This weeks lesson

This weeks lesson on Zone Rites is REALLY long. Took me all day to write it, but I have to say it kicks some butt.

I decided to finally put in print a ritual called The Adamantine Temple. I have been doing this rite for a few years now, but have kept it as a sort of Ace in the Hole. I do hope people dig it.

Goetia Girls

Wow. Just wow.

GOETIA GIRLS

Uhh, adult content.

The Process

Interesting piece about the process chruch of the final judgement.

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/12/goldwag-cranks-curio.html#more

Halfway through the Secret ...

Ok, I am halfway through the secret. I changed by mind. While it does have its good points, it is chock full of suck as well. Indeed it could actually be harmful to people that take it too literally.

Basically it is your typical though IS reality, see it happening and it will happen, nothing happens without you bringing into being, rap. Lots of good stuff in there about how to manage thoughts to not self-sabotage your efforts, how to make gratefulness into a creative process (something that I meant to weave into Sorcerers Secrets, but kinda forgot) and other decent tidbits.

The downside is that there is no concession to reality whatsoever. The book actually states that Fatty Foods will only make you fat if you THINK they will... They point to people who seem to be able to eat anything they want without loosing weight as the proof of this.

Seriously? WTF!

Are there people who can eat junk and not gain weight? Yes. I know several. They all either exercise intensely or have digestive problems. Otherwise they have managed to make "all they want" into half a plate of everything. They are not downing 12 white castles every day, laying about all night and staying perfectly healthy.

Thought is a thing, It does indeed have a power all its own, but unless that power is harnessed through skill, it just doesnt do the kind of things that the Secret claims it does.

That said, I think that the good outweighs the bad with the book and can see why it has sold so many copies.

Tomorrow in New Hope.

Mystical Tymes http://www.mystickaltymes.com/

127 South Main Street New Hope, PA 18938

(215) 862-5629

November 10th 2009

7:00 pm – 9:00pm

Energetic, Psychic, and Magical Healing

There are more methods of energy healing than Reiki. In this class you will learn healing methods drawn from Jason's studies of Buddhism, Taoism, as well as western Elemental and Angelic Magic. Learn to channel different types of healing energies and how to apply them to patients either in person or at a distance. Beyond just merely healing disease, this type of healing can go a long way towards healing the spiritual being and even the outer circumstances of a patient.

The Secret

After a couple years now of people blathering about the secret like it is the worst (or occasionally the best) possible thing on earth I am finally going to read it. I just picked up a hardcover for $6 at the used book shop in Doylestown PA.

I'll share my thoughts on it when i am done, but I expect it to be like most "New Thought" derived products - good mental tech that equates to rudimentary mental magick, but lacks any emphasis on real world work. This flaw is no big deal though, its the flaw in most books on magick, and even most magical systems. That flaw, more than anything else is what caused me to write the Sorcerer's Secrets; to show that workings need to be followed by work or they dont work.

Some people hate New Thought products lile this because they can also lead people to the unfortunate conculsion that if good things happen to people because they are positive, than bad things happen to people because they are negative. This is a serious flaw, but again is present in most asian cultures that accept "karma" and also Calvinist cultures. People suffer because 1. They are negative thinkers 2. are experiencing karma from previous actions 3. god pretty much hates their guts. All three are a cop-out of course.

Some people, a lot in the occult community I would bet, hate the Secret because of the packaging and the high price tag. Something that is slick and appealing to the mainstream couldnt possibly have as much value as the hard to find, leatherbound edition of a book written 300 years ago that only the "elect" can understand right?

Like I said, I havent even read it yet. I dont have any opinion of it. Just doing a bit of marketing research here, but I do find the reasons that people like/dislike things to be very interesting.

Religion is not about belief

This is a great article on the nature of belief in religion and how the idea of Faith did not, until the modern day, have anything to do with the sort of blind belief that it does today.

Great stuff

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/rdbook/1930/religion_is_not_about_belief:_karen_armstrong’s_the_case_for_god/