommend doing the exercises in Wilson’s Prometheus Rising.

* Maintain a daily journal setting forth the student's thoughts and impressions regarding all of the above.

If the student was still practicing at the end of three months, I'd recommend a more systematic program.

What's the goal? For the beginner, learning that the world is a bit bigger, weirder, and more malleable than he or she originally thought. Or possibly that the whole magic thing is a bit of a joke and not really his or her cup of tea. Depends.
 
 
trouser the trouserian
07:47 / 04.03.04
evskig

Why, in your view, is psychotherapy essential to a beginner in magic? I'm wondering how many people would actually do this, given that it's a potentially long-term (and expensive) commitment.
 
 
Olulabelle
08:27 / 04.03.04
This is very true. It is expensive, unless you get it on the NHS and I guess one of the ways to do that is to go and see your doctor and tell them what you're interested in, like so:

You: "Hi. I regularly interact with my dreams, I do a banishing ritual every morning and evening, a comic book changed my life and at the moment I am reseaching the language of Angels. "

Doctor: '(Oh my goodness this person is quite mad and needs professional help') "Here, go and see this Psychotherapist."

With regard to long-term commitment, isn't practicing magick a long-term commitment? If Psychotherapy would help with practicing magick then surely it's a commitment that is worthwhile?

I think Psychotherapy could easily be considered to be an essential part of magickal learning since magickal learning asks that your mind is clear and focused. Psychotherapy helps you to define who and what you are, and why you think the way you do. It helps you to understand your own thinking processes. So if you are clear about those, then when you face a magickal problem that possibly relates to your personal thinking process you can more easily define what exactly it is about yourself that is holding you back, resolve the problem and move on.
 
 
trouser the trouserian
09:12 / 04.03.04
With regard to long-term commitment, isn't practicing magick a long-term commitment? If Psychotherapy would help with practicing magick then surely it's a commitment that is worthwhile?

True, although I do feel there's a big difference between the two processes in terms of commitment. Commiting to say, visit a therapist twice a week (which may well involve taking time off work) for a possibly unspecified period is quite a different thing IMO to cracking open a couple of books on magic and working through a few exercises in your own time. And if a hypothetical beginner finds after a few months that magic is not their cup of tea after all, he or she might well feel that they've wasted money & time.

So I guess the obvious question is to ask "How many 'lithers started psychotherapy on the basis that you felt it would benefit your magical practice?"

I'm not knocking the value of psychotherapy of itself or as an adjunct to magical practice, just trying to establish whether or not its being reccomended on the basis of your personal experience or not. I mean, if you were looking at a beginner's curriculum on some website and the author(s) said "we recommend some form of psychotherapy" would you REALLY think, "oh well, this is essential, I'd better go find myself a good therapist". Personally, I doubt it.
 
 
Olulabelle
09:48 / 04.03.04
Yes of course. I just mean it's a good thing if you are offered it. But not necessarily that everyone should assume it's a vital component.

But then a magickal curriculum is really an abstract ideal, an invented situation whereby all your time is dedicated to learing magick, as if you were officially studying for a magickal qualification.
 
 
Char Aina
15:26 / 04.03.04
In my opinion, particularly with magickal work, you should experiment and study what appeals and is relevant to you for best effect.

in most things, i feel that finding your own way is good.
but.
think of bruce lee.
possibly one of the most famous proponents of such an approach, with jeet kune do as a blueprint for many subsequent martial arts teachers to invent and innovate, bruce nevertheless went through the rigours of learning his family's kung fu. he learned many other [men]'s styles in addition to his father's. he then, once in a position of knowledge, created his own style.

like a painter who knows nothing of the old masters, or a writer who doesnt care much for reading, making it up as you go along (when you have no idea what the finished product should resemble) will result in many more dead ends and wrong turns.

i favour the personally resonant and relevant, but i humble myself before those whose work has stood the test of time.



"Use what is best for you"

which you can only know with experience of what is.
 
