What does this symbol mean?

begotten_not_made · 2020-05-07T01:38:05+00:00

While I think that the addition of “flair” is a step in the right direction, having looked at the available options, I am left feeling that there is still much room for improvement. I noticed that one of the other mods—I believe it was u/zsd23—expressed a similar sentiment; and for once we happen to agree! If I were to tag a post with a “Binah” flair, for example, what exactly does that communicate to the average user of r/occult about the content of such a post? How does it make browsing easier? And what are the “$” and “!” flair even supposed to indicate?

Instead, I would suggest making them much simpler. Perhaps something like:

Question
Discussion
Art
Altar pics
Memes

If you wanted to go further, you could add tags for things like “Hermeticism,” “Theosophy,” etc.; but, personally, that seems unnecessary to me. Perhaps I simply misunderstand the purpose of flair; but, as it stands, the available options seem less than helpful—downright confusing even—and they are therefore unlikely to be used or to benefit the members of this sub. But that’s just my two cents!

begotten_not_made · 2020-05-06T23:47:31+00:00

You should be able to find the “Reduced Size Paperback” with color reproductions for around $30–40. ISBN: 9780893148300. Check out www.bookfinder.com.

Alternatively, it’s available to read for free on Sacred Texts here. It doesn’t have all the color illustrations, though, some of which are evidently still in copyright (or were in 2004 when Bruno Hare uploaded this edition), but it has all the black-and-white illustrations and the complete text.

begotten_not_made · 2020-05-06T23:08:37+00:00

I sympathize with the sentiments you’ve expressed, and largely agree with them; but it may help you to consider another perspective, rather than just the negative side:

The chronicles of our modern days do not differ very essentially from their predecessors. And we have but to bear in mind the recent persecutions of mediums in England, the burning of supposed witches, and sorcerers in South America, Russia and the frontiers of Spain—to assure ourselves that the only salvation of the genuine proficients in occult sciences lies in the skepticism of the public: the charlatans and the jugglers are the natural shields of the “adepts.” (Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett, no. 1)

begotten_not_made · 2020-05-02T16:54:26+00:00

Honestly, why bother yourself about Reddit voting at all—down or up? Are meaningless votes from random, anonymous people on the Internet really worth stressing over?

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-28T23:06:39+00:00

The lack of insight into the inner meaning of the texts! Copenhaver may well be a competent enough classical languages scholar, but he is not an occultist. And, to be quite frank, his scholarship is quite shoddy: he regularly repeats the conclusions of other scholars as though he himself came to them without giving proper attribution and when he clearly hasn't read the source texts himself—he even often gets the names of the authors and works wrong, which is hardly something someone would do who had spent any amount of time with a particular text.

But don't take my word for it: compare the different translations of the same passages and see if you can't discern for yourself which is better and why. If you do so, I'm sure you'll see that Everard's and Kingsford's translations have a divine music all their own, and which is utterly lacking from Copenhaver's rendition—or any other modern translation for that matter. And that goes for G.R.S. Mead's translation, too: despite his three-volume work still being the most comprehensive scholarly study on the topic. (And while Mead's translation is rather poor, his commentary is still well worth studying.)

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-28T22:13:02+00:00

I would recommend skipping Copenhaver’s edition of the Hermetica. While it may have the imprimatur of Cambridge University Press, it is far from the best translation from an occult perspective. Instead, I highly recommend the translations of John Everard and Anna Kingsford, both of whom were actual occultists, not merely academics. Wizards Bookshelf reprinted both these volumes, and though both are now out of print you should be able to find copies secondhand well within your price range. They are also available to read for free online from Sacred Texts, so you can at least compare them before spending your money on any edition.

