A Paradigm on Learning the Occult Sciences

Introduction

In this article I plan to outline and reveal to everyone a very interesting and helpful perspective of how one should approach and work with occult material. It is meant to help aid you in learning and walking the path that you have chosen to take in the occult. I will discuss many aspects of learning and great habits a person should learn and apply when studying the occult sciences.


Choosing Your Path

Regardless of which path you have chosen to pursue, the truth about it remains the same. You have arrived at the conclusion that you wish to further your knowledge and understanding of your self and this macrocosm we refer to as the universe. You may even be having second thoughts and not sure if this is right for you. That is perfectly fine and can be expected among most beginners, this even occurs for the advanced practitioner from time to time. Although you might be uncertain or unsure about if this is right for you, it still comes down to the fact that something has sparked your interest, and you wish to know the truth and nature of things.

During your study and journey into the occult, you will soon experience an awakening that will change the way you see the world, giving you a broader and mind-blowing outlook on life. In the event that one decides that they do not wish to continue on their path that they previously chose to undertake, it is a matter that is easier said then done. Imagine a person that has been living on a small island all of their lives. All they have known is what was accessible to them on the island. They know not of people nor cities, they don't even know of the different types of foods that exist except the ones that grow naturally on this island. 

Now what would happen if someone were to visit their island then take them back with them and introduce them to what is out there in the world? All the people and different cities, the animals and other wildlife, the newest and greatest technologies, all the different type of foods that they can't even begin to fathom. After a short time of being introduced and awakened to these new things, they will grow accustomed to this new world. They will seek to learn and experience all the things that were not previously possible to them in their old rudimentary lifestyle.

What do you think would happen if they were taken back to their island and told to forget everything that they have seen and experienced? Surely this would be a hard if not impossible task to do. They may try at first, they may even succeed for a short time. Eventually though, they will long for it and find themselves trying to get back to their newly discovered world. Whether it be by the means of creating a boat or some other form of transportation, or even trying to get the attention of anyone that may pass by their island. They will surely be overwhelmed by the desire to get back to where they were.

I used this analogy to simply illustrate to you the fact that once a person is introduced to, has become awakened to this hidden knowledge, and has been able to experience it first hand, they will usually be drawn to it from that point on.


Where Do I Start?


Im not going to tell you where to start. My purpose in writing this article is to advise and enlighten you on how one may proceed in the path they choose. If I were to tell you where to start in your "own" journey, then how would this be a personal experience for you? Everyone has different interest, some may find that psionics suites them better then say, necromancy. Likewise, one may find that becoming a summoner appeals to them more then a black magician or elemental magician. With that being said, I believe a person should have a strong foundation in a specific area so that they have something they may build upon. Sure you can start with the most advanced of things, but that usually wont work out to well due to the fact that your foundation will be severely lacking in strength and structure.

Although there are different areas and categories to choose from in the occult, most if not all of those areas have the same basic and fundamental aspects or skills that are beneficial to the practitioner. The skills that I will list, are skills that should be practiced on a regular basis no matter what path one chooses to undertake. The skills are as follows...

1. Focus and Concentration
2. Meditation
3. Control of Ones Thoughts and Emotions (Note: Which may be gained through meditation )
4. Manipulation and Shifting of Ones Awareness 
5. Gaining Awareness of Ones Own Soul 
6. Ability to Formulate and Steadily Focus Intent On a Goal
7. The Ability to Partially and Fully Relax the Mind and Body

These seven skills are what I consider to be some of the most important and basic skill sets that one should aquire when dealing with matters in the occult. Training in such skills will surely help you to advance in your path and will make things easier for you later down the road.


How to Go About it

Obviously for the majority of us, there isn't going to be any local "guru" that lives up the street from us, or even in the city that we can go to and learn from. Most, if not all of the knowledge that we will learn is going to come either out of books, online material like articles or papers, or from chatting with people online that have similar interest and practice these occult sciences as well. So what does that all mean? It means that you better get your eye drops ready and a comfy seat, because you have alot of reading ahead of you. More then likely, google or whatever search engine of your choice will be your best friend from now on, because you will be using it alot to find material that pertains to the occult arts.

One major problem that many beginners face, is having to sort through all the information on the internet and in books that is either misleading, or just downright untrue. They are beginners though, so how do they know whats true or not? Problem is they don't know and probably wont know until they become more experienced themselves. They are fresh and new to all this and will believe the first thing they read about something to be true and fact without investigating it thoroughly. 

What makes matters even worse is when a beginner meets someone online that is a beginner themselves, but claims to be knowledgeable and skilled, when in actuality they are horribly misinformed and lacking any skill whatsoever. With their only desire being to look big in the eyes of others, have people look up to them, and they become known as some guru. The beginner then feels he has found someone that can help them and make things much easier on them. They assume that they now don't have to research for themselves anymore due to the fact they have met someone that is a guru and highly skilled that will allow them to progress even faster. Im afraid that this cannot be further from the truth and will lead the beginner astray, which is simply a waste of their time.

I would highly advise everyone to take everything that they hear and read with a grain of salt, even this very article that you are reading right now. You may acknowledge what you read and hear, even weigh the factors and probabilities in your head, but I don't suggest anyone take anything as sure fact just because someone said it.