 
Char Aina
15:36 / 04.03.04
...if you were officially studying for a magickal qualification.

if you were, i thoink the univaersity or whaddevva would have shrinks on standby almost every hour of the day.
the amount of evaluation a practicioners mind would need for insurance purposes would make that a necessity.

i reckon part of your course grade would have to be linked to your ability to keep your head sane in troubling circumstances;
and for those who cant, pieces would need to be picked up.
 
 
EvskiG
21:51 / 04.03.04
The psychotherapy idea comes from Israel Regardie. He repeatedly said that it was incredibly helpful for beginning magicians.

It seems to me that a person getting into magic should start with (or develop) a solid foundation of physical and mental health.

A discipline such as yoga, aikido or tai chi promotes fitness and bodily awareness. Similarly, psychotherapy promotes mental health and serves as a useful reality check.

In my experience lots of people who get involved in magic (myself included) have a few issues to work out. And once they start magic they can be subject to maladies such as ego inflation, paranoia, or plain old delusion -- and not in a good way. Psychotherapy, or some other form of counseling or therapy, can help.

And yes, I personally saw a psychotherapist shortly after I started magic. A nice Jungian. I never directly raised my magical practice with her -- there was plenty of other material to work with.
 
 
h3r
22:38 / 04.03.04
any of you doing the BOTA mailorder course?

I've been doing it for about 6 months, I am getting a lot out of it.
I like the fact that it's structured. Keeps confronting me me one little idea after the next, all seems like small bits of information, but it does add up. And if nothing else, it gives you a good foundation and background, even though it mightbe repeating ideas one is already familiar with, the continued "lesson" format does keep one on the the ball...

Nevertheless I do believe we should create our own individual "curriculum".
Daily journal (in some form) and daily meditation/ritual are key ingredients to develop/find ones' own style/path.

i take inspiration about "magick" from all over the place, books on shamanism, enochian stuff, alan watts, 12 step stuff, dianetics. Whatever i find on any given day. It always amazes me how all information that seems to enter my environment fits so well with where I'm at that given moment... synchronicities...
 
 
Z. deScathach
06:34 / 05.03.04
In terms of psychotherapy, IMO, whether you get benefit out of it or not more or less depends upon the world view of the given therapist. Mention your magick, and one therapist will be fascinated, and another will pathologize you. Thusly, psychotherapy is largely subjective, and is actually quite poor in terms of providing a reality check. A good example of this was the interesting experiment,(Rosenhan), where certified mentally healthy individuals where admitted to psychiatric institutions, complaining of voices. After entering the hospital, they behaved normally. They were quickly pathologized, as the staff was expecting a "sick" person, and quickly saw what they were expecting. A good example of this was that one of the pseudo-patients was taking notes on the experience. This was noted by staff as obsessive behavior.
Still there are things in magick that apply across the board, but I suspect that the "particulars" can vary widely from person to person. To me, a magickal curriculum should focus on general "meta-skills", that multiple frameworks can fit into.

Toksik:like a painter who knows nothing of the old masters, or a writer who doesnt care much for reading, making it up as you go along (when you have no idea what the finished product should resemble) will result in many more dead ends and wrong turns.

There's some truth to this. The real question is what constitutes those base skills, general ones or system specific ones? In short, what is the better of the two approaches to a base skill, i.e., should one learn the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, or develop ways to get rid of unwanted things through developing personal ritual or other technique that is intent based, the intent being to accomplish said goal.
 
 
Nobody's girl
11:59 / 05.03.04
Toksik, I think I read somewhere that you are a fellow 'burgher?

Anyway, yes, it is definitely easier to forge your own path after studying other paths. I'm not suggesting that people stumble around blindly grasping for a way to tap into magick.

I'm just not behind you in the "i humble myself before those whose work has stood the test of time." For me, magick is something that is only fulfilling if it comes from the source, from myself. Dogma doesn't allow for growth.

