Daemons are essentially background processes. The phone is a scrying mirror that keeps you engaged with the shadow, yours of the collectives, and to be enlightened is to be Tranquilo. Those are my notes.
The fact that I manifested a new house has kept me preeeeeeety motivated to continue. The accoustics "Room is perfect for" ritual work and vibrations. It sounds like the walls are singing my words back to me. ❤
@@hallowedgaze Good question... it's kinda hard to explain, and it comes from the fact that I feel like no matter what happens, I will always have people watching my back into old age. I don't have many friends, but I have the gift of the gab and a need to maintain. The meditation practices that magick teaches simply made all of my character traits balanced enough momentarily to handle my stressful life in an appropriate manner.
Haven’t watched the news or regular TV in years and don’t miss it at all. Another great way to reduce stress is to engage in a creative activity such as painting, music, or even getting into cooking. The activities themselves reduce stress, but the satisfaction of creating something is great at increasing dopamine as humans have a natural need to create.
Simple, isn't it. Beware it creeping back in. I have an app on the phone which I check once per week, just to tune into what everyone's worrying about.
This video is SOO GOOD! (They always are.) As a fool, and a semi-struggling neophyte in your curriculum whose study has gotten a bit spotty this is much appreciated medicine. Tying energy to practice with attention and stress thoughout the day is obvious but I still somehow missed it lol. My struggles are definitely overlapping with slipping back into phone usage. Though a slow learner, I learned at some point that the ONLY actual currency of the world is attention, so guard it and know its value! I think the Buddha said something along those lines that just really clicked into place thinking about phones and labor one day... Whether it's someone's labor or specialty skill you want to purchase, or a material product (end result of people's attention being brought from astral to physical), or entertainment ... it's all the same currency. Supply and demand like yin and yang producing each other... So draining one's dopamine is like emptying one's bank account and going into debt -- when one considers *what* they're over-extending their only resource for, it's easy to realize how insane it is. Of course that same attention, when addicted to desire and aversion, creates that tension/stress that blocks enlightenment with delusion. Do you think that's putting it fair? I have a question if you don't mind -- I must be struggling with the LBRP in some mental fashion; I can't help but to keep wanting some sort of "Experience" out of it, which doesn't come, so I feel like an idiot doing it. What is the proper mentality to approach it with?? During the ritual I only try to focus on the visualizations explained, yet my context or motivation must be malfunctioning. Everything I've read and watched about it seems to explain it ... mechanically? like it has some self-inherent function or experience, but it must be the way it's working with one's *mind* that produces its function, which doesn't seem to be happening. (For example your video on it makes it sounds incredibly badass and experiential.) If that makes sense. (or perhaps it *is* working, but like getting wet in a fog instead of a river? 🤔 That's what I've decided to assume and just keep carrying on -- Experimenting, it ends up smoking a little marijuana beforehand certainly makes it feel like an actual energetic experience and lets me feel inside my body much better, but doing drugs certainly can't be the answer to progress LOL. )
@@lyamchristopher2393 I do ... the vague path of my current mental model of reality looks something like this: ~15 years ago all the atheist stuff (Hitchens, Dawkins, etc..) ---> Zen/Buddhism --> Alan Watts --> magick/western hermeticism. I almost feel like I'm too lost in my dumb ol' mind to just have something like this work 🤔🤔
Check out the latest video on "Proof That God Does Not Exist." It's that non-existent God you should be backing into/falling into when you do your Middle Pillar work. Also, checkout this playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLWzYrEdlV4O7TzD927svErYJ1sH58arEi @@danimal519
I have to admit I came to the kaballah magick book with totally false assumptions. I thought it was going to give me a new set of spells and attune me to the elements so I could do more powerful magick... in a sense it did do that but not at all in the way i expected. Now, even having finished the whole curriculum several years ago i am still stuck in a world populated almost entirely by people and situations that are embodiment's of deep trauma I didn't even know I had. I must be a hard case because the way you describe it makes it sound like I should have reached the end of this a long time ago. Every time I manage to sooth one "demon" a new one pops up immediately. I've been stuck in a homeless shelter for a long time now and none of my mundane efforts yield any kind of result whatsoever. I either manifest it or it doesn't happen. I have zero control over my life. I see other people talk about their experiences and they don't seem to having nearly as hard a time with this as I am. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if I am just THAT fucked up.
Very helped by this, always great consciousness expanding content. As far as we think we are (I speak for myself) sometimes it's easy for things to slip, your videos always help!
When I started doing ritual work, my phone got stolen, I practically handed my phone to the thief. Now, looking back, that was probably the best thing that could have happened for my development.
This was really good. I learned some new things. Like what Nirvana means. I always thought of it as this very wonderful oasis that once you got there you didn't ever want to leave. So learning what it means changes things. Now it's the sky doing a shower and everything is breathing life. I like the new image better. The one I had was too limiting. Thank you.
@@lyamchristopher2393 Hey Lyam, sorry to intrude at all, i searched and was not sure where to find this. Do you have a video on this experience sensation of radiance / warmth on correct path? or is there a discussion fourm? my personal version is like a chest heart beaming.
@@XnecromungerX Let's refer to that experience right now. Perfectly fine to look for other people's experiences "out there" and compare your sensation to theirs. However, also take note of how it feels to do that. To turn away from your own uniqueness. To experience something authentically you and to reflexively turn away from it to reach out to others for validation. Consider another possible response. Go into that feeling. Fall into it. Die there. Explore it deeply. Write about it in the magical journal and speculate there about what it might mean. Or describe the images that arise as you go in. Know. Dare. Will. And keep silent.
