/lit/ - Literature

>Essential Texts (Roughly chronological)
-Corpus Hermeticum (Copenhaver) [Hermetism]
-Enneads (Gerson) [Neoplatonism]
-Zohar (Pritzker) [Kabbalah]
-Theologia Platonica de immortalitate animae / Platonic Theology (Allen) [Renaissance Neoplatonism]
-Oratio de hominis dignitate / Oration on the Dignity of Man (Gaponigri?) [Cabala]
-De Occulta Philosophia / Three Books of Occult Philosophy (Tyson?) [Occult / Magic]
-The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus (Waite) [Naturphilosophie / Alchemy]
-Aurora (Weeks) [Boehmeian Theosophy]
-The Rosicrucian Manifestos (Godwin) [Rosicrucianism]
-De Caelo et Eius Mirabilibus et de inferno, ex Auditis et Visis. / Heaven and Hell (Dole?) [Illuminism]
-Mémoire sur la découverte du magnetisme animal (Meyers?) [Mesmerism]

>Useful Resources [WIP]
Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism [available on libgen]
Aries - Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism [new issues available on sci-hub, old available at https://www.esswe.org/page-18140 ]
Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies [available on sci-hub]
Ambix: The Journal of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry [available on sci-hub]

>>15767782
>Neoplatonism (in its mystic manifestations)
>angel magic
>Illuminism
>Blavatskian Theosophy
>Golden Dawn
>Traditionalism as a branch of esoterica
>esoterica as esoterism
holy shit just stop

>>15767782
Convince me that all of this isn't just early psychiatry/psychology disguised as religion. That's the impression I got reading Theatrum Chemmicum Brittanicum in it's entirety. Yea it's spiritual in a lot of ways but only so far as psychology is spiritual

based thread

>>15767824
whats wrong

>>15767826
you can read esotericism in a way that reduces it to psychology, but ultimately you are forcing statements that aren't strictly psychological into a 'psychology' box. there was no such thing as 'psychology' when most of this stuff was written. the writers of these texts are often writing simultaneously about the 'inner' world (which we might conflate with psychology), but also the material universe and the immaterial structures that underpin it. Take a text like the Zohar, where a 'psychological' reading essentially only accounts for half of what is actually being said — the insights into the human soul that kabbalists discuss are also insights into the nature of the divine.

>>15767782
whats your favourite book op

What are y'all approach to this?
Use it as metaphors for psychological purposes or full dedication into the esoteric myth?

>>15767854
Maybe I just think modern psychology is stunted and things like alchemy are what "True" psychology is, as far as our belief in souls/ancestors/the meaning of life is concerned it will always be a spiritual question even when discussed "scientifically" like we try today. It reminds me of that quote that's posted here sometimes about how the Priest has been supplanted by the psychiatrist and vice-versa

>>15767782
>This thread is for the discussion of texts related to Hermetism, Neoplatonism (in its mystic manifestations), Gnosticism, Kabbalah, Cabala, Angel Magic, Alchemy, Paracelsianism, Boehmeian Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, Illuminism, Swedenborgianism, Mesmerism, as well as the more recent branches of the esoteric tree (Golden Dawn, Traditionalism, Blavatskian Theosophy, e.t.c.).
HELL YES HELL YES
May this general live forever

>>15767782
Imagine going backwards in 2020. I really hope China obliterates the US soon.

Reading all of this might cause you to miss the forest for the trees. Systems like Neoplatonism, Gnosticism and Kabbalah are basically conceptualizations of mystical experiences obtained by the authors, most of whom were highly proficient in contemplative practices. The Platonic forms/sefirot/emanations are just labels for varying degrees of consciousness that can be reached through contemplation. As the contemplator proceeds through these forms, his consciousness becomes more and more contentless until he reaches gnosis/Ein Sof/the One/nonbeing. This is the highest level of consciousness, and the ultimate nature and originating principle of reality. It is possible to reach this state of contentless consciousness, but it involves the destruction of the false self and the principium individuationis--a painful process. If you seriously pursue it, you will feel estranged. You will often forget who you are. But when you break through, you break through to unbounded, selfless love and satisfaction, everything you have been looking for in life.

You'll find it much more rewarding to pursue a mystical practice alongside any books you read. The most important practices are meditation, self-enquiry, fasting, silent darkness and entheogens. Avoid anything rooted in superstition, like angelology.

For reading, I personally recommend the Upanishads, Dao de Jing, Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious by Carl Jung and The World as Will Representation by Arthur Schopenhauer. Be careful not to over-intellectualize, especially with more complex works. I certainly have.