Telling the good information from the bad


An easy way of determining if information is credible or not is simply deduction. There are two methods that I personally employ to decide what information is credible, and what information is not. First of all you can simply look at the source where the information came from. If the information came from a website, is the site a credible one?, does the site have quality articles or is it junky or unorganized?, and lastly does it sound like junk. A great thing to do is to research the same subject but see what other sites and organizations have to say about it.

Simply compare and contrast your topic. You generally look for what the similarities between sites say. One site may tell you that, your hands are a necessary component when doing psychokinesis. Another site may say that is not necessary but is a crutch for the practitioner. A third site my state that the hands are not needed but you use your whole body to do psychokinesis. Lastly you come upon a site that states, the hands are not needed, but simply act as a subconscious aid for targeting and helping your subconscious mind to control the objects movement via association.

From analyzing what all four sites have to say on the topic, you can use deduction and reasoning to conclude the fact that, the hands are not a necessity, nor requirement when it comes to the skill of psychokinesis. Only one site stated that the hands are necessary. All the other sites may have stated something different, but the similarity between them was that they all agree that the hands aren't necessary. The main factor in the situation is majority rule. This is not saying that the majority is absolutely correct, but its up to the practitioner/reader to come to their own conclusion on which to believe. 

The same thing may be applied to books, as well as word of mouth. This is a prime example on how society works. When the majority of a people agree on something, opposed to the percentage left that didn't agree, what the majority decides becomes whats considered "right" or "status quo" if you will. In the same respect to how scientist develop theories. They develop a theory or explanation of something. They work on and introduce their theory into the scientific world, other scientist study the theory to see if it holds up to the standards that are already set and attempt to correlate or relate their own logic with the logic of the scientist that developed this theory in order to rationalize the possibility of them being correct. 

Now not all scientist will agree with the theory, but if the majority of them agree that the theory is plausible and also probable, then the theory will stand as "fact" until another more probable and accurate theory arises, or some type of evidence arises to either support the new theory, or tear it down. If the event occurs where the theory was incorrect, then what does that mean? The theory was accepted among the majority of scientist, the mainstream, and was even taught in schools as "fact", only to later find out that they were wrong and incorrect in their assessment. Scientist right now, are baffled from discovering that what they believed to be a constant and never changing variable, which is the speed of light(186,000 Miles Per Second), may not actually so, and could possibly change physics as we know it. 

I have said all this to demonstrate and help you to further understand that, its nearly impossible to know what is "definitely right" or "definitely wrong" in most matters. So it is up to the person themselves to come to their own conclusions on what they wish to believe. I mentioned earlier that there were two methods that I employ for determining whether or not information is credible. The second method I will introduce to you is very simple and straight forward, and doesn't require any long explanations. Its what I like to call experience. Ever heard the saying, "Experience is the best teacher" ? Well that saying is one of the most truthful ones I know of. 

When a person experiences things for themselves, it usually will either make a believer out of them or it wont. If you don't know how to do something, I recommend you do your research on it as much as you can, then when you feel that your ready, give it a go. Now I am not telling you to grab the nearest copy of the Goetia, and start summoning forces that will likely get you very messed up. That would be plain irresponsible and foolish. What I am saying to you is to start small and work your way up to bigger things.

You must begin building your foundation, so that later on you may be able to withstand and persevere. This also goes to say that, if you never try, then you wont be able to succeed. Whenever you do decide to "give it a go", I recommend that you remain calm and focused, but yet proceed with caution. The "highly skilled" and "advanced" had to start somewhere didn't they? A house with a weak foundation will not be able to stand for very long. Even the weakest of breezes may cause it to fall apart. So when studying the occult sciences, or anything for that matter, make sure you do sufficient research on whatever the topic is that you choose. And take everything that you read/hear with a grain of salt.



When Studying the Material

As I stated before, when walking the path that you have chosen to take, your going to have a whole lot of reading to do. From buying books, to reading articles and information online, the majority of your material if not all of it will be comprised in the form of text, that you the practitioner will have to study and read. I would like you to ask yourself this question, what good is reading and entire book if your not able to retain, store, and recall the information that you read from memory? Is not the whole point of you reading the book, is so that you will learn something from it? From my viewpoint, I find it rather pointless and a waste of time to read something if you don't get anything out of it.

You can read thousands of articles and hundreds of books, but if you can't comprehend, retain, and readily recall what it is that you have read, its simply a waste of your time. Depending on whether or not you bought the book, it would be a waste of your money as well. Unless you possess a photographic memory and can recall everything that you have read with ease, then you can't expect to progress very far by just reading something without fully understanding it. This is why they call it occult "studies". You must study this hidden knowledge so that you may retain it, and therefore be able to apply it at will.

A very simple yet effective way that I go about anything I want to learn, is simply to "take my time" when I read. Alot of people attempt to blow through material very quickly so that they can "advance" faster. The speed which an individual reads something does not make them advance any further. What it will actually do, is make them reckless and careless. I don't think I even need to mention the risk and hazards of rushing through spells, evocations or things of that nature. The dangers something like that would present, should be quite self-explanatory.


Conclusion

In ending this article, my hope is that the individuals that are interested in learning and studying the occult arts take certain precautions, that will allow them to steadily yet safely advance in whichever path they have chosen. You must remember that not everything is as it appears to be. Just because someone says something doesn't mean its necessarily true. Do your own research on the matter and don't be afraid to ask questions. If you never ask, then more than likely you will never find out. Last but certainly not least, remember to take everything you hear and read with a grain of salt.