Certainly, I have investigated many other perspectives on this subject and integrated what I find useful. This doesn't mean I have to subjugate myself to these perspectives because they're old or a bunch of people think they're "right".
That's really all I'm trying to say.
 
 
ciarconn
17:46 / 05.03.04
Cetainly, the "meta-skills" aproach sounds very interesing... so, as an alternative curriculum: Which skills and meta-skills should a prospect magic(k)ian develop? How would those skills be developed?
What are the skills and meta-skills you have developed on your practice? What are those you have needed, or used more fequently?
 
 
h3r
21:40 / 05.03.04
meditation and visualization exercises.
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
11:42 / 06.03.04
Just a (possibly offtopic? feel free to delete) note on the pyschotherapy thing.

I'm fascinated that this occurs immediately to some people as useful territory, as (slightly blanket statement) alot of the magical types I've known and know seem to be hugely anti-psychotherapy.

*When it works*, it's about providing a safe, enabling space to work things through, or a place to walk a path with someone beside you. Not leading, but accompanying. Not neccessarily a 'reality check' but a space that can be used for grounding. As well as for flying off emotionally and physically, into difficult spaces, knowing that someone's anchoring you.

Which from what people are saying, might be useful for a 'magickal curriculum'.

And whoever said there's a vast spectrum in it is right. There *are* people who'd think you were barmy. And schools that are very pyschological/pyschiatric in influence.

Not neccessarily an equation, though.

However, there are also people who are counsellors and magicians, therapists and shamans etc.

If your magic has a spritual dimension to it, for example, there's a whole chunk of humanistic counselling called transpersonal counselling, which is *predicated* on the encounter between therapist and client involving other 'transpersonal' aspects. That there are paths to be followed, transpersonal forces etc

Another suggestion I'd chuck in at this point might be co-counselling. Can be hugely useful and usually at least requires much less cash investment (a short training course.)
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
11:43 / 06.03.04
But should emphasise, with a note from that site:

"NB. Co-counselling does not replace work with a professional therapist: it should be seen as an additional and complementary way of therapeutic working. It is not suitable for people who are dependent on statutory or voluntary sector services for emotional support."
 
 
Z. deScathach
09:33 / 07.03.04
ciarconn: Cetainly, the "meta-skills" aproach sounds very interesing... so, as an alternative curriculum: Which skills and meta-skills should a prospect magic(k)ian develop? How would those skills be developed?
What are the skills and meta-skills you have developed on your practice? What are those you have needed, or used more fequently?

Here are the ones that I use:

1. Train concentration and mental stillness. If you can still the mind, you can do just about anything with it. I'm not saying that stillness is superior to mental noise, but I've found that it helps for a wide variety of things, from possession trances to ritual.

2. Study cause and effect. Not karma, which is a concept, but cause and effect. While it is infinitely more subtle than anybody would think, it's good to be able to percieve relationships in things. Think about it, whenever we do a magickal exercise, we are trying to get an "effect", whether it's concentration, or the development of some other skill, like the ability to see with the mind, or regulate our energies. It's good to figure out what causes what effect. Of course CHAOS might just come in and mess the whole thing up, which bring one to.......

3. Relaxation, and being able to "let things go". Not all things, just some. I've found that this works by polarizing with "power". Power without the ability to let go makes one tense and irritable, and eats away at one's energy.

4. Actually doing magick! Examining one's lusts and desires and doing magick to bring them about. Study the nature of intention,(i.e. transformation, versus just "wanting" something). Pick yer method....

5. Let go of the future. Austin Osmann Spare got this one right. The present is the only place where anything is really happening, (well, unless you are doing a retro-active enchantment....oh crap.....).

6. Study ethics. Yeah, I know this isn't popular, particularly in chaos
magick, but think about it. People don't like to be hurt. Hurt them enough, and they'll get together and whoop on ya....... there's nothing worse than being magickally whooped upon.....

7. Learn to link and transcend opposites. Use peace to drive war. Use letting go to drive resistance. Let quietude drive ecstacy. Archetypes at war with each other go nowhere.

Oh btw, I'm just recovering from pneumonia, dripping sweat into my keyboard. This could all be a fever-dream.......
 
  
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