Three levels of imagination.... this answered my question on reading also how to engage active imagination for conjuring our demons 😮 also did a free trail for medium I saved all your articles !
Excellent video. Question... if a practitioner were to faithfully practice all of the curriculum of The Great Work of Transformation, EXCEPT, the Golden Dawn ceremonial aspects, might they still be able to achieve enlightenment? In other words, faithfully practicing all of the rituals such as the lbrp, middle pillar, etc, all of the meditations, all the book study, even the physical body development, everything except things such as mapping the GD ceremonies, would doing all these other practices, for the minimum time periods, still potentially lead to enlightenment?
Anything is possible. But as I make it clear in the book, most people will not succeed, even when practicing everything to the letter. Taking up this work without a teacher is worth a try, of course. It's my hope that the videos provide some semblance of an oral tradition.
thank you for sharing these informations, since the blue light video I've been shutting off all the white lights and monitors at around 10 pm and I'm surprised how fast it fixed my sleep schedule, I wake up at around 5 automatically and full of energy! I use a red sunglasses I got as a blue light filter if I have to look at a monitor (I'm not sure if it's helpful or not), would love to see more bio hacking videos please! also the imaginative reading technique sounds amazing, I'm going to break my old habit of not reading and it's been a challenge but I guess it's gonna help.
Discovering your channel is such a blessing, thank you for your advice and humility. Lately ive been passionately self-guided in laying the groundwork in starting the great work, i know ill have a lot to learn as I go, but your tips and tricks are essential! Quick question… should i start with your book on kabbalah magic, or Isreal Regardie’s latest edition of Golden Dawn?
I have been studying your Kabbalah book. It’s the first book that I’ve read in this magickal journal. I’d love it to see videos discussing the courses in your book.
I have had this awareness that I need to get rid of TikTok it’s the last social media app I’ve been using but I can feel..strung out… when finally stop once I use it. I’m taking this advice. I’ve aquired a pretty big following for just messing around but I think I’ll make my last video me saying I’m chasing better dopamine hits than this. 😂
@@lyamchristopher2393 I had my partner purge my phone and change the App Store password. I am social media free for over 24 hours, I already feel like I have more attention, and energy really, which was unexpected.
Alright. You are correct, most of us got into Magic with a notion of getting into "low magic." I didn't really have any idea what theurgy was. Then it was books and youtube channels. So, of course my journey went from sigils to LBRP, to Damien Echols, to Chicken Qaballah, and so forth. My question is this: should I abandon all study outside of the curriculum laid out in your book? One nice thing about building a mind map of the Tree of Life is a thing that I practice with LBRP and MP (as prescribed), but I can also take 5 minutes and work on it in a busy day and recenter myself. I feel that imagination and mapping information (currently building Egyptian pantheon into my mental experience of the Tree) into my psyche is extremely rewarding. Is this a bad thing? I mostly stay pretty straight and narrow with your curriculum. I'm working on the readings and daily tarot as well.
You can read and study anything you want. Practice gets confined to the book. And still, that’s no guarantee of success. Ultimately, working without a teacher leaves you at the whim of samsaric cycles, unless you have a clue about it all already, on how to get free and clear.
@@lyamchristopher2393 So what does success look like? Is there a moment when you 'arrive' and you understand that 'you've made it'? My gut intuition says that there's no there there, but rather punctuated bursts of insight in a world without end.
You might want to lay out the trumps of the tarot, in order. Note that the Hanged Man can mark a turning point on your apparent journey from zero to 21. Number 12 can be the turning point at which a REVERSAL occurs. This is a point where you can still be taken over by compulsions and instincts, but you notice them as the arise, and you can stop them if you want to. In one sense, at this point, you have become "large" enough to feel the impulses rise "inside" you, and you can contain them and keep them from taking charge. Nothing can overwhelm you anymore unless you let it. In fact, it can feel quite frustrating because you might want to let the old demons take charge, but why bother with that anymore? It's just that you can see through them now, and their promises are...empty. Past this point, you can experience a dark night of the soul. A period of time in which nothing is fulfilling anymore. Because you haven't yet realized that "no-thing is fulfilling anymore" is actually a good thing. It's the first taste of freedom. @@palmereldritch_6669
In my experience, coursework readings on the path of magic teem with tributary-like associations. Especially dense material can seem more like a curriculum in its own right rather than material to be digested for the purpose set out by the author of the course. Any recommendations on how far down the rabbit hole to go when working through a course like, say, your Kabbalah Magic book? You could say, “only go as deep as seems reasonable,” but it’s hard to find the line of reason in such a vast system as Golden Dawn magic.
All the way down the rabbit hole, of course. No half-measures. However, I'm finding that many students who come to magic do not have a solid grounding in education. Not geeky or nerdy enough. In which case, another path might be better suited. Like Zen or Christianity.
@@lyamchristopher2393 the notion of deep exploration would seem more inviting if there wasn’t so much time constraint. Perhaps that’s the point. Exhaustion.
@@lyamchristopher2393 This suggestion also makes the video seem like a tease. Could someone struggling to read for 20 minutes hope to plumb the depths in the allotted time? Or are you just being magnanimous?
Length of time or rhythm? Regularity is enough to get the "depths" to rise. Reading for 25 minutes is quite a lot, actually. Especially if you do two back-to-back sessions. And remember that referring to a mystery as "deep" is the best way to keep it beyond reach. @@Retrognar
What would you call it when one grows and expands conscious awareness regardless of what is done; like it is the wheel of fate pointing out lessons and understanding answers.
Not sure what you mean by the wheel of fate understanding answers. Or rather, who is it that is answering, and who is it that is understanding the answer? What do you mean?