>>15768203
Based reply throughout
>fasting
I've been doing this for quite some time for health reasons. I never considered it mystical - what resources would you recommend to learn about the personal or spiritual dimension of fasting?

>>15768263
Fasting feels mostly like a supplementary practice to me. It can give you a clear head and more focus when meditating, but alone it is not very enlightening. I've only done ketogenic fasts, never total abstinence. They gave me euphoria but only a slight edge in meditation.

Buddhists and Hindus historically took fasting to extreme degrees, almost starving themselves to death. The Buddha tried this too, but he quit asceticism and eventually formed the Middle Way as the preferred path to enlightenment. I think the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta mentions this.

>>15768398
>The Buddha tried this too, but he quit asceticism and eventually formed the Middle Way
He only quit extreme asceticism, the rules that he asked that his monk followers obey are like textbook definitions of ascetism (i.e. not having any possessions, remaining celibate, obtaining sustenance through alms etc)

>>15768203
Read Christ the Eternal Tao

>>15767782
Does anyone here do a daily meditation as a real /esfag/ must?

I try but some days are just too fast and my mood in practicing just goes away.

>>15768203
Based post.

What's the metaphysical or esoteric meaning of Satan/Lucifer?

>>15769204
>the
that's where you're wrong, kiddo

>>15768203
this sounds like someone who realized the falsity of materialist and modern mentalities no more than few months ago and started reading entry-level stuff just the ones recommended.

I was going to make my own thread, but this looks like a good enough place to ask: why does Manichaeism live rent free in the heads of Modern (as in 1800s) occultists?

>>15768751
Looks like an interesting read. Even mainstream theologians like C.S. Lewis noted the connection between the Tao and the Logos described in John. It would also be interesting to dig into the Platonic influences behind the New Testament.
>>15769070
I feel this. I meditate almost every day, but if I don't set a specific time, I tend to put it off or forget about it until it's too late or I'm too tired to do it. It really has to be a clockwork habit like brushing your teeth every morning. Newbies like to hype it up as an easy cure-all for depression and anxiety, but it really takes 5+ years of meditating at least a half hour every day to get real spiritual results. It takes a lot of patience, but the grind is absolutely worth it and I feel much more confident about the direction of my life when I do have the habit going.

>>15769204
in an etymological sense: the adversary
in a symbolic sense: tamas, tamasik tendency, downward movement
some people regard it as the ultimate other, the second of the duality and dialectics, but in one of my understandings Satan/Lucifer is more like the distance from the very process, the realization of it, ignorance.

>>15769262
>Platonic influences behind the New Testament.
such as?

>>15769289
The Logos, although I think that might be more from Aristotle.

>What's the metaphysical or esoteric meaning of Satan/Lucifer?
Individuality. Freethought. Opposition to orthodoxy. Unrepressed desire. Sexuality.

>>15769372
The female orgasm.

>>15769313
so you're telling me that a theological piece written in greek using a greek term means it was influenced by other greek people because they employed the same greek term in their writings before?

>>15769236
Then what are your reccs, faggot?

Magic bros, what are some texts about the relation of the tarot to western esotericism?

>>15767918
If you weren't such a basic bitch you'd know the answer is both.

>>15767782
>Kabbalah, Cabala, Angel Magic, Alchemy, Paracelsianism, Boehmeian Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, Illuminism, Swedenborgianism, Mesmerism, as well as the more recent branches of the esoteric tree (Golden Dawn, Traditionalism, Blavatskian Theosophy, e.t.c.).
Drink Hemlock.

>>15769372
>Individuality.

>>15769678
https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Tarot-Journey-Christian-Hermeticism/dp/1585421618

>>15767782
anyone here ever read Jung's Aion? what did you think about the link between astrology and Christianity? shit's fucking bonkers but there does seem to be a correspondence between the two, the dawn of the age of Aquarius and the fall of Christianity as the fundamental myth of the West that is

>>15769313
The definition of Logos in question comes from Heraclitus. Fr. Seraphim Rose's teacher also pointed this out.

>>15767782
How do you guys feel about numbers?

>>15768170
Based and murricanpilled

>>15769797

>>15769855 (checked)

>>15769782
Anyone read this?

>>15769278
you could definitely think of "satan" as residing within automaticity i think. "idle hands are the devils plaything" etc

>>15770419
I haven't but I have a copy on my shelf

>>15770924
Read it and tell me what you think of it.

>>15771136
ok

>>15771302
Thanks, anon.

A highly autistic kike with a PhD is in the town lads

>https://youtu.be/5VgITLTAksU
What are your thoughts on this channel?