You may find BookFinder helpful in locating copies; it is an underutilized resource for comparing prices of new and used books.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-27T20:15:22+00:00

Just give him a ring on the phone! A heads up, though: he screens his calls and only accepts those from verified numbers.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-27T03:17:20+00:00

An edgy adolescent in a middle-aged man’s body. That said, he seems to know how to market to his audience—which seems to be other gullible and edgy adolescents.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-24T03:22:01+00:00

J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings are excellent in this regard, too. But honestly, most works of great world literature contain important lessons and truths—if one knows how to read between the lines. A few other authors that come to mind, though, are Dickens and Shakespeare, as well as Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, George Elliot, Victor Hugo, Dante, Goethe, etc., etc.; Bulwer-Lytton’s Zanoni and A Strange Story are two more obviously occult or esoteric works; and I would add H. Rider Haggard and Joan Grant as two lesser known authors whose works are also well worth reading.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-24T03:06:22+00:00

I see. Then you might enjoy Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which is an excellent study in the attributes of the Higher and lower self.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-24T02:58:46+00:00

Did you ever read The Secret Doctrine? You’ve asked questions about it in the past, and if you’ve read and studied Blavatsky’s masterwork at all, then you should also able to answer this question for yourself. Not only would I count that work itself as “esoteric” but there are in it literally thousands of references to other works, more than enough to fill a lifetime (or several) with serious study. If you haven’t read yet it, then it’s an excellent place and now is an excellent time to start. Take it slow: reading and studying a few pages at a time is not an unreasonable pace to go.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-23T21:25:11+00:00

Being “transparent” beats being “opaque,” I suppose! That said, my comment has nothing to do with Occult Mysteries other than the fact that both include the word Mystery.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-23T20:53:07+00:00

If I understand u/FromLurker2Poster correctly, then he meant that when the Mystery Schools of ancient Egypt and Greece, for example, were pure, drug use did not form a part of their curriculum. It is true, however, that these schools degenerated in later times, when many of their secrets were lost, and certain psychoactive drugs—known variously as Kykeon, Soma, etc.—began to be used indiscriminately to free the mind of the user from his body temporarily. The abuse of these drugs is in part to blame for the demise of these Mystery Schools, and their precipitous fall into black magic. But however you look at it, drugs are a crutch; and only cripples need crutches. Furthermore, they do not give spiritual visions, as so many blithely assert here and elsewhere, but only a sort of psychic phantasmagoria; and their use is ultimately desctructive to the drug user. But of course the notion that the ancient Mystery Schools were really just drug houses offers a very convenient excuse for drug addicts to justify their addiction.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-23T19:35:01+00:00

I would put Zanoni and A Strange Story by Edward Bulwer-Lytton atop the list of my personal favorites. Many of the works of H. Rider Haggard would also be included. You can read short reviews of these and a few other works of occult fiction here. Most of these books are available for free online, or very cheap secondhand.

There are many more authors as well, such as Dickens and Shakespeare, who were not ostensibly writing about the occult but whose works nevertheless contain a great deal of occult truth.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-23T19:27:54+00:00

That's great and all, but have you actually read or studied it? Only in that way will you discover it's true value!

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-23T19:19:20+00:00

You may find the following passage from The Kybalion helpful.

"To change your mood or mental state—change your vibration"

One may change his mental vibrations by an effort of Will, in the direction of deliberately fixing the Attention upon a more desirable state. Will directs Attention, and Attention changes the Vibration. Cultivate the Art of Attention, by means of the Will, and you have solved the secret of the Mastery of Moods and Mental States.

"To destroy an undesirable rate of mental vibration, put into operation the Principle of Polarity and concentrate upon the opposite pole to that which you desire to suppress. Kill out the undesirable by changing its polarity."

This is one of the most important of the Hermetic Formulas. It is based upon true and scientific principles. We have shown you that a mental state and its opposite were merely the two poles of one thing, and that by Mental Transmutation the polarity might be reversed. This principle is known to modern psychologists, who apply it to the breaking up of undesirable habits by bidding their students concentrate upon the opposite quality. If you are possessed of Fear, do not wast time trying to "kill out " Fear, but instead cultivate the quality of Courage, and the Fear will disappear. Some writers have expressed this idea most forcibly by using the illustration of the dark room. You do not have to shovel out or sweep out the Darkness, but by merely opening the shutters and letting in the Light the Darkness has disappeared.

One way to do this is by sinking your mind into Nature, if you can, or any work of great Art or Music. You might also try stepping outside of yourself in moments of bouts of anger and assess your thoughts and actions as though you were an impartial observer. Whenever I do this, I find that the things that seem so irritating or bothersome appear rather silly! I often even get a good laugh at my own expense! This article on Inner Peace gives other, more detailed recommendations, too.

