"Don't know if I said this before, but you see how cheap and easy lulu.com is, right?"
I think the point being that sure have the 24ct gold embossed edition, consecrated on Mt Sinai by naked nubile virgin serfs in the moonlight. But I have no qualms buying a Paperpack edition.. 
Hehe let me start scouring I have surpised myself of late by doing some digging.. you can make some huge savings I picked up the Geoffrey James Enochian book for like £12 I have seen it going for well over $300 .. And I also got Magick without tears for £10 and thats also been fetching high prices.. The most I have paid for a book is $200 maybe I should up my ante and stop grumbling
I am not arguing that I am just as much a book whore as most of you But besides mortaging my house for a book. and I am sure its well worth it I just cannot justify the amount that it is doing the rounds at currently. I seriously hope another publishing run happens soon heres hopeing
Any chance of it possibly being released in electronic format?
This is not a practice suggested. Even if the entity demands it .. Do not offer anything you are not willing to give freely. And that also applies to semen etc . Its a very effective bit of currency for the Entities and something I would only do after establishing a really solid relationship with the entity in question. even then Intent and boundaries have to be explicitly outlined
ThatNarrowFellow there are a few books that can get you out of the rut eg: Modern Magick By Donald Kraig even though GD based its a good simple step by step primer in Magic, Ritual and Terminology. If you are hell bent on going a thelemic route I can suggest Justin Augustus Newcombs " The new hermetics" Is pretty solid stuff Its magic 101 with a thelemic slant. Uncle Al's "Magic without britney spears" Is def essential reading. BOTA is brilliant but progress is frustratingly slow with there material. To much emphasis is placed on the HGA. Yes its the goal but you need the vehicle to get there. The best way to learn magic is to practice, there are to many talkers and not enough doers. Start off slowly get the LBRP down pat move onto the BRH the MP The invocations of the elements. Read and experiment with talismanic magic. Check out the star ruby etc read the analysis of these rituals. Groups are great if you can find a good one but you can do it alone if you put in the effort. I hope this helps
Jim is right in his statement the vehicle is not normally strong enough to work with such volatile energies until they have progressed somewhat. Like plutonium you wouldn't just give it to anyone to handle that would just be well? dumb The same goes for enochian or even the goetia.
The practice of magic made me see the world in an entirely new way. There is a freedom that stems from knowledge. The more clearly you see, the less likely you are to stumble. Practically speaking It is the study of how things in Life work, and a fundamental desire to learn the details of these interactions to a level not generally discovered by the average person. Finally, it is an attempt to use the knowledge of these interactions to accomplish great things in this Life. Spiritually At least in my path of study, is in getting closer to Divinity, and to be more fully accomplished in holy tasks in favor of the Divine Plan -- or, as it is more commonly known, The Great Work. I think most miss the boat when it comes to the HGA and most spend there time chasing phantoms . I don't know what else to say right now except to say that if you look for it, it definitely there.
My Apologies You have the Idea! 
Jonathan In my opinion the K&C is not necessary to do good magic most magicians that I have met who proclaim this attainment wouldn't know it if there K&C appeared as Pamela Anderson and kissed them on there ass.. I probably know two Magicians that I can say have achieved it and it was over many many years of practice and it wasn't through Liber Samekh etc I am not saying its not valuable its the ultimate goal for any serious magus..
If one can not provide food for oneself, then it would be better to physically get off your {@$$} and figure something out.
If however, the reason you fail to provide food and shelter is that you have "spirits" which is to say psychological complexes or acquired habits that sabotage your efforts, Then rather that direct your magick at the results of attaining a loaf of bread or a night is a shelter, it might be more effective if you work with the "spirits" and that is with balancing out ones inner space, the subconscious mind. The end result of a balanced mind, is the dissolution of the ego awareness, As the ego itself is nothing but a soap box on which various "spirits" or complexes use to attempt to influence their unbalanced needs into the behavior. The balance of these inner voices, cancels out against each other, the conscious ego becomes quiet. The TRUE WILL then manifests, rather that the various unbalanced desires seeking gratification and control of the flesh to those ends, ie obsessions, addictions, fidgeting, etc.