Found out where I was wrong. I let go of everything and sat with nothingness for a bit. Forbidden Realms came to mind, remembered seeing it in your profile. So I got Medium and instantly drawn to the article on Consciousness and Awareness. I found your book last. Started my own initiation system based on Israel Regardie's The Complete Golden Dawn system of magic and The Golden Dawn 6th edition, Dion Fortune's works and The Key of It All vol. 1 and 2. It's been a "work in progress" since 2011.
For any who reads these words, a suggestion: Get Lyam's book sooner rather than later. Its initiation structure is way better and streamlined than what I came up with, even with years of preparation.
19:56 this "demonsation of ego" as something that is inherently unnecessary or something that stands in the way of enlightenment is often used by cults to clear the path for manipulation - e.g. the guru can say "the reason you are upset about me is your ego, your ego stands in your way" - e.g. Landmark Education uses this strategy almost verbatim to manipulate folks in "the forum".
You are right to be suspicious. Just because someone takes a stance against an idea doesn't mean they're simply caught in an unconscious reaction. This touches upon the concept of validation addiction (another word for ego). Do we respond compulsively to scary ideas? Or do we respond consciously?
Any advice for dealing with doubt? Its far too late for me to turn back on this process and the thing that makes it so hard is this part of the mind that thinks these rituals can't possibly be so powerful as to shape my whole world into this crucible for the soul. Then it makes me feel like i need to start controlling everything and Im a fool for thinking I can just manifest my way through life. It comes in waves and when it comes It makes me feel like I am a crazy person.
A heartfelt, endearing question. I would suggest thanking that doubt for sharing. Offer it some validation. You know that-at least in terms of the relative world-it has a point. And of course, there is another world beyond "you trying to get somewhere over there." There is also the absolute world of boundless light, which dons these rituals and scenarios as mere garments. "Thou whispereth to us in darkness…and the created worlds are born aloft on the ravishments of Thy love." In the next video, I'll offer proof that God does not exist. But as in all things magical, that proof will not be as it seems...
@@lyamchristopher2393 Right, its really just trying to protect me but is misguided in its assumptions. I think I kinda sorta get what you are saying about the rest of it. It makes me think of the idea of the illusion of power vs the power of illusion, if that makes any sense... These rituals are so powerful because the only power is absolute power. i dunno, things fall apart and I start talking in circles trying to describe it. What seems impossibly complex in relative terms, is trivial and easy in terms of the absolute. Like in Qi-gong they say the greatest power requires the gentlest touch and call it the art of effortless power.
@@lyamchristopher2393 You once told me that "Being a magician is not about making things happen, but steering the wheel of life"... I think I am beginning to understand what that means
If I have worked up to zelator using other techniques. Can I pick up at zelator in your book? Or would I have to start over? Kabbalah Magic is so beautifully written and I feel like your system is what I need to be doing right now. The earth invocation that I have been doing is identical to the LIRP only it starts in the north, all pentagrams are charged with AGLA and Uriel, Phorlakh, Kerub and Ghob are invoked around me. I’ve done this ritual 108 days in a row. I have already done a lot of the work that you give for neophyte minus some of the reading material but I do plan on staying in the zelator grade for the next year so that I can integrate the element as best as I can. I could absolutely stack the neophyte reading on top of the zelator reading, and hopefully start your regimen for zelator. I apologize for this long message. Any kind of response or suggestions would be highly appreciated 🙏
The decision is yours, of course. I would recommend finishing the Neophyte reading before getting into Zelator. However, you can continue doing the hexagram ritual. Were you working under the guidance of an adept?
@@lyamchristopher2393 no sir, not exactly. I’ve pieced together what I can through studying the work of adepts. I’ve been in contact with teachers whom I respect much like our conversation here but I wouldn’t say I’m under anyone’s guidance.
@@coysewell The neophyte grade is probationary, for one thing. It gives you a chance to see whether you can manage the daily discipline. If you can, then you have proven to yourself that you can (possibly) continue through all of the elemental grades.
@@lyamchristopher2393 I understand that. I guess it just kinda hurts my ego starting over after working my way up to where I am. I’ve put in a lot time and dedication already. With that being said, I’m very serious about this work. Doing it right is more important to me anything else. More important than pride.
Ah, I see. Remember that the ego is unconscious and compulsive. The persona need not be. When the ego dies and the body is still alive, there is still the persona. And the persona gets called by name. No problem there. When you say "I" and "me" and your name, you gradually learn to think of that entity as an "it." And you, are not that. YOU are pure awareness, and you cannot be be seen or objectified. The persona can be, of course. And there's nothing wrong with that. When you stand in the midst of your Tree of Life all around the body, notice how each sephirah is not you. You are pure awareness. The persona is like one of those Sephiroth. If you can see it, you are not that. But it's okay that it exists, floating there, whirling like a top. @@cg6241
The Buddha taught the Eightfold Path as the most direct path to Enlightenment, with every step required. If the ultimate goal of Ceremonial Magick is also to achieve enlightenment, is it a shortcut? What steps of the Eightfold Path, if any, or all, would Ceremonial Magick disregard as unnecessary to achieve enlightenment?
The Eight-Fold Path of Theravada Buddhism is often, among Tantric Buddhists, considered the least effective discipline in Buddhism. After it, there came the Mahayana teachings on emptiness. And after that came the Vajrayana or Tantric methods.
