Path: ultra.sonic.net!news
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva)
Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.thelema,alt.pagan.magick,talk.religion.newage
Subject: (Magical) Guidance Sought!
Date: 13 Jan 1999 03:30:20 -0800
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49980622 

David:
#> Do advanced practitioners welcome questions from novices such as
#> myself, or do they feel the list is more for consultation with 
#> their "peers" regarding magickal techniques and results and 
#> obscure reference material...

how can we tell if we are an 'advanced practitioner' (of what? 
ceremonial magick? the understanding of and manipulation of or 
by the Law?)?  are all advanced practitioners the same?  

this email list is for pertinent discussion of anything related
to 'Thelema' (see the Welcome or Info files for more specifics
on this -- you should have got one when you subscribed, if you
can't find, email me privately), novice or advanced.

Thelemites who have achieved some degree of maturity welcome
sincere questions from those who are new to the Current, though
they may not respond with easy-to-understand answers.  be ready
to be redirected back to yourself and to your studies/discipline.


#> ...strategy in pursuit of Thelemic education on the path to the 
#> Great Work.  Should I spend the next year or more reading 
#> everything AC and his cohort have written on Thelemic subjects 
#> (and browse the many related websites) before being so 
#> inquisitive on the list?

again this depends entirely on what you consider a 'Thelemic
education' to be.  if you want to be absorbed into the cult
which is Thelema, then attendance at rituals and orientations
is probably best.  if you want to get hip to the religion of
Thelema then you may have to start actually doing those rites
and become attuned to the higher vibration of the Current as
these religious perceive it.  if you want to discover your
true will and begin to live according to the Law of Thelema,
then cults and religions may be more of an OBSTACLE to you
on your path (to the Great Work or even some lesser work)
than any real help.  readings of anyone may be problematic
for you depending who you are and where you're coming from.

inquisitiveness is demonstrative of openness and a willingness
to learn something new -- it is also indicative of vulnerability.


#> Should I contact the local caliphate OTO chapter (Knights 
#> Templar Oasis) and seek initiation "right off the bat", or 
#> should I look into self-initiation and magickal practice 
#> first and seek mentorship later.

this kind of question is impossible to respond to without
knowing you and the Oasis members better.  different OTO
bodies focus on different things and you may or may not be
attuned to the same Work.  initiation into any group is more
liable to be a HAMPERING to your personal process than any
sort of assistance (esp. short-term).  again, it depends on 
who you are -- some people benefit greatly from organizations, 
religions, and cults, finding their liberation therein; some 
are merely conscripted to the mass and never wake to liberty.


#> ...deeper study of Jewish mysticism wouldn't hurt either, 
#> as a preface to extending my Judeo-centric roots towards 
#> the fertile soil of Thelema.

sounds like that is one valuable way of making the transition.
Judeochristian-oriented magical paths are just one of the 
64,000 flavors of the Great Work.  study what liberates you, 
not what is Right.  challenge yourself sequentially in 
expansive and tempering processes, retaining your self-worth
and keeping an eye out for self-delusion.  you will go far.  

blessed beast!
nigris (333) 
-- 
tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (emailed replies may be posted); cc me replies;
http://www.abyss.com/tokus; http://www.luckymojo.com/mojocatSPELLS.html