Path: typhoon.sonic.net!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.pagan.magick,talk.religion.newage,alt.philosophy.taoism Subject: Longevity/Health, Mysticism and Magic (was A Question) References: <1036886934.55779.0@iapetus.uk.clara.net> From: xiwangmu Reply-To: spam@luckymojo.com User-Agent: nn/6.6.0 Lines: 52 Message-ID: <55lA9.48112$Ik.1211674@typhoon.sonic.net> Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 05:06:09 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 208.201.242.18 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sonic.net X-Trace: typhoon.sonic.net 1037163969 208.201.242.18 (Tue, 12 Nov 2002 21:06:09 PST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 21:06:09 PST Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.magick.tyagi:35096 alt.magick:324657 alt.pagan.magick:34757 talk.religion.newage:156772 alt.philosophy.taoism:105899 50021112 VII "Baphomet" : >I am currently reading through Israel Regardie's books, and have read >through books on hermetics and other books on magick by some high profile >and gifted authors. All talk about the things you can do for your health, >mind and enhancing yourself, but they all die like normal men from normal >illnesses at normal ages. this is not restricted to the Hermetic mages. it also seems to be the case for mystics the world over -- even those who maintain that they have created some kind of fabulous "Pill of Immortality" or a "Stone of the Philosophers" or "Universal Medicine". usually these are described as the result of some arduous and sometimes dangerous mystical practice and almost all the success stories are to be found too far back in time to be confirmed in any reliable way. being a conservative schooled in materialistic agnosticism, I began my studies from a standpoint that I have not seen fit to alter since my research took strange courses Newage, Neopagan, neoneo-taoist and Hermetic: the stories about immortality and enhanced health due to mystical practices are speaking only of interior states and their import to the modern mystic is as regards what their symbolism implies about the character or quality of the mystic's experience. >Has anyone used their powers to do anything remarkable with regards >to their health and longevity? from what I can tell, this is the promise of practical endeavours enshrouded in secrecy, cypher and symbolism explained away by the devout as a necessary hook to ensnare indisciplined converts to the Way of the Divine or as some kind of Lost Science only an Elite has the privilege to practice properly (usually with meager results that have little to do with longevity). instead my studies lead me to presume at present that what is being described with any sincerety by these fantastic accounts is a mystical experience in which the world takes on a certain appearance during life -- life itself opening out or broadening to a kind of 'immortal' expanse, a 'timelessness', or 'eternal quality', while the biology of the individual remains largely unchanged. the brief glimpses of success toward this end I have found in applying philosophic and mystical principles and practicing the rudimentary disciplines I've found consistently valuable give me reason to think that my initial supposition may be accurate and that this is the only real value of mysticism (other than social integrity in the form of hip orders and cults). not only this, some aren't cut out for mysticism (i.e. YMMV). xiwangmu