@@lyamchristopher2393 ...thank you. Btw, fantastic video, dense with great ideas. I'm fairly well versed in Theravada, Mahayana, and Tibetan Buddhism. To circle back to the original question, the fundamental Buddhist premise is that Enlightenment is only possible once greed, hatred, and delusion have been removed (ending the cycle of samsara to achieve Nirvana). Curious if you agree with this? If so, might the practice of ceremonial magick achieve the same result to achieve enlightenment (Nirvana)? Or maybe the definition of enlightenment in ceremonial magick is different? Thank you again for your video series. I'm finding them extremely helpful to make much more sense of your book of Transformation.
It used to be that the path of a Westerner was different from that of someone raised in an Asian culture. Not sure that it matters so much anymore because there are great Buddhist teachers out there who have adapted their curriculums to the Western mindset. The only thing that bugs me about most Buddhist practice is an over-emphasis on good behavior and morality. In magic, it's important to acknowledge the moral dimension of life, but I think people freak out about it too much...because of the very real phenomena of psychopathy, sociopathy, and narcissism. Crowley is a good example of what happens to people who aren't born with a full spectrum of emotions...or who have been emotionally scarred so badly that their empathy has died. @@billyd1941
Do you practice direct path teachings (kind of post advaita)? I think my question is really this...I love magic and really appreciated your curriculum....But often I wonder if it's a long winded path to enlightenment. What's the advantage of working the Red Book vs self inquiry, rigpa, direct experience of awareness pointing out type practices? How does tracing pentacles in the air get you to enlightenment/freedom/no self? Is magic more geared towards energy body strengthening, awakening shakti, siddhi (powers), expanded consciousness etc kind of like yoga, tantra etc but not really most efficient in waking up/enlightenment. So why use it for that? Sorry for the long question. This has been on my mind a bit while working magical curriculum....it's great but nowhere close to freeing me from samsara so far. A few vipassana retreats seemed even more effective with that (stream entry etc).
How can you tell whether one tradition is more effective than another? You'll have to pardon me for such a nosy question, but so many people comment on the "wonderful effects" of a spiritual practice, and the effects that they describe usually have little to do with what's actually going on. So...what effects are you noticing when it comes to the "more effective" paths? 🧐 Have you been watching the other videos? Everything about the GD curriculum...as an initiate presents it...is Tantric. That is, it is "short path" in focus. Every one of the articles in Forbidden Realms, as well as every post on RUclips, further answers your question. Still, why not switch to vipassana and stick to that. I would suggest avoiding "mixing and matching" with tidbits from this tradition and that tradition. Unless you are already an adept--and then you do as must. Stick to one tradition, and push all the way through.
I don't find it a nosy question at all but quite relevant. I assess a paths effectiveness based on the experience of the practitioners over time. Have never met an enlightened magician (not to say there aren't any) and certainly don't consider any of the GD founders to be enlightened. Have come across several people of the others paths listed that were enlightened. Also my own experience of more "ego-loosening" on these paths. I absolutely agree with you and perhaps didn't state it clearly that I think magic resembles more a yogic/tantric path and infact is a Western tantra and as I said...it's strength like those others seem to be energy body enhancement, siddhi, heightened state of consciousness, transformations but for me, not that much enlightenment (as defined the way you do, using the Buddhist terms of nirvana...dissolution of self perception) and I have been on the path for over 30 years so my assessment isn't from dabbling or ignorance. I was very interested in knowing if you feel that GD magical practice really had the same potential for enlightenment as the Buddhist/advaita paths? I feel it has great spiritual, mental, emotional and material benefits hence I practice it, but so far, it has been for me, more like a samadhi path (absolutely invaluable, life enhancing and a foundation) but not quite the final awakening. Was curious to know what Im missing here.There is no issue or conflict with me practicing both magic and direct path awareness. At this stage in practice, the dogmatism is irrelevant.
@@isisneteru1013 I just came across a reference in one of Dion Fortune's books--of an attack of sleep paralysis. If you've read my articles in Forbidden Realms, you'll note that enlightenment tends to strike between waking and sleep. I call it the "letting go" attack. The basic structure of the banishing circle, the middle pillar, prayer, breathwork, and journaling tend to bring on the same "letting go" experience as the easter techniques. For example, Kashmir Shaivism. The advantage for us is that the symbolism in the Golden Dawn is Western. Easier to digest. Beyond that, there is also the practice of conjuring demons (for the adept). Super-effective! Some kind of work with boundaries, I suspect, is much better than flat-out "meditation." Many aspirants waste a lot of time meditating simply as a means of stress-reduction.
Daemons are essentially background processes. The phone is a scrying mirror that keeps you engaged with the shadow, yours of the collectives, and to be enlightened is to be Tranquilo. Those are my notes.
The fact that I manifested a new house has kept me preeeeeeety motivated to continue. The accoustics "Room is perfect for" ritual work and vibrations. It sounds like the walls are singing my words back to me. ❤
What things did you do to manifest a new home ?
@@hallowedgaze Good question... it's kinda hard to explain, and it comes from the fact that I feel like no matter what happens, I will always have people watching my back into old age. I don't have many friends, but I have the gift of the gab and a need to maintain. The meditation practices that magick teaches simply made all of my character traits balanced enough momentarily to handle my stressful life in an appropriate manner.
Haven’t watched the news or regular TV in years and don’t miss it at all.
Another great way to reduce stress is to engage in a creative activity such as painting, music, or even getting into cooking. The activities themselves reduce stress, but the satisfaction of creating something is great at increasing dopamine as humans have a natural need to create.
❤
" You don't watch the NEWS?!?" " Nope...I find out whether I want to or not."
Its like you know what i need to hear when i need to hear it
FOMO= Fear Of Missing Out. 🙏🏻
A good tip is to put your phone on greyscale so there is no colour. It makes it far less addictive.