Thus, by seeking K&C the lesser practical issues will clear up on their own, as if by magi```
ck.
This is very good advise everybody and there grandmother want to go bashing spirits around for all there mundane Poo .. I think even Duquette mentions you should only turn to the spirits when you have exhausted all other options. But there are other ways to practice practical magic eg: Planetary Talismans , Sigil Magic , etc etc ..Some very good replies it doesn't take long to figure out that the founders of JOS are a bunch of Neo- Nazi loonies.. I disagree with there take on evocation like anything you start of slowly you use a circle and triangle for a reason there are some Entities that are to powerful for us when working with CM it is VERY advisable especially in the early years of practice.
"
Many of the Entities that we call are too dangerous for us to handle without protection. That is part of what ritual is for. To protect us as we grow. Notice that I said that is PART of what ritual is for. Ritual also develops within the Magickian, in a structured methodology, personal power. As this power grows so does the True Magickal capability of the Magickian.
To explain, when we summon we often use the Magickal capabilities of the Entity we are summoning to achieve our ends. As we grow the need for external Entities diminishes. We can achieve our desires DIRECTLY. However, to get to this point SIGNIFICANT growth has to occur. The RAW power of the Entities is also OUR power once we learn to master it. That is part of what summoning is all about.
I DO NOT recommend that beginning magickians pursue this line of thought if summoning entities. When you are ready you will know."
As for Luciferian Gnosis there is a big difference between Lucifer and Satan
Just my two cents
The tattvas didnt work for me to Abstract even though they are simple .. Start off slowly again I dont know why but I started visualizing a black shiny pool ball you can use a key a plushy animal toy whatever is comfortable to think about.. Focus on in intently in your minds eye after a bit the image should start pulling away. A little trick I learnt is to in your minds eye refocus on the object almost like you would in the physical by squinting your eyes etc keep doing that when you start losing focus.. The Astral Dynamics book by Robert Bruce is great but to seriously get the benefit out of it you have to put six months aside to seriously master the techniques. But I don't think you have a problem with focus just your visualization have you thought of taking up some scrying there is nothing better if you want to hone your Astral chops
I think the question is what do you want to achieve? How are you at doing things like the full LBRP or BRH mentally without breaking concentration?
V
Froclown I think the Richard Dawkins Forum is more suited to your outlook on Magick and psychology.
"Even if there was a spirit and it could move wrenches through the air. The spirit is a something, and it moved the wrench via some process. Therefore it is some kind of hitherto unknown or unexplained but undeniably physical process."
Froclown Have you ever worked with the Goetia? or the Invocation or evocation of any spirits? I have had far stranger things happen than that what you mention .. There are some brilliant analogies on this thread but its mostly arm chair talk..
You are referring to the The Sigillum Dei Ameth more info here
www.evocationmagic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=76
Can I ask what you Intend to do with the Siggillum?
luxinhominefactum Have you ever tried to make a Sigillum Dei Ameth out of wax I have had more luck herding cats I use a Laminated Copy that I place under my scrying crystal.
Frater they don't even have Libraries in Zimbabwe anymore I must admit it does look a bit bonkers doing the LBRP .. My wife walked in on me flailing my dagger around a couple of years ago, she had that WTF are you doing look on her face ...
kingsolomon In regards to Parsons download the free ebook called
The Key of the Abyss
by Anthony Testa
Very good thread and excellent anwsers from Jim.. Mastering magic is easy, Mastering the Ego is another story and thats where the great work comes into play. IMO this whole thread can be summed up with Jims Response.
"Yes. The issue isn't so much how to get what you ask for, as to know what to ask for."
ponder that friends it is a little trade secret.
Thank you for that its always something that bugged me .. A friend pointed me in the Direction of Al's Thoth, but Duquette explains it far more lucidly ..
SI
Vovin
Jim I am not disagreeing with you sometimes forums are not conducive to these kind of discussions .. But yes for sure some Goetics are extremely impatient and short with you when you first work with them some are just a no no by there nature, they are volatile and can be useful in respect to there ability when you require them .. But after sometime you can build a rapport that is beneficial to both parties.