Aurum Solis, Servants of Light, and filling the GD-AA gap
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@Freya said
"I find some material by Denning and Phillips to be "new-agey", lacking substance"
How do you find Taoist classics?
This i quoted from you seems as a compliment to me 
Not as such, but what it brings when i try to make correspond AS books and "new agey_lacking substance". My intuition says "its true ! but in a good/ the taoist way". There is indeed somekind of vacuity in those books 
I think it shows there are not only good adepts but also good pedagogs and writers. They make the material feel "light" but i think it is not in any way. It's the way of writing that may produce the effect. -
@Frater Horus said
"
O Mistress Danica, whip me, whip me, i'm such a naughty student.
"
I prefer gentle touch and caress
(BTW, regarding whipping, have you seen Trier's "Nymphomaniac"?)"...
How does this sound? "Like a lot of theorizing
"Adephood" by which system's definition?
AA is not a social club; if one wants to joint, regardless of his/her actual spiritual development thus far, one goes from the beginning, that is - goes through the system step by step. The method of science, ya know. -
Thanks Tony, the material I read so far wasn't very good in my opinion, but that's just me. They also advise the use of planetary hours which, IMO, is not to be followed.... I find Taoist teachings very good, but I do not expect from an Eastern system to teach in the same way as a Western one. This is just my opinion, and it is purely academic (I am comparing the substance of their writings to Crowley's), and it is without prejudice. I am sure that all of Denning and Phillips books will be (and already have been) useful for many people.
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@danica said
"
@Frater Horus said
"O Mistress Danica, whip me, whip me, i'm such a naughty student. "I prefer gentle touch and caress
(BTW, regarding whipping, have you seen Trier's "Nymphomaniac"?)"...How does this sound? "
Like a lot of theorizing
"Adephood" by which system's definition?
AA is not a social club; if one wants to joint, regardless of his/her actual spiritual development thus far, one goes from the beginning, that is - goes through the system step by step. The method of science, ya know."Let there be gentleness then
I'll look the movie
"Adepthood" by my own secret system's definition.
Thou are against all social clubs, hippies, cowards and mediocrities O my chosen !
Let there be caress
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@Freya said
"I find some material by Denning and Phillips to be "new-agey", "
I was very annoyed by that until I realized that among the new age stuff there was some hardcore magick tech. It still annoys me, but at least I do have some fun with the tech.
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I know there's fluff material everywhere you look. I know also there are children camping in the wilderness when I go out and do my serious hermitage. What really annoys me is the people who feel superior about themselves by labeling things "newagey" as if the things so labelled actually cared what you think.
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I am entitled to my opinions, just as you are entitled to yours. I have written my opinions without prejudice, and they are not personal. I cannot control the emotional reactions of others, nor is it my concern to do so. I am not interested neither in people caring about what I think, if it is me you allude to under the term "people", nor in feeling superior. I assume this comment was not meant personally as you have no personal knowledge of me, so you cannot possibly know how I feel about myself. What I said was a personal opinion on what I believe is the quality of some Denning and Phillips writings compared to Crowley's. It is not a personal attack on anybody, merely my views on some of the work that I have personally read. Having made it abundantly clear what my position is in this matter, I find it futile to continue this conversation if it is taken out of context and made it about personal character.
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In case it helps clear things up... (Filter out the opinion portions as opinion. They're padding so I can get to the relevant fact or two.)
D&P's primary series on Aurum Solis (5 volumes hard cover, now 3 volumes paper) are phenomenal, an apex of magical writing of the last half century. Some of their other books, such as that on magical self-defense, are of a similar caliber.
However, as part of their... relationship... with Llewellyn, they were asked to pop out a few pop books along the way. I doubt this was ever in the form of "write this pablum, or we won't publish your other stuff;" however, it did seem at the time (to me, and to a couple of people who knew them better than I) that there was a bit of "house production staff writer" aspect to the relationship. This also popularized the D&P brand, of course.
Even in these pablumish works, they put an enormous amount of solid information - some of it overt, some of it snuck in so you didn't necessarily know you were getting the jewels while scrounging for acorns. But you end up going home with a pocket of jewels.
I don't like all their stuff. But I adore them per se, and utterly adore their best stuff, and very much like a lot of the rest.