>>5428
First off want to say thank you for posting the first occult anatomy (and the second but the first in particular was one I'd been struggling to find in full resolution even with reverse image searches) as that's something I've been attempting to internalize and have at reference, but as an artist it was painful looking at the particularly pixellated small text on the version I had found. It seems like it'll be good to have around as a reference for correspondences in meditations and attempted invocations.
>or planes
Planes as in the planets are spiritual spaces or spheres (sephira) we can visit, or planes as a separate thing entirely? That gives me a word to start seeking into.
>Several phone numbers
I'd assumed that was more a failing on us mortals of needing multiple perspectives or correspondences to communicate a higher, more pure ideal that can manifest in different forms - would you mind clarifying a bit on this? I've heard more that Kether/God/The Monad/The All and realizing and recognizing we're all connected is important to proper magic craft, but this sounds a bit like you're asserting the distinctions are more mechanically useful. Or at least comprehensible to somebody more on my level?
>my worldview
Sure. While I've grown up in the LDS (Mormon) faith, I've always tried to peer past the human-interpreted teachings to what God was actually saying through them, recognizing that bias and perspective or the lack thereof might distort higher, more transcendent reality. I'm naturally a designer and artist, an author and storyteller, and I've always felt and had a sense that everybody on earth has a purpose or potential; not necessarily fate, that we have the ability to reject it, but that it was there for the taking if we could overcome our own barriers and walls. I felt, and feel currently, that a lot of us fear success more than failure, especially the responsiblity and expectations that would come upon us if we reached for our potential. And that our potential, as we reach for it, keeps moving back, allowing us to become better and stronger and wiser people as we keep chasing that, that our potential only really stops once we fall into the trap of being content with our lot in life. Because of this insight, I've always tried to aim higher than seems reasonable, and to make incremental progress towards my goals, trusting more in the process of long-term focus and will over temporary pleasures or setbacks. I've felt that fate supports those who swim against currents, or against the tide of circumstance, who see what lays around them and decide to build something with it, or else burn it all to the ground. That more than anything, if we are judged, we're judged for inaction, for going through life asleep, passively, allowing others who are perhaps more awake to decide how to use us, complicit in our own violation by doing as others tell us without seeking our own confirmation first, without first finding what is the truth and what is the path forward, by taking it to the source of all truth.
Which of course probably sounds crazy coming from a Mormon with the reputation of our church, but it's why I'm here on /fringe/. Worst part is it's doctrinal; our founding prophet Joseph Smith explicitly said nobody should take him at face value, that they should seek it from the Lord and only then believe; it's echoed all throughout the scriptures, but culturally we've grown stagnant and too comfortable with outsourcing our understanding to (even well-meaning) human interpretation rather than seeking it for ourselves. Which has caused me to try to surround myself with those who either have the potential for awakening (to pursuing their own will) or already have in some manner, which has dramatically improved the quality of my life.
Adding on top of all of that, I believe that the spiritual, in general, is more important than the physical world, but that people sometimes go too far the other way and ignore their bodies or what good they can do here. That we as a society and as people should be discussing ideas and philosophies instead of events and celebrities. I feel strongly that all information should be free to those who seek it; that the words will find the ears who are prepared to hear it, the door will open to those who knock, etc.
I see life and existence as a great blessing and opportunity that has growing pains or setbacks; that sometimes bad things happen because we don't see the chain of events that led to it or because we can't see the outcomes in the future, but that ultimately everything turns out for the better *if we will it to be so* - that humankind has incredible capacity for turning bad situations into good ones, and that life should generally be met with excitement and passion and love, joy and sorrow both to be shared that joy may be increased and sorrow lessened. I believe that being right is more important than being respected, or hailed, or even listened to, though that's without the ego of necessarily needing to express being correct. Truth is between us and the Divine, but I also believe in, ultimately, Objective Truth, that there is some universal, uniting system or principle of what is correct and what isn't correct, but that it is frequently beyond human perception and a lot of human arguments fall in the case of circumstances. Thou shalt not kill - but there are times where to kill is correct. But unless we can see the full picture, we will have great difficulty discerning where those distinctions are. Unless our eyes get better at seeing the shades of gray, we will have trouble discerning between right and wrong unless it's a black or white circumstance. And all of this matters because what goes around comes around. Karma. Energy returns to the sender. The golden rule. As within, so without - the actions we take affect our internal structure, and our internal structure effects our outer world.
