What's your emphasis on occultism?

Putting together ones life with the modern world.
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Most important part of occultism for me personally is...

 
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Nefastos
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What's your emphasis on occultism?

Post by Nefastos »

Here's a question for you, and possible answers to choose from. It's possible to select all of them if one sees them as equally important.

Especially if you chose "ethos", it might be good idea to specify how do you see it. Karma, freedom, cosmic order, applications of the axioms of Hermes, "Do what thou wilt...", or something else?
Faust: "Lo contempla. / Ei muove in tortuosa spire / e s'avvicina lento alla nostra volta. / Oh! se non erro, / orme di foco imprime al suol!"
Wyrmfang
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Re: What's your emphasis on occultism?

Post by Wyrmfang »

I chose ethos & philosophy. By ethos I mean how occultism practically guides my thinking and action. By which way, it is hard to specify exactly. The most conclusive specification would perhaps be that intention, mind ultimately shapes material reality. Occult philosophy is for me mainly the most general conceptualizations how this is the case.

After seriosly studying modern philosophy beginning from Kant, I can´t take seriously the idea that occult philosophy as a form of metaphysics actually provides proofs about the reality beyond the phenomenal reality. But no other philosophy can provide as satisfying holistic picture of man & nature, and practically guide one´s life.

Why not the other options? Because personally I found that they only take me further from the most essential challenges in life. As long as I for example feel any ideological need to prove that supersensous phenomena "really" exist I feel that gaining any strength & experiences from formally occult practices would ultimately be nothing but hiding the most essential challenges in growing as human. One could think that the danger is minimal in purely aesthetic side of occultism, but as a man of strong hubris one has to have strict means to get over it :D
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Jiva
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Re: What's your emphasis on occultism?

Post by Jiva »

The most important aspects of occultism to me are the philosophy and mental and physical practices. Regarding practices, meditation and breathing exercises are the methods I use most frequently and to greatest affect at the present. I didn't pick ethos as I feel that, at least on a personal level, ethos is a habit formed by philosophy and physical practice; basically analogous to the Hindu Sadhana.

However that is not to say that I don't practice other methods. I occasionally draw images I find significant that have appeared to me while meditating or just spontaneously. Sometimes I use these images as inspiration for writing music although I have never recorded anything. In a similar vein, if I am walking or meditating in the countryside somewhere and the mood is right I'll improvise a poem or incantation.

Reading about the Aghori's (Svoboda, Barrett etc.) has also motivated me to experiment with areas that I am more adverse to such as practical and ceremonial magic. While these experiences haven't caused me to change my opinion that they are ultimately distractions at best and a trap at worst, I still consider them valuable.
'Oh Krishna, restless and overpowering, this mind is overwhelmingly strong; I think we might as easily gain control over the wind as over this.'
Nox
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Re: What's your emphasis on occultism?

Post by Nox »

I chose philosophy & ethos.

Reason for this is that I have always felt the presence of "something other" in my life and within existence in general. All this probably would have been left only as a very small intuition without books, teachings and the magical atmosphere in them. I needed a some kind concrete, intellectually based material to understand myself that my intuition had always been right in some way. To bridge my own mind and it's consciouss faculties to that insight. And in my earlier years that happened very much by plain reason and logic.

Maybe I could say that I have always believed in magic - someone just had to show me how.

I have also been very ceremonial person from early years; when I first heard about Satanism and realized it was the passage I have been searching for, probably the first thing I did was setting up altar and made a ritual for certain purposes of which I'm not nowadays too proud of.
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Nefastos
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Re: What's your emphasis on occultism?

Post by Nefastos »

I actully had to choose all of them.

With the aid of my rational mind I understand that some of these things are more important than the others, and even in my heart I have always felt that those must be the foundation for the others: I speak of the ethos & philosophy, of course.

But even as they are the foundation, they are not all, not enough. The whole being must embrace this philosophy, the whole life must be only it. Every ceremony must be of the magical kind, every thought, focused on the same. All inspiration is, for me, magic; every moment is seeking the magical empowerment. Nothing of this is of the lesser importance, because all of it is vital for the accomplishment of the whole occult development. Neither is there anything that can be considered non-magical or profane. (Things can be, and often are, extremely unpleasant, but that does not mean they are not of God.)

This is not something that can be oftentimes spoken of. In the midst of the everyday life, it is a personal thing, like a permanent focus that permeats all. When spoken aloud like this, it might sound really strange or even pathological. But for me, it's the greatest joy, meaning & holiness of all being. It has always been like this as long as I can remember being Me.

(But when the feeling of one's self becomes identified with an abstract ideal focus, what is left of an "I"? That is the question... although not that of this particular topic. :) )
Faust: "Lo contempla. / Ei muove in tortuosa spire / e s'avvicina lento alla nostra volta. / Oh! se non erro, / orme di foco imprime al suol!"
obnoxion
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Re: What's your emphasis on occultism?

Post by obnoxion »

It always seems to be either "all of the above" or "other" with these votes... I might have excluded the ceremonial work, for at least, when understood in the demanding sense of the word, I do not perform ceremonies. But in the past i have been a regular ceremonialist, and perhaps i'd like to be one in the future. And there is certainly a sort of spontanous ceremony in my life.

At the moment occultism for me is a langueage of the heart, a sort of tongue of the Dakinis. It is the means of unification with the Other both inside and outside myself. It is a language that can grasp most difficult concepts and living ideas in an effortless way. It changes the thinking, and from there it changes the World.
One day of Brahma has 14 Indras; his life has 54 000 Indras. One day of Vishnu is the lifetime of Brahma. The lifetime of Vishnu is one day of Shiva.
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Heith
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Re: What's your emphasis on occultism?

Post by Heith »

Firstly, agreeing with obnoxion. Occultism is a language of the heart for me as well.

I was first going to choose only art but after pondering this a little, I also chose practical magic (mostly because of runes and my witchy schemes) and mental practices (as these go hand-in-hand with practical magic). I can safely exclude ceremonial magic at this point though.

Well, I ended up choosing all options, with the idea that Art is everything, but it's Something Else that I haven't figured out yet. Not trying to be witty with this, that's just how it seems to me. It's the red thread running through everything I do. In my opinion, art is magic in it's most wondrous and divine potential. And I'm not suggesting that all art is like that. No, it's a rare spark in the night, but I most certainly have experienced it a few times. Wonderful, wonderful experiences.

All my understanding, on a deeper level, has been revealed to me via art. As I'm a self-centered and subjective being, I speak of art now, but the same truth can be found and expressed in numbers, natural phenomenons, in the gestures of dragons. And so forth.

As to ethos and philosophy, I chose these as well, even if my favorite texts are perhaps a little different than those that others list as occult sources. I did hesitate a little on these options but came to the conclusion that poetic works are valid sources. They suit my temperament rather well. As a math atheist I've little patience for diagrams and complex series of numbers ;)
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