How to read the books correctly?

[RockDemon]

Guys so I began reading the Initiation into Hermetics , and was checking out some other beginner books that I was recommended or found here in the forums. I need to know what you think. Should I read the theory in the IIH and only then do the practical part or is it okay to do them as I go through the theory. And is it okay to read and study 2 different books (systems) simultaneously ? And do you have any specific advices for reading occult books ?

[Haelos]

Guys so I began reading the Initiation into Hermetics , and was checking out some other beginner books that I was recommended or found here in the forums. I need to know what you think. Should I read the theory in the IIH and only then do the practical part or is it okay to do them as I go through the theory. And is it okay to read and study 2 different books (systems) simultaneously ? And do you have any specific advices for reading occult books ?

This is kind of iffy, really. I generally prefer to read the theory AND practice, before I ever put anything into actual practice. My mate is starting on the practice without reading any of the theory (although I'm making her go back and read it later).
If you find it easier to read a little bit of theory as you progress through the practice, more power to you.
As for IIH in specific, I recommend you thoroughly read the book all the way through at least once before you actually practice anything, then practice each step accordingly the second time through, not reading any further than the step you're on.
It's all a matter of preference, however.


As long as the systems you're studying don't have anything contradictory to each other, I would say that it's fine. I don't particularly practice any one system or follow any teachers. I would, at the very least, recommend not mixing a bunch of different practices together without knowing all of the results that may occur. Studying is absolutely no problem, really. But it's possible, for instance, to over-exert yourself by combining two practices that have never been done side-by-side before (among, really, freaking any possible catastrophic event that is capable of going wrong in magick. Anything can happen, basically. Don't try to take in too much at once. We have so much time, and progression can't be rushed).
I'm in the process of reading at least two books right now (as in, their pdfs are open at all times, until they're finished) and I've been upwards of about 5, so as long as you can handle it (and don't get things mixed up too much) read right away.


Read every book you have access to at least twice. Then, read it again in ten years. (New perspectives.)
You can never have enough knowledge. And remember to view everything from every angle you can possible imagine, and never draw conclusions.
Believe nothing, experience Everything.

[Rin]

The theory section is short enough that I don't see a real issue there, you can knock it out in half an hour or so.

As for combining with other systems, it depends on the other system, but as a rule IIH is extremely flexible and meshes well with most other practices. You might want to check with someone from the other system if that's an option though, but the main thing you want to avoid is ending up with a mashup routine where you do a bit of IIH, some GD ritual, a bit of kriya yoga here, then some qi gong there... If you try to walk in 4 directions at once, you end up standing still. Pick a primary system, then if that isn't giving you everything you need, pick a secondary system which complements it well, then make sure you keep the focus on the primary system (a 75/25 or 80/20 time split is a pretty good setup). IIH is more or less entirely a still seated system, and it works from the higher bodies down, so a good complement would be a standing/moving system which works from the lower bodies up, like chi kung, one of the internal martial arts, or hatha yoga with plenty of asana work. That way you maintain balance between working on your mind and astral body and making sure your physical body and dense etheric body is strong and clean enough to support it.

[RockDemon]

Wow, thank you guys. I really never thought that forums can be such helpful.
And could you please answer another question regarding IIH specifically?
So yes I have read through the theory part already. And read the step I of the practice part. So I understand that I need to do the steps consequently but the trainings of the mental, psychic, physical in each step should be done simultaneously. Did I get it right ?

[Haelos]

Wow, thank you guys. I really never thought that forums can be such helpful.
And could you please answer another question regarding IIH specifically?
So yes I have read through the theory part already. And read the step I of the practice part. So I understand that I need to do the steps consequently but the trainings of the mental, psychic, physical in each step should be done simultaneously. Did I get it right ?

You got that right, yes.
As you progress through various steps, you also incorporate most (if not all) previous steps into your new practice.

[RockDemon]

Wow, thank you guys. I really never thought that forums can be such helpful.
And could you please answer another question regarding IIH specifically?
So yes I have read through the theory part already. And read the step I of the practice part. So I understand that I need to do the steps consequently but the trainings of the mental, psychic, physical in each step should be done simultaneously. Did I get it right ?

You got that right, yes.
As you progress through various steps, you also incorporate most (if not all) previous steps into your new practice.

Okay, by the way.. thank you Haelos for recommending that book. It is exactly what I was looking for.

[Haelos]

Wow, thank you guys. I really never thought that forums can be such helpful.
And could you please answer another question regarding IIH specifically?
So yes I have read through the theory part already. And read the step I of the practice part. So I understand that I need to do the steps consequently but the trainings of the mental, psychic, physical in each step should be done simultaneously. Did I get it right ?

You got that right, yes.
As you progress through various steps, you also incorporate most (if not all) previous steps into your new practice.

Okay, by the way.. thank you Haelos for recommending that book. It is exactly what I was looking for.

The forums here are lovely, and forums in general are a great place to find information and nice communities of like-minded people.
I'm glad you enjoy the book, and you can thank some random member here for my knowledge of it, although one way or another, it would have been recommended sooner or later.
In my personal opinion, there are no greater exercises than the ones outlined in IIH, due to the fact that they are used every day, and the whole book focuses on things most other books only glimpse at, and often you must be initiated by a master to learn these things properly, all in the same place.

[RockDemon]

The forums here are lovely, and forums in general are a great place to find information and nice communities of like-minded .
I'm glad you enjoy the book, and you can thank some random member here for my knowledge of it, although one way or another, it would have been recommended sooner or later.
In my personal opinion, there are no greater exercises than the ones outlined in IIH, due to the fact that they are used every day, and the whole book focuses on things most other books only glimpse at, and often you must be initiated by a master to learn these things properly, all in the same place.

