A.:. A.:. Student Reading List Books
-
Hello all. I am in the process of getting through the books on the reading list and was wondering if others ran into some of the same "belief" issues I have.
Before I began on the reading list, I read several books by Regardie, Dion fortune, and a lot of the Golden Dawn material. I wanted a foundation in Qabalah and ceremonial magic in general so I would not be so confused.
I've finished Raja Yoga and The Book of Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage (the new version) and have started on Transcendental Magick and The Goetia.
My main concern is, there are a lot of claims of what I would call superstitions and downright fantasy. In Raja Yoga, there is talk about flying through the air, healing the sick, entering other peoples bodies and all sorts of powers that seem impossible. The same goes for Abremelin when he describes having conversations with the "unredeemed spirits" in physical form and other unbelievable powers. It reminds me of the faith healers today walking around spouting about how all of Jesus' miracles are still working today. Why is it it is always in the past when all these miracles happen? It takes a whole lot of faith to believe in what these books claim and I am not a fan of faith.
I am not letting this hinder my pursuit of the A.:.A.:. at all however. Most of what I have read from Crowley seems spot on and what I don't understand, I sum up to lack of experience. I do have faith that if I follow the plan laid out in the A.:.A.:. I will attain K&C and see things in a different way. in other words, I am doing this because I am driven to personal evolution and in all the religions I have studied/practiced, the A.:.A.:. is a prefect blend.
On a side note tangent, I come from a Tibetan buddist background and my perspective is the Yoga part of the A.:.A.:. is close to the Buddhist teachings on meditation, both coming from the same place, but the Tantra part is replaced by the magick. In other words, it is magick that speeds up the transformation as Tantra does in Buddhism. This is just how I see it now. I'm sure my outlook will change. I hope so!
I'm just curious how others, having read these older texts deal with issues of lack of belief.
Thanks,
~SB
-
The instructions on the Student stage specifically discourage believing one way or another. The expectation is to familiarize yourself with what these great classics actually say, and to be able to pass examination on that content. This isn't a question of accuracy, truth, etc. - just a question of what the books say.
As the official A.'.A.'. description of the Student phase says,
"An examination in these books will be made. The Student is expected to show a thorough acquaintance with them, but not necessarily to understand them in any deeper sense."
In Eight Lectures, Crowley elaborated:
"You are expected to spend three months at least on the study of some of the classics on the subject. The chief object of this is not to instruct you, but to familiarise you with the ground work, and in particular to prevent you getting the idea that there is any right or wrong in matters of opinion. You pass an examination intended to make sure that your mind is well grounded in this matter, and you become a Probationer."
-
Thanks for reeling me back in. I must have lost sight of the whole point of why I was reading these books.