Tips on how to begin ceremonial magick

[Tris3021]

Hi, I have never practiced ceremonial magick before, or really any kind of meditation or things that could raise my magickal energy. I would really like some help on getting some material that would help me start out developing the appropriate skills and knowledge before any kind of advanced magick.

You all should know, I want a system where I only seek the highest good for myself and everyone else around me and a kind of magickal system where it is very pure. For example, I could want love between me and somebody else, free from lust and anything which brings attachment, but something that would help us respect each other more and also help us to grow together and move on from negative things. I also want a system where it makes me tap into my true self and become closer to the source of creation and something where I can learn the deepest of secrets that are held in the depths of the universe so again, I may only use it for good and the benefit of all.

I have a good motive here, I just need to find out some systems, magickal traditions, or groups that could be for somebody like me so I can gain practical knowledge and can actually ground that knowledge/energy that I learn to grow and nurture.

[magari]

Zen meditation techniques are proven and in my opinion work with all paradigms.

Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Suzuki is priceless, but can be aquired on the cheap.

$12 for a paperback off of Amazon

I personally used this book to learn how to self induce OBEs.

[Haelos]

Disregard the mentioned material by Magari. The only book you need for what you ask is Initiation into Hermetics by Franz Bardon.

You have no prior knowledge or practice of the skills needed for Ceremony. You need to develop these faculties before you can progress to bigger and better things.
After/as you progress through IIH, Franz has two other books that are fantastic stepping stones of Ceremonial magick. The first one to read is Practice of Magical Evocation, and the second is Key to the True Qabala.

These should be the only books you need for a very long time. If you require more material on the practice of Ceremony, please PM me.
All of these books are available for free around Internet.

[Rin]

While I'm a huge supporter of IIH, I don't think it's the only book one needs. Or at least, I think someone seeking to train themselves using IIH could benefit extensively from reading other books, as long as they're the right ones. Bardon's system is excellent, but it skims over the specifics of many topics - this isn't a criticism, you can only fit so much in one book, but the reality is that he often spends only a few pages explaining techniques or aspects of practice which entire books could be written on, like physical health and exercise, diet, basic meditation, energetic anatomy, internal alchemy, etc etc.

Personally I'd say, on top of Bardon's works, the following would be a few reads which would enhance someone's development enormously:

N.E.W. (New Energy Ways) - Robert Bruce: an excellent and succinct guide to the hands on technique of working with energy.

Three Books of Occult Philosophy - Agrippa: a bit dense and dated, but excellent guide to hermetic cosmology and magic.

Yoga and Kriya - Swami Satyananda Saraswati: goes into extensive detail into the kind of lifestyle which will optimize you for spiritual/magical work - posture, diet, hygiene, etc. Not just what is required in these areas, but the best way for a modern Westerner to go about changing his lifestyle from a mundane to a spiritual one. Also contains a massive collection of actual yogic techniques which I haven't personally tried (and wouldn't recommend practicing without the guidance of a teacher), but the advice on lifestyle will speed up your progress enormously.

Corpus Hermeticum and the Emerald Tablet of Hermes - the classics of hermetic philosophy, essential reading if you intend to develop a deeper understanding of the Western esoteric worldview.

The Kybalion - takes the theory from older works and condenses it down into a list of 7, well explained, easily understood "laws." The nuts and bolts of how magic and spiritual practice actually function.

And of course any practitioner would benefit extensively from reading the classical mystical texts of both the West and the East. I'll leave it up to you to decide on where you want to start, depending on which school of spiritual philosophy you find the most appealing, but buy some basic overview works (Hinduism/Daoism/Buddhism/Hermeticism/etc 101 type books)to gain an overview of whichever school of thought appeals to you the most, and go from there.

[Suba]

Blessings Tris3021,

The fact that you intend towards positive things in your ceremonial practices and that you are actually seeking to understand and find a system that is in alignment with your aims is awesome.

As Magari suggested, working with some meditative tradition is very important towards gaining control over your mind and body. That is essential towards safely working with any magical system, especially when working within a system that will increase the energies and forces within your life: so it is better to go into that with clarity and a strong will-power.

Haelos' suggests Bardon's Initiation into Hermetics. That is a great place to start. You might want to check out Georg Lomer's Seven Hermetic Letters, William Atkinsons' writings, and Alexandra David-Neel's works, as they directly influenced Bardon. Though, David-Neel's is sadly not the best source of Tibetan practices these days.

I also agree with Rin, Bardon is not a standalone book to work with. He does breeze through many of the practices and he writes with the assumption that the reader has a basic understanding of the Occult Arts. All the books Rin suggests are superb. In fact, Agrippa is the perfect book to gain an overall understanding of the Esoteric Traditions and Saraswati's monumental Yoga and Kriya book gives a more rounded and thorough approach to many of the practices Bardon offers.

As to my personal suggestions:
1. Master the body and its energies first. Work with meditation and practice yoga or some other esoteric exercise system. Strengthen and harmonize your body while clearing and gaining control over your mind.

2. Learn about the earth energies and gain a deep understanding of the occult attributes. Agrippa is a good place to start for this. I would also suggest working with the elemental energies. Eliphaz Levi has a basic system that I have personally adopted and tweaked from his Transcendental Magic[i/] book. It is in the public domain here: https://archive.org/details/transcendentalma00leviuoft. High Magic: Elemental Adept[i/] works with Levi's system and is in the public domain as well. Check it out here: http://iohma.org/kabbalah/magic/adept.html

3. Work with the planetary energies. The purest Grimoire I know of is the Arbatel. Joseph Peterson offer's a great translation, but Robert Turner's version is in the public domain, and if the truth be told, it is a solid translation as well. You can find it here: https://archive.org/details/arbatelofmagick

The added benefit of the Arbatel is that it offers a lot regarding how to work with magic in a positive and Enlightening way. In fact, one of the major aspects of the Arbatel is to benefit all beings, not just the Adept.

Be Blessed,
Suba