Yes the book is really great. And I've got a few more questions. [blush] I really don't mean to misuse your kindness and friendliness, but I just need to make sure that I do everything in the right way. Let's assume I completed the mental training of the step 1, but I am still doing the psychic and physical training, do I go on to the mental training of the step 2 or is it better to finish the step 1 completely and then move on ?
And what do you think how much approximately will it take me to finish the IIH?

[Haelos]

The forums here are lovely, and forums in general are a great place to find information and nice communities of like-minded .
I'm glad you enjoy the book, and you can thank some random member here for my knowledge of it, although one way or another, it would have been recommended sooner or later.
In my personal opinion, there are no greater exercises than the ones outlined in IIH, due to the fact that they are used every day, and the whole book focuses on things most other books only glimpse at, and often you must be initiated by a master to learn these things properly, all in the same place.

Yes the book is really great. And I've got a few more questions. [blush] I really don't mean to misuse your kindness and friendliness, but I just need to make sure that I do everything in the right way. Let's assume I completed the mental training of the step 1, but I am still doing the psychic and physical training, do I go on to the mental training of the step 2 or is it better to finish the step 1 completely and then move on ?
And what do you think how much approximately will it take me to finish the IIH?

I'm not going to tell you what I do personally, because it's the improper way of doing things.
You should attempt to finish all paths of the step you're on before progressing, but for some of the earlier steps, ie. the black and white mirrors, you can progress a little bit ahead, even if you aren't fully done with the step before it.
Each step you progress to will incorporate each step that came before it (for the most part) so if you're having trouble mastering a step in one branch of the training, but you've mastered the other two (let's say as an example you master step one of physical and psychic,) progress to step two of the steps you've mastered, but stay on step on of that which you haven't masted.

Sorry this post is so weird, I was interrupted a lot when writing it. Hopefully the point is conveyed properly though.

[RockDemon]

It's okay I get what you mean, thanks again

[Rin]

This is where the companion books are good. I'd highly recommend Fater Veos' IIH Commentary, and Clark's Bardon Companion is good too. The former is more practical, the latter more theoretical.

Yes the book is really great. And I've got a few more questions. [blush] I really don't mean to misuse your kindness and friendliness, but I just need to make sure that I do everything in the right way. Let's assume I completed the mental training of the step 1, but I am still doing the psychic and physical training, do I go on to the mental training of the step 2 or is it better to finish the step 1 completely and then move on ?
And what do you think how much approximately will it take me to finish the IIH?

Easy one first: the time varies for everyone. It depends on your physical, mental and spiritual health, any previous experience with magical or spiritual training, your background knowledge on spiritual and metaphysical principles, your lifestyle and more advanced issues like karma, fate and experience rollover from previous lives. If you're already physically and mentally healthy and spiritually inclined, with a bit of a background in both theory and practice and the discipline to work up to practicing 2 - 4 hours a day within the first 2 years, you could finish IIH (that is, complete steps 1 - 8, as 9 & 10 are more lifelong development processes) in 4 or 5 years.

On the other hand, if you've never meditated before and can't hold an asana for more than 10 minutes without getting sore, are physically/mentally unhealthy, eat a lot of trashy food and smoke/drink/ingest drugs frequently and find yourself stopping/starting the process several times (which is fairly common, although it's generally easier to catch back up each time), then 8 - 12 years is probably the range you're looking at. I'm not trying to be discouraging, just realistic - 12 years isn't long in the scheme of things for the benefits you'll gain from the training, and it isn't as though you have to reach Step 8 before you start having cool and enjoyable experiences or reaping improvements in your life.

Most likely you're somewhere in between the two, in which case it comes down to discipline and dedication. Discipline to practice daily, increase the amount of time you practice at a reasonable pace, to stick it out when it gets tough, to not jump ahead and bungle the training (you can do serious damage this way), to make the changes in your life which will facilitate, not counteract, your progress, and the dedication to pick yourself back up when you fall off the path (and it happens to everything).

The hard part is the first step, because you're doing a lot of introspection, struggling with the basics of learning to control your mind instead of doing cool stuff like working with energies or projecting your mind or contacting your higher self, but the work here is absolutely essential. If you don't attain a decent degree of control over your mind, then a stray thoughts popping up can cause some of the later exercises to do more harm than good (especially during the accumulation exercises), likewise, if you don't attain a degree of elemental equilibrium, you'll only throw yourself further out of balance trying to work with the elemental energies. It's a long, hard slog which is frankly rather boring at first, it's only towards the end that you discover how peaceful it is to clear your mind of all thought and relax in the void and begin to actually enjoy meditation for it's own sake.

After the first step it flows a lot easier.

As for whether you should complete all 3 sets of exercises in each step before moving on: I'm going to go with a firm yes. The thing is, yes, there are places where it's safe to move ahead in one specific area, especially earlier on, but unless you already have an indepth understanding of the theory of the system (which was quite intricately put together so each set of exercises in each step balance and play off eachothee and so that each Step builds on the foundation of the last) then it's quite possible to do damage. It's just not worth the risk just to get a small head start, and doing this is what has lead to a lot of people having to restart the system completely. Better to play it slow and steady and have a firm foundation.

[RockDemon]

Thank you Rin for such a detailed post, it is really helpful. It really answered to many of my questions and I believe the books you mentioned will answer to many of them as well.

[Rin]

No problem.