I believe that most evil comes from mankind misusing its will for selfish purposes, but that the world isn't a zero-sum game; just that many people are treating it as such, and making it more difficult for people who don't want it to be that way. As for existence; I believe we existed before we came to this world, matching LDS doctrine, but I don't necessarily believe we've been reincarnated many times up to this point, mostly on intuition rather than any logical argument. I certainly hope we don't have to keep learning the same lessons over and over again and not have any of it stick. And if we do I'd very much like to escape that cycle.
>things about Kether
Fascinating; a lot of the overviews of Kabbalah that I've read have basically equated it to the Monad or rather the concept of complete, indivisible wholeness, but while I was prepared to try to swallow that, that felt a little like a copout, in the same way "I dunno, infinity" is, when you can always say infinity + 1, or * infinity, or ^infinty, that there's always larger or more encapsulating paradigms, but it's so far from our perspective that it starts blurring together.
>mainstream magic is compatible with Mormonism
That's actually been the main takeaway for me this last month, I've been shocked at how much not only makes sense in the LDS paradigm, but either contribute or clarify or add depth to a lot of the things we believe. I'm slowly coming to terms with the idea that this is what we're missing in the church, the internal *practice* part of piety. There's a lot of reading your scriptures (and internalizing the lessons) or being nice to your neighbors or doing soul searching before God that the church is really good at, but there's not enough impulse to give it your all 100% of the time. Making those first few breakthroughs to actually being able to grasp how magic works really fired up my engine, started turning the gears in my head, and lit a fire under my rear. The positive changes I've been making in my life have been proof enough so far.
<Western Magic link
Oh, this looks fantastic and very clear - I'm sad about the dead images, the altar one in particular would've been helpful at this point in my path. Going to read over this after I'm finished with this post.
Minor report for my practice; did the 7 Penetential psalms as part of an attempt at invoking Michael on Sunday in the hour of the Sun as I was instructed by him that I should do; but I ultimately didn't get anything out of it, at first. Vibes were off - the candle spilled/broke its wall mid ritual and the light went way lower than normal which seemed wrong for the Archangel of fire, and I didn't hear much of anything at all when I called for him. Gabriel suggested he was indeed there (as I'd invoked him for the preparation LBRP anyhow) but that my eyes and mind weren't yet ready to see him, which I'd kinda figured a few days ago, and was why I was originally going to shelf the ritual (as part of Gabriel saying I needed to have patience with my progress in the Art), but I performed the rite anyways as Michael had told me to, so I was confused - I took a 10 minuteish distraction break after informing them I needed to reset, though I gave the prayer of kind banishing/dismissal first from the Arbatel to let anybody leave who wanted to leave before I returned to close the circle (I was within the circle, but on my bed which is right next to it due to limited space. When my attention returned, the candle fire had gotten much stronger as the candle had normalized, I felt revitalized and less disappointed, and was actually able to establish contact with Michael, who told me that he'd instructed me to try the rite to learn patience - that I should make it part of my weekly, on Sunday, practice. I got the sense that over time this will ultimately serve its purpose.
I ended up really liking the psalms, and reading them out loud was a good experience. I used frankincense (incense cone) as part of the rite, but this, I suppose, gives me the opportunity to try to plan out future performances/attempts more fully, if you have recommendations for invoking Michael or his correspondences.
Was an interesting experience, to explicitly "fail" a ritual but not necessarily have it be my fault or anything - I didn't get the sense that I had done anything wrong, just that I wasn't yet prepared.