Wonderful tip! Thank you!
Doing away with the news since 2020, social media has been easier to also let go which has given me my time and peace back.
Simple, isn't it. Beware it creeping back in. I have an app on the phone which I check once per week, just to tune into what everyone's worrying about.
This video is SOO GOOD! (They always are.)
As a fool, and a semi-struggling neophyte in your curriculum whose study has gotten a bit spotty this is much appreciated medicine. Tying energy to practice with attention and stress thoughout the day is obvious but I still somehow missed it lol. My struggles are definitely overlapping with slipping back into phone usage.
Though a slow learner, I learned at some point that the ONLY actual currency of the world is attention, so guard it and know its value! I think the Buddha said something along those lines that just really clicked into place thinking about phones and labor one day... Whether it's someone's labor or specialty skill you want to purchase, or a material product (end result of people's attention being brought from astral to physical), or entertainment ... it's all the same currency. Supply and demand like yin and yang producing each other... So draining one's dopamine is like emptying one's bank account and going into debt -- when one considers *what* they're over-extending their only resource for, it's easy to realize how insane it is.
Of course that same attention, when addicted to desire and aversion, creates that tension/stress that blocks enlightenment with delusion. Do you think that's putting it fair?
I have a question if you don't mind -- I must be struggling with the LBRP in some mental fashion; I can't help but to keep wanting some sort of "Experience" out of it, which doesn't come, so I feel like an idiot doing it. What is the proper mentality to approach it with?? During the ritual I only try to focus on the visualizations explained, yet my context or motivation must be malfunctioning. Everything I've read and watched about it seems to explain it ... mechanically? like it has some self-inherent function or experience, but it must be the way it's working with one's *mind* that produces its function, which doesn't seem to be happening. (For example your video on it makes it sounds incredibly badass and experiential.) If that makes sense.
(or perhaps it *is* working, but like getting wet in a fog instead of a river? 🤔 That's what I've decided to assume and just keep carrying on -- Experimenting, it ends up smoking a little marijuana beforehand certainly makes it feel like an actual energetic experience and lets me feel inside my body much better, but doing drugs certainly can't be the answer to progress LOL. )
Hard to say what's the best course here. Do you read a lot?
@@lyamchristopher2393 I do...
@@lyamchristopher2393 I do ... the vague path of my current mental model of reality looks something like this: ~15 years ago all the atheist stuff (Hitchens, Dawkins, etc..) ---> Zen/Buddhism --> Alan Watts --> magick/western hermeticism. I almost feel like I'm too lost in my dumb ol' mind to just have something like this work 🤔🤔
Check out the latest video on "Proof That God Does Not Exist." It's that non-existent God you should be backing into/falling into when you do your Middle Pillar work. Also, checkout this playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLWzYrEdlV4O7TzD927svErYJ1sH58arEi
@@danimal519
@@lyamchristopher2393 🙇♂️ blessings sensei! Really appreciate this reply and your time. Can't wait to watch all of these.
I have to admit I came to the kaballah magick book with totally false assumptions. I thought it was going to give me a new set of spells and attune me to the elements so I could do more powerful magick... in a sense it did do that but not at all in the way i expected. Now, even having finished the whole curriculum several years ago i am still stuck in a world populated almost entirely by people and situations that are embodiment's of deep trauma I didn't even know I had. I must be a hard case because the way you describe it makes it sound like I should have reached the end of this a long time ago. Every time I manage to sooth one "demon" a new one pops up immediately. I've been stuck in a homeless shelter for a long time now and none of my mundane efforts yield any kind of result whatsoever. I either manifest it or it doesn't happen. I have zero control over my life. I see other people talk about their experiences and they don't seem to having nearly as hard a time with this as I am. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if I am just THAT fucked up.
Very helped by this, always great consciousness expanding content. As far as we think we are (I speak for myself) sometimes it's easy for things to slip, your videos always help!
Ironically this drops at the exact moment I begin my ritual practice
just finished
omg same for me
🤣
I find deep flow states are also accompanied by loss of time awareness.
When I started doing ritual work, my phone got stolen, I practically handed my phone to the thief. Now, looking back, that was probably the best thing that could have happened for my development.
This is really awesome Brother! About motivation in the Great Work.
This was really good.
I learned some new things.
Like what Nirvana means.
I always thought of it as this very wonderful oasis that once you got there you didn't ever want to leave.
So learning what it means changes things.
Now it's the sky doing a shower and everything is breathing life. I like the new image better. The one I had was too limiting.
Thank you.
52:55 When I do something that makes me "feel like a good person" I feel like a lantern emitting a dull but warm light.
I'm going to discuss this feeling tonight. :)
@@lyamchristopher2393 Hey Lyam, sorry to intrude at all, i searched and was not sure where to find this. Do you have a video on this experience sensation of radiance / warmth on correct path? or is there a discussion fourm? my personal version is like a chest heart beaming.
@@XnecromungerX Let's refer to that experience right now. Perfectly fine to look for other people's experiences "out there" and compare your sensation to theirs. However, also take note of how it feels to do that. To turn away from your own uniqueness. To experience something authentically you and to reflexively turn away from it to reach out to others for validation. Consider another possible response. Go into that feeling. Fall into it. Die there. Explore it deeply. Write about it in the magical journal and speculate there about what it might mean. Or describe the images that arise as you go in. Know. Dare. Will. And keep silent.
Anothe beautiful video keep it up brother
Three levels of imagination.... this answered my question on reading also how to engage active imagination for conjuring our demons 😮 also did a free trail for medium I saved all your articles !
