system
A chat on 4chan
human
Been exploring Esotericism, magick and the occult for a long time and here's my advice & thoughts on different things.

0. Symbolsim is multi-layered. And it always needs context.

1. 80% of it is bullshit. This is an unfortunate truth, and while I don't want to come off as a deboonker, it is a fact that most magick systems are mutually exclusive and are fundamentally conflicting. This is philosophy 101. Either this, or most are real but don't actually lead to enlightenment.

2. There is something that wants to drag you down. Be careful, anons. Spiritual delusion is a very real thing.

3. Syncretism is a bad sign. If you see extreme syncretism and relativism, run. This includes wicca, the new age etc.

4. Don't waste your time on paganism. We know very few things about how it was actually practiced. We don't know the rituals & the traditions. Not that his matters to most neo-paganists.

5. Hermeticism has the same problem. It's less severe. Most modern Hermetic societies are New Age crap. There are secret unpublished manuscripts from the Pandidakterion, but for the most part, real ancient Hermeticism is inaccessible

6. Satanism, Chaos magick, wicca and the new age are bullshit

7. Neoplatonism. It's essential

8. Christian mysticism. I generally include Christianity in Neoplatonism, but there are a few things I feel like I need to address: with the exception of Anglicanism, protestantism is completely devoid of any spiritual or mystical value. You may think that Protestantism's liberalism can allow for esoteric ideas, but no. If you are interested in Christian mysticism, look into Eastern Orthodoxy. Catholicism can also be mystical.

9. Gnosticism's schools can range from okay to horrible. It's worth looking into its ideas and symbolism, but I personally cannot take it too seriously

10. Hesychasm. It's not for beginners, but I recommend Philokalia. Two words: it's real.

11. Demons, Solomonic magic, the evil eye are real
gpt
>syncretism is bad
>neglects comparative religion
>thinks systems are mutually exclusive
human
>youre exposing yourself
Bold of you to assume I'm hiding anything lol


You're brain dead. Comparative religion is a myth and even then it only somewhat works with some forms of polytheistic pagan beliefs that lack actual ethical & philosophical systems and as such are not really beliefs but fairy tales. And even THEN, they don't even match up that well, even if they're descendent from the same religion (See Hellenism & Hinduism. They're incompatible and even a braindead child could tell you that, retard. And they're both descendent from the PIE religion. Laughable). It did somewhat work with Greece, Egypt and Rome, but that's only because the pre-existing bronze age contact in the eastern Mediterranean. Try comparing Zoroastrianism to Aboriginal folk religions and come back to talk to me about comparative religion.


The Bible's influence and impact on magick are undeniable, there's not much discussion over it. It's the most important book on western esotericism, whether that makes you happy or not.


I actually don't disagree with your observation, but my interest in Hesychasm is one that grew out esotericism and not out of personal background or religion.