So I have been posting a lot about the works of Joesph Lisiewski the last month or so and it might seem like I am thinking he is pretty hot shit but I think it is time now to address my issues with his work as well, just where I disagree with him.
I have previously posted my agreement with him that the ceremonies we learn and practice should be done to the letter in our practices to get the results we desire. I definitely agree with him in that regard but where I disagree with him is that he advocates never changing that praxis. Always follow the grimoires to the letter or you're going to suffer the "slingshot effect" and shit's going to get ugly.
My own philosophy on this is do it by the book, or close to the book, whatever book it happens to be, and as you develop a relationship with the spirits they will help you to make the work more efficient and specialized for yourself. Say you are using Lon's wonderful Illustrated Goetia of Aleister Crowley to start working with the Goetia, follow his advice because the spirits have helped him to cultivate his craft in this regard and through his practice he has developed the system he espouses in the book. Work with the system as he suggests. Where he suggests modifications based on your own spiritual system then do it. If you feel that Crowley's Circle as per Book 4 part II works for you as your special circle, get it done that way.
What I really am agreeing with in Lisiewski's work is that one should become as intimately aware of what one is working with before launching into working with it. He suggests memorization of the ritual word for word, doing walk throughs etc. I won't go so far as memorization but definitely walk throughs are necessary to help you get comfortable with the work you are doing and the words being spoken so that you possess more confidence in the actions undertaken. Analyze the ritual, understand why you are doing certain things and make it a part of your world view. Just performing a rote recitation will provide weak results and possibly a complete blowback on the working.
I also tend to agree with his criticisms of modern Qabalistic teachings in Hermetic circles. Many of the authors have only studied what Crowley, Regardie and Fortune have written and then go and write books based on those materials. This creates a patchwork experience and can be incredibly dull. I am not suggesting go out and read the source material, I am suggesting study some of the older, pre-GD texts on the subject like the Kabbalah Denudata, Eliphas Levi (even if he is inconsistent at times) and Agrippa etc. Here you will have received a stronger foundation in classical Qabalah and systems of thinking than you will in most modern authors. I am not saying that Fortune, Regardie and Crowley are shite by any means, read them but also read the older authors. These three are great for a foundation in Qabalah of the Hermetic variety.
The main problem with Lisiewski is that there is little in his works on innovation, where modifications can or have occurred, how the spirits will instruct us in easier and more individually potent ways to communicate with them. If you write your own evocations based on Agrippa's teachings or similar resources (if Golden Dawn keep in mind that their source was the flawed The Magus by Francis Barrett and many diagrams need corretions) that is just awesome and it does work but understand the formulas you are working with and ground yourself in an understanding of the material that is intimate. It doesn't take long and it becomes an intuitive process.
Dr. Lisiewski speaks of the grimoires as if they are unchangeable gospels and anyone who doesn't perform the rituals per the instruction in the grimoires is fooling themselves if they think they've gotten results and not had a full on manifestation. I call bullshit in this regard. I've known magicians who have gotten fabulous results (myself included) using what he terms "new age" occultism. Unlike many, I admit I am more hardcore about these things than the average magician and those I know who have gotten the best results have been pretty damn hardcore as well.
In working with Lucky Hoodoo and the Monastery of 7 Rays material I have had wonderful results from my workings. Sadly over the course of the last year I admit most of it has been in the form of "emergency" magick, which I don't suggest because it does result in some blowback. Cultivate your relationship with the spirits even in times of properity, don't just whip them out when shit goes down.
For those that read my blog and are involved in working with Lucky Hoodoo my strongest suggestion on how to do this is not to think of the Dedication Rite from the first lesson as a one and done. Make it a daily practice as one in the Golden Dawn derived movements would an LBRP. Take your baths, do the shadow bath and then do the dedication as a daily practice, strengthening the relationship with the Hoo & Doo spirits. Do the silent prayer method to communicate with the spirits during down time at work, visit them in their temples. My own temple for the spirits is a beautiful wheat field with a crop circle in the center where we talk and discuss problems and where things are and what things that are going well that I would like to see strengthen. They advise me, and I don't always take it but I thank them. During this currently troubled time they have been here for me but also have suggested practices outside of the LHG to strengthen the work they are doing.
Inominandum, in his The Sorceror's Secrets emphasizes working strategically in your magick. Keep all three planes in mind (yes, I am aware there are four, I am discussing his work here) and do work that cultivates the energies of the working in each. This serves to ground the magick. It is a pretty basic thing that we should all keep in mind and know but I think something we all forget.
This is what being hardcore is all about, living the lifestyle. David Beth talks about the "Merciless Path" in his work and I think he hits the nail on the head. If you aren't devoted to magick and using it to improve your life, then why are you doing it? People jump religions constantly in the occult world, they try Thelema, they try the Golden Dawn, they try Wicca and Chaos Magick and mixing of techniques is great but if you don't stick to one with any discipline then how can you possibly know if it is really working? Further, if you are jumping constantly from one tradition to the next you aren't cultivating that relationship. If you are jumping in & out of different occult movements because of matters of time etc. then either make the time or stick to a solitary practices. I am not saying trying to find a religion that is friendly to your family, work and social life is invalid, but don't pretend to be a magician if you are just looking for a religious expression.
This is how all of this related back to Lisiewski. He has a concept called Subjective Synthesis where the magician integrates the work he is doing with the grimoires, the GD material, the Thelema material or what have you, into his subconscious mind so that it is not question by the emotional self. By working with the material, studying it, analyzing it, asking questions and finding the answers in your studies and intuition, you are going through a process of synthesis of the material needed for it to make an impression on the subconscious.
All of the suggestions I made for working with the Lucky Hoodoo Grimoire fall under this process of evaluation and integration. As you work with the material I actually suggest reading it from the book until you have the full thing memorized just so that you are in the process of starting to cultivate that relationship. You will also find ways in which to individualize the words and processes of the rituals contained in the grimoire and how to implement later lessons with earlier lessons, developing an understanding of how they inter-relate, allowing you to make modifications to something like the Contraite to achieve different results.
So do I think Lisiewski is hot shit? No, I think he gives sound advice while also presenting a very narrow world view on the processes of magick and while I agree with some of his criticisms of Golden Dawn derived movements, I disagree with his assumption that people are buying his books because what they have done thus far hasn't worked for them. Sometimes, Jospeh, we buy things like your books to expand our knowledge and become more proficient in the work that we do.
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