Well not the conjuring you're demons but the idea to letting them arise in the visions appear to have saved my head 😊😅🤕🤯
18:42 The fact that I was watching this in the shower both tickles me and creeps me out but excellent analogy😂
Hey, learned somethin new.. i had heard of caco-daemon (i forget but it was from a tv show) and the euro-daemon or eudaemon Xd (jk) i hadnt heard of.
Excellent video. Question... if a practitioner were to faithfully practice all of the curriculum of The Great Work of Transformation, EXCEPT, the Golden Dawn ceremonial aspects, might they still be able to achieve enlightenment? In other words, faithfully practicing all of the rituals such as the lbrp, middle pillar, etc, all of the meditations, all the book study, even the physical body development, everything except things such as mapping the GD ceremonies, would doing all these other practices, for the minimum time periods, still potentially lead to enlightenment?
Anything is possible. But as I make it clear in the book, most people will not succeed, even when practicing everything to the letter. Taking up this work without a teacher is worth a try, of course.
It's my hope that the videos provide some semblance of an oral tradition.
thank you for sharing these informations, since the blue light video I've been shutting off all the white lights and monitors at around 10 pm and I'm surprised how fast it fixed my sleep schedule, I wake up at around 5 automatically and full of energy! I use a red sunglasses I got as a blue light filter if I have to look at a monitor (I'm not sure if it's helpful or not), would love to see more bio hacking videos please!
also the imaginative reading technique sounds amazing, I'm going to break my old habit of not reading and it's been a challenge but I guess it's gonna help.
Discovering your channel is such a blessing, thank you for your advice and humility. Lately ive been passionately self-guided in laying the groundwork in starting the great work, i know ill have a lot to learn as I go, but your tips and tricks are essential! Quick question… should i start with your book on kabbalah magic, or Isreal Regardie’s latest edition of Golden Dawn?
Both! Mine refers to his as “your textbook.”
I have been studying your Kabbalah book. It’s the first book that I’ve read in this magickal journal. I’d love it to see videos discussing the courses in your book.
All of the videos do that. Hopefully, there is a balance struck between those who are doing the coursework and those who are not.
I have had this awareness that I need to get rid of TikTok it’s the last social media app I’ve been using but I can feel..strung out… when finally stop once I use it. I’m taking this advice. I’ve aquired a pretty big following for just messing around but I think I’ll make my last video me saying I’m chasing better dopamine hits than this. 😂
Why even make a last video? Just delete the account now.
@@lyamchristopher2393 I had my partner purge my phone and change the App Store password. I am social media free for over 24 hours, I already feel like I have more attention, and energy really, which was unexpected.
“People do seem to be getting more stupider”
Brother that’s the truth 😆
The Pomodoro technique is the only way I was able to survive grad school as a mom😅
Alright. You are correct, most of us got into Magic with a notion of getting into "low magic." I didn't really have any idea what theurgy was. Then it was books and youtube channels. So, of course my journey went from sigils to LBRP, to Damien Echols, to Chicken Qaballah, and so forth. My question is this: should I abandon all study outside of the curriculum laid out in your book? One nice thing about building a mind map of the Tree of Life is a thing that I practice with LBRP and MP (as prescribed), but I can also take 5 minutes and work on it in a busy day and recenter myself. I feel that imagination and mapping information (currently building Egyptian pantheon into my mental experience of the Tree) into my psyche is extremely rewarding. Is this a bad thing? I mostly stay pretty straight and narrow with your curriculum. I'm working on the readings and daily tarot as well.
You can read and study anything you want. Practice gets confined to the book. And still, that’s no guarantee of success. Ultimately, working without a teacher leaves you at the whim of samsaric cycles, unless you have a clue about it all already, on how to get free and clear.
@@lyamchristopher2393 So what does success look like? Is there a moment when you 'arrive' and you understand that 'you've made it'? My gut intuition says that there's no there there, but rather punctuated bursts of insight in a world without end.
You might want to lay out the trumps of the tarot, in order. Note that the Hanged Man can mark a turning point on your apparent journey from zero to 21. Number 12 can be the turning point at which a REVERSAL occurs. This is a point where you can still be taken over by compulsions and instincts, but you notice them as the arise, and you can stop them if you want to. In one sense, at this point, you have become "large" enough to feel the impulses rise "inside" you, and you can contain them and keep them from taking charge. Nothing can overwhelm you anymore unless you let it. In fact, it can feel quite frustrating because you might want to let the old demons take charge, but why bother with that anymore? It's just that you can see through them now, and their promises are...empty. Past this point, you can experience a dark night of the soul. A period of time in which nothing is fulfilling anymore. Because you haven't yet realized that "no-thing is fulfilling anymore" is actually a good thing. It's the first taste of freedom.
@@palmereldritch_6669
In my experience, coursework readings on the path of magic teem with tributary-like associations. Especially dense material can seem more like a curriculum in its own right rather than material to be digested for the purpose set out by the author of the course. Any recommendations on how far down the rabbit hole to go when working through a course like, say, your Kabbalah Magic book? You could say, “only go as deep as seems reasonable,” but it’s hard to find the line of reason in such a vast system as Golden Dawn magic.
All the way down the rabbit hole, of course. No half-measures. However, I'm finding that many students who come to magic do not have a solid grounding in education. Not geeky or nerdy enough. In which case, another path might be better suited. Like Zen or Christianity.
@@lyamchristopher2393 the notion of deep exploration would seem more inviting if there wasn’t so much time constraint. Perhaps that’s the point. Exhaustion.
@@lyamchristopher2393 This suggestion also makes the video seem like a tease. Could someone struggling to read for 20 minutes hope to plumb the depths in the allotted time? Or are you just being magnanimous?