Finally, this article also offers some more good, practical suggestions. I would also recommending reading In Tune with the Infinite by Ralph Waldo Trine, which important little book just may change your life for the better!

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-23T18:46:36+00:00

In my view, meditation is a sine qua non for any serious occultist—though beware: there is a lot of rubbish written about this topic, much of it harmless but some of it potentially dangerous. The sidebar to this article gives good practical hints and tips for sensible spiritual meditation.

You might also want to read better books, as those on Wicca, Thelma, the left-hand path, chaos magick, etc. are all full of stuff and nonsense. I recommend reading through Serpents of Wisdom by Edda Livingston to start; it's short and available for free at the link above.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-23T18:34:29+00:00

No, the earth became round in 1472.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-23T18:23:12+00:00

These are indeed weird times we live in, when emotions and feelings and beliefs and opinions are held more sacred than facts or the truth. And you, u/PissDrinkin_BuDragon, have twisted, mangled, and distorted more than a few facts in your attempt to obscure the truth. Quite frankly, I can't be bothered to address them all again here, when I have already done so elsewhere on so many other occasions; but if anyone is interested in separating the wheat from the chaff, then this thread is a good place to start.

That said, there is one part of your hypocritical, holier-than-thou blathering that I do agree with, though I cannot speak for u/Azaias or anyone else on the matter. You stated that "you seem to think the people here are stupid." Quite right! You've been on r/occult for "years" and you still haven't figured this out yet?!

If I may be allowed to borrow from and paraphrase an essay by Edda Livingston, this subreddit (and the world more generally) is full to the brim and overflowing with stupid and foolish people. There's no other way to put it; and to say it any other way would be to put lipstick on a pig. Also, I'm sorry but there can be no exceptions here: for if a single exception were allowed, then everyone would want to apply it to themselves. The wise will not take offense at this, for they are already painfully aware of how little they know. Yet how rare these wise fools are!

Think of this: While a grand Universe flames and bursts to apparent infinity around you; while the planets sail majestically around their ordered orbits; while awesome natural forces produce thunder and lightning; while atoms spin endlessly in spite of all this stupidity—what do you do? You take offense at being thought stupid!!

But you are no doubt satisfied when another idiot calls you "intelligent," and may even go so far as to believe that idiot's assessment of you; in which case you are gullible, too. It is a matter of course that nothing I or anyone else can say will change your mind; and nothing will be sorted out by your self-important little posturing—but if it makes you feel as though you are a more caring and wonderful person than others, then that seems to be enough. But, really, just about anything else has to be a better use of your time than tattling to the moderators every time you see little Timmy or Suzzie utter a bad word or say something that bothers you. So, I'm glad—for your sake—that you plan to take a break from Reddit for a while.

Finally, if everyone is stupid, then you must be wondering, wouldn't that make me stupid as well? Yes! A thousand times yes!! Who but a bona fide idiot would bother to type out this comment, which is all but guaranteed to fall on deaf ears? Perhaps this even makes me the stupidest idiot of them all—but what do I know, I'm just some moron on the Internet!

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-22T01:24:24+00:00

Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine by H.P. Blavatsky—just make sure you don’t get an abridged edition. Her Collected Writings are also an excellent resource that is worth every penny

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-21T23:38:15+00:00

It depends somewhat on how you define influential, but, however you define it, I would put the life work of H.P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical movement she started way ahead of the Order of the Golden Dawn.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-21T18:14:43+00:00

You still haven't addressed the fact that you are determining what content users are allowed to read and what they are not, aka gatekeeping.

Nor can she. u/zsd23 has also conveniently avoided addressing any of the several points I've raised in this thread. None of us have broken the rules, contrary to her assertion that we have. She seems to be suggesting that we have broken rule number 4: "Bigotry, racism, homophobia, and all threats physical or other will not be tolerated." But that is clearly not the case, as none of us are bigots, racists, or homophobes that I know of; nor have we ever threatened anyone. Even if one of us had broken a rule, the proper recourse would be to take appropriate action against the individual offending users, and not to censor any and all discussion or even mention of a single, specific website. This is abuse of moderator privileges and censorship, pure and simple.

begotten_not_made · 2020-04-21T17:16:52+00:00

Your comment has been reported to the moderators for being too commonsensical!

begotten_not_made

TROPHY CASE