Transcendant Magic

Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual by Éliphas Lévi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At the core of all esoteric arts is science. Those occult groups who acted in secret oft time mixing faith and science have been the discoverers of scientific invention advancing society forward yet hidden from public view. In order to perpetuate faith the Church has always sought to stamp out these groups and their sciences. The Church has in many an instance been resistant to scientific discovery and change.

What follows is one of the key books on Ceremonial Magick. The book is very hard to comprehend at times and yet at others it makes the point crystal clear. It is author’s such as Eliphas Levi who formed the foundation of today’s Ceremonial Magick, Wicca, Chaos Magick and to an extent neo-paganism. Eliphas Levi believed very much in the Judeo conception of God and had a Christian world view, yet he realized that the truths revealed in the Bible were not meant to be taken literally but rather as a metaphor. His outlook is also very scientific.

Through out the ages secret groups have kept the study of Kabballah alive, all the way from Egypt through the Hebrews up until now. Teachers like Hermes Trimagistus, in his “Emerald Tablet “ passed on the teachings as did the Magians from Persia.. High Magic that brought about positive change is what this is about. The work is very kabbalistic.

Interspersed with discussion of the Kabbalah comes the concept of Monad, Dyad and Triad. Monad is the one creator God, Dyad is him and someone else this is the essence of creation. You must have someone to talk to in order for creation to occur. The triad is the creator, created and the object of listening. Some what complicated and I do not hve a full grasp of this myself.

None the less the power of speech is the power to create. In the bible God created the world through speech. Hence the magician creates their reality with the power of speech.
In the Universe there is something called Astral Light. It is what the universe is made up of. It takes forms based on our imagination and what we are expecting or want to see. In a ritual if someone summons and angel, spirit or deity and you se thm it amy or may not be what you think you see but rather a form created by the Astral Light. Our astral bodies are composed of astral light. When the righteous die they go to the stars or evolve to the next level. Those still addicted to the pleasures of life are trapped in their Astral body.

The astral body can leave our physical bodies during sleep and will oft times take on different animal forms. Like werewolves or were tigers. Affecting the astral body can have an impact on the physical body. Sympathetic magic is worked in a fashion like this. Our imagination can affect the thinking and minds of other people especially if our thought are properly directed.. Pentagrams control the elements.

Writers like Eliphas Levi are the wellsprings of inspiration for many magical authors who learned from him and rewrote his concepts in sometimes watered down fashion. No problems reading them first before you get to the main course which is this book. There is no dogma but the purest of science that I have seen in an occult book.


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