>>15771413
This enwerd stole my channel idea
Subbed

>>15771413
Got any more recs? This is fantastic.

>>15771441
It's looks they are a whole team of highly autistic(in a good way) people exploring the esotericism.
Just go to their featured channel section on their channel to find more channels.

Here another esoteric goth academic
>https://youtu.be/UUrKMymdK_g

This channel focus on esoteric side of Eastern religions. It's mainly focused on Islam.
>https://youtu.be/rdKjKsT7IIw

>>15771472
Thanks mate, I always mistook those for auto-generated suggestions rather than curated links. The Sufi guy seems really great, and the other one you didn't link, while being very normie, seems to have occasionally interesting content.

>>15771413
he seems quite based.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JE7Xi72eVk
i strongly agree with almost everything he says in this video

Hes a list for esoteric Islamic Books,

>>15770876
I don’t know. This would imply being unconscious is per se evil. And unconsciousness is in harmony with the order of the world, like when you read something you are not conscious that you are reading. Even though it is necessary to realize things, activate the spirit, etc.

Has anyone iterated on what Jung talked about in any meaningful way or his work kind of it? Is there a next step?

>>15772584
Jung would probably have liked the fact that a group of scholars are now studying Western esoteric traditions in a deeper way. From what I've gathered by examining (and this is but a quick observation of mine, based on my very limited knowledge) the writings of Carl Jung and those of the various modern western esoteric orders and groups such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the methods and practices in this specific stream of Magick seem to have a structure that looks strikingly like the process of individuation.
Jung immersed himself in ancient and medieval texts as well as busying himself with the myths and knowledge of a wide range of groups in order to figure out what their effects on human psychology and behaviour were. Paired with studying the dynamics of his psyche along with the minds of thousands of other people, he found something so peculiar, inherent to the human mind, that language is incapable of properly describing it.
If anyone gives themselves to these practices and the knowledge associated with them, along with reading the works of Carl Jung, I'm sure they'll be rewarded for it.

>>15767782
Virginity the thread

>>15773073
sex is a key feature in many esoteric systems. particularly the platonic traditions and the kabbalah. i am personally lucky enough to be able to have sex with someone who i love deeply and the experience is always mystical.

Freemasonry is huge in my area though I doubt most are in it for the esoteric.

>>15767806
whats the difference between the Gerson enneads and the penguin classics version?

>>15767782
ah yes, the stupid texts. i cant read them without cringing.
>>15767824
indeed my fellow booklet

>>15773616
Always avoid buying penguin

>>15773563
>Putting your piss stick in a skanks meat wallet and splurging our some white goo from your urine hole
>Mystical

new age schizo general

>>15773673

Is Crowley/Thelema based?

>>15769731

>>15767782
If you wish to follow the footsteps of the great dark Sage, read this.

>>15773616
the penguin translation was done in the 1920s and is abridged whereas the gerson translation was finished in 2018. academics generally seem to be a bit cautious with mackenna's translation and i've seen it be described as 'quirky' by other scholars in the field.

>>15767826
Psychology is just an attempt to apply scientific method to affirm the truths espoused by mysticism.
So in a sense you're correct, but the way you've phrased it makes you miss the mark.

>>15773982
>affirm the truths espoused by mysticism.
Which are...?

>>15773705
Yes.

>>15774069
This is the paradoxical thing about the word "truth". It means nothing in our material world. If someone is reifying it, you can be sure he is a schizo (or a philosopher with his own axioms).
Occult literally seraches for this abstract truth. Thats the whole point. Journey is all that matters. If you look long enough for something your brain actually starts to belive that it makes sense. Or it doesn't. Occult people are the former type.

>>15774069
Mystical truths are those obtained after sustained contemplation of one's own consciousness. Perhaps the most significant one is the illusion of the false self, which can be revealed through meditation and self-enquiry.

Ultimately, these truths cannot be proven, as they are direct insights into your conscious reality first and beliefs second. It will always be up to you to make of them what you want, and if you think they say anything about reality at large or are just hallucinations created by your brain.

>>15775007
Based Apostate mercilessly wrecking midwit Galileans (colourised)

>>15772411
in my opinion automatic behaviours are not synonymous with evil but rather they are where the potential for evil resides.

>>15771722
Is this guy a fucking faggot?
He seems like a fucking faggot.
Who cares what a faggot has to say?
In a true right handed esoteric way,
A faggot is dismissed outright as destructive,
Inasmuch as a faggot has no ability to create.
Anal fetishes are necro-fagiac in all their ways.
Sexuality, lubricated by shit, waste material.
Faggot.

>>15777290
awful post