Length of time or rhythm? Regularity is enough to get the "depths" to rise. Reading for 25 minutes is quite a lot, actually. Especially if you do two back-to-back sessions. And remember that referring to a mystery as "deep" is the best way to keep it beyond reach. @@Retrognar
What would you call it when one grows and expands conscious awareness regardless of what is done; like it is the wheel of fate pointing out lessons and understanding answers.
Not sure what you mean by the wheel of fate understanding answers. Or rather, who is it that is answering, and who is it that is understanding the answer? What do you mean?
Found out where I was wrong. I let go of everything and sat with nothingness for a bit. Forbidden Realms came to mind, remembered seeing it in your profile. So I got Medium and instantly drawn to the article on Consciousness and Awareness.
I found your book last. Started my own initiation system based on Israel Regardie's The Complete Golden Dawn system of magic and The Golden Dawn 6th edition, Dion Fortune's works and The Key of It All vol. 1 and 2. It's been a "work in progress" since 2011.
For any who reads these words, a suggestion: Get Lyam's book sooner rather than later. Its initiation structure is way better and streamlined than what I came up with, even with years of preparation.
19:56 this "demonsation of ego" as something that is inherently unnecessary or something that stands in the way of enlightenment is often used by cults to clear the path for manipulation - e.g. the guru can say "the reason you are upset about me is your ego, your ego stands in your way" - e.g. Landmark Education uses this strategy almost verbatim to manipulate folks in "the forum".
You are right to be suspicious. Just because someone takes a stance against an idea doesn't mean they're simply caught in an unconscious reaction. This touches upon the concept of validation addiction (another word for ego). Do we respond compulsively to scary ideas? Or do we respond consciously?
Any advice for dealing with doubt? Its far too late for me to turn back on this process and the thing that makes it so hard is this part of the mind that thinks these rituals can't possibly be so powerful as to shape my whole world into this crucible for the soul. Then it makes me feel like i need to start controlling everything and Im a fool for thinking I can just manifest my way through life. It comes in waves and when it comes It makes me feel like I am a crazy person.
A heartfelt, endearing question. I would suggest thanking that doubt for sharing. Offer it some validation. You know that-at least in terms of the relative world-it has a point. And of course, there is another world beyond "you trying to get somewhere over there." There is also the absolute world of boundless light, which dons these rituals and scenarios as mere garments. "Thou whispereth to us in darkness…and the created worlds are born aloft on the ravishments of Thy love."
In the next video, I'll offer proof that God does not exist. But as in all things magical, that proof will not be as it seems...
@@lyamchristopher2393 Right, its really just trying to protect me but is misguided in its assumptions. I think I kinda sorta get what you are saying about the rest of it. It makes me think of the idea of the illusion of power vs the power of illusion, if that makes any sense... These rituals are so powerful because the only power is absolute power. i dunno, things fall apart and I start talking in circles trying to describe it. What seems impossibly complex in relative terms, is trivial and easy in terms of the absolute. Like in Qi-gong they say the greatest power requires the gentlest touch and call it the art of effortless power.
@@lyamchristopher2393 You once told me that "Being a magician is not about making things happen, but steering the wheel of life"... I think I am beginning to understand what that means
🙌🏾
Mo! You disappeared off X again. Just as I was going to ask you to coffee. What gives! 🙃
“He comes and goes at will. He is a wizard, you know.” 😌
If I have worked up to zelator using other techniques. Can I pick up at zelator in your book? Or would I have to start over? Kabbalah Magic is so beautifully written and I feel like your system is what I need to be doing right now. The earth invocation that I have been doing is identical to the LIRP only it starts in the north, all pentagrams are charged with AGLA and Uriel, Phorlakh, Kerub and Ghob are invoked around me. I’ve done this ritual 108 days in a row. I have already done a lot of the work that you give for neophyte minus some of the reading material but I do plan on staying in the zelator grade for the next year so that I can integrate the element as best as I can. I could absolutely stack the neophyte reading on top of the zelator reading, and hopefully start your regimen for zelator. I apologize for this long message. Any kind of response or suggestions would be highly appreciated 🙏
My daily practice is LBRP, LBRH, Rose Cross, LIRP, LIRH, Middle Pillar and the earth invocation that I mentioned before.
The decision is yours, of course. I would recommend finishing the Neophyte reading before getting into Zelator. However, you can continue doing the hexagram ritual.
Were you working under the guidance of an adept?
@@lyamchristopher2393 no sir, not exactly. I’ve pieced together what I can through studying the work of adepts. I’ve been in contact with teachers whom I respect much like our conversation here but I wouldn’t say I’m under anyone’s guidance.
@@coysewell The neophyte grade is probationary, for one thing. It gives you a chance to see whether you can manage the daily discipline. If you can, then you have proven to yourself that you can (possibly) continue through all of the elemental grades.
@@lyamchristopher2393 I understand that. I guess it just kinda hurts my ego starting over after working my way up to where I am. I’ve put in a lot time and dedication already. With that being said, I’m very serious about this work. Doing it right is more important to me anything else. More important than pride.
How does one prevent the ego from returning when called by name?
What do you mean? When what is called by name?
@@lyamchristopher2393 I mean when I'm called by my first name.
Ah, I see. Remember that the ego is unconscious and compulsive. The persona need not be. When the ego dies and the body is still alive, there is still the persona. And the persona gets called by name. No problem there. When you say "I" and "me" and your name, you gradually learn to think of that entity as an "it." And you, are not that. YOU are pure awareness, and you cannot be be seen or objectified. The persona can be, of course. And there's nothing wrong with that.
When you stand in the midst of your Tree of Life all around the body, notice how each sephirah is not you. You are pure awareness. The persona is like one of those Sephiroth. If you can see it, you are not that. But it's okay that it exists, floating there, whirling like a top. @@cg6241
What is your Goodreads? I cant find it for some reason
“Lyam Thomas” I guess I left off the last name, somehow. 🙊
The Buddha taught the Eightfold Path as the most direct path to Enlightenment, with every step required. If the ultimate goal of Ceremonial Magick is also to achieve enlightenment, is it a shortcut? What steps of the Eightfold Path, if any, or all, would Ceremonial Magick disregard as unnecessary to achieve enlightenment?
The Eight-Fold Path of Theravada Buddhism is often, among Tantric Buddhists, considered the least effective discipline in Buddhism. After it, there came the Mahayana teachings on emptiness. And after that came the Vajrayana or Tantric methods.
@@lyamchristopher2393 ...thank you. Btw, fantastic video, dense with great ideas. I'm fairly well versed in Theravada, Mahayana, and Tibetan Buddhism. To circle back to the original question, the fundamental Buddhist premise is that Enlightenment is only possible once greed, hatred, and delusion have been removed (ending the cycle of samsara to achieve Nirvana). Curious if you agree with this? If so, might the practice of ceremonial magick achieve the same result to achieve enlightenment (Nirvana)? Or maybe the definition of enlightenment in ceremonial magick is different? Thank you again for your video series. I'm finding them extremely helpful to make much more sense of your book of Transformation.
It used to be that the path of a Westerner was different from that of someone raised in an Asian culture. Not sure that it matters so much anymore because there are great Buddhist teachers out there who have adapted their curriculums to the Western mindset. The only thing that bugs me about most Buddhist practice is an over-emphasis on good behavior and morality. In magic, it's important to acknowledge the moral dimension of life, but I think people freak out about it too much...because of the very real phenomena of psychopathy, sociopathy, and narcissism. Crowley is a good example of what happens to people who aren't born with a full spectrum of emotions...or who have been emotionally scarred so badly that their empathy has died. @@billyd1941
I can't find you on goodreads, only as an author, what's your username?
“Lyam Thomas”
Do you practice direct path teachings (kind of post advaita)? I think my question is really this...I love magic and really appreciated your curriculum....But often I wonder if it's a long winded path to enlightenment. What's the advantage of working the Red Book vs self inquiry, rigpa, direct experience of awareness pointing out type practices? How does tracing pentacles in the air get you to enlightenment/freedom/no self? Is magic more geared towards energy body strengthening, awakening shakti, siddhi (powers), expanded consciousness etc kind of like yoga, tantra etc but not really most efficient in waking up/enlightenment. So why use it for that? Sorry for the long question. This has been on my mind a bit while working magical curriculum....it's great but nowhere close to freeing me from samsara so far. A few vipassana retreats seemed even more effective with that (stream entry etc).
How can you tell whether one tradition is more effective than another? You'll have to pardon me for such a nosy question, but so many people comment on the "wonderful effects" of a spiritual practice, and the effects that they describe usually have little to do with what's actually going on. So...what effects are you noticing when it comes to the "more effective" paths? 🧐
Have you been watching the other videos? Everything about the GD curriculum...as an initiate presents it...is Tantric. That is, it is "short path" in focus. Every one of the articles in Forbidden Realms, as well as every post on RUclips, further answers your question.
Still, why not switch to vipassana and stick to that. I would suggest avoiding "mixing and matching" with tidbits from this tradition and that tradition. Unless you are already an adept--and then you do as must. Stick to one tradition, and push all the way through.
I don't find it a nosy question at all but quite relevant. I assess a paths effectiveness based on the experience of the practitioners over time. Have never met an enlightened magician (not to say there aren't any) and certainly don't consider any of the GD founders to be enlightened. Have come across several people of the others paths listed that were enlightened. Also my own experience of more "ego-loosening" on these paths.
I absolutely agree with you and perhaps didn't state it clearly that I think magic resembles more a yogic/tantric path and infact is a Western tantra and as I said...it's strength like those others seem to be energy body enhancement, siddhi, heightened state of consciousness, transformations but for me, not that much enlightenment (as defined the way you do, using the Buddhist terms of nirvana...dissolution of self perception) and I have been on the path for over 30 years so my assessment isn't from dabbling or ignorance. I was very interested in knowing if you feel that GD magical practice really had the same potential for enlightenment as the Buddhist/advaita paths? I feel it has great spiritual, mental, emotional and material benefits hence I practice it, but so far, it has been for me, more like a samadhi path (absolutely invaluable, life enhancing and a foundation) but not quite the final awakening. Was curious to know what Im missing here.There is no issue or conflict with me practicing both magic and direct path awareness. At this stage in practice, the dogmatism is irrelevant.
@@isisneteru1013 I just came across a reference in one of Dion Fortune's books--of an attack of sleep paralysis. If you've read my articles in Forbidden Realms, you'll note that enlightenment tends to strike between waking and sleep. I call it the "letting go" attack.
The basic structure of the banishing circle, the middle pillar, prayer, breathwork, and journaling tend to bring on the same "letting go" experience as the easter techniques. For example, Kashmir Shaivism. The advantage for us is that the symbolism in the Golden Dawn is Western. Easier to digest. Beyond that, there is also the practice of conjuring demons (for the adept). Super-effective!
Some kind of work with boundaries, I suspect, is much better than flat-out "meditation." Many aspirants waste a lot of time meditating simply as a means of stress-reduction.