I don't know if this belongs in the right thread or not. Bear with me here. >.>

Anways, so I picked up an interest in the occult, and I'm currently reading a book called "The Wicca Hanbook" by Eileen Holland.

I'd like to know, do you know any white magic/black magic/ pyromancy/ hydromancy/ aeromancy/ geomancy/ etc.???

And please leave good comments on wehter it is a good idea or not, b/c I'm trying to be as open-minded as possible about this.

What do you mean by "know any" do ya mean a book or something?

Are you assuming that people will rush here and tell you everything you want to know? Please, ask and perhaps someone will answer. But I know nothing.

Sincerely,

-v

I'll do the prudent thing and tell you not to mess with it.

This is a public service message.

Peace

Unfortunately most people take up an interest in the Occult and Esoteric subjects expecting to be able to do spells and what not, but unfortunately the occult is more about knowledge. Movies and tv with shows like charmed and the craft have painted this image of the occult as something it is truly not,

But my advice, if you are truly interested in becoming a student of the arts, is perhaps tracking down either ISIS UNVEILED by Helena Petrenov Blavatsky or the books on OCCULT PHILOSOPHY by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. These books will give you a good insight into the occult arts and paint a very real picture of what you can expect.

by the way have been a lurker on these forums for a while but finally joined up so Hey All

Edited: Typo's

[edit on 26-9-2008 by Mathyn Rain]

I think Mathyn Rain brought up some good points. i would try to forget everything you ever saw in a movie about the occult. Some of it is close to the truth but trying to learn about it from Hollywood wont get you anywhere.

edit: as it was pointed out half the post made no sense. So why leave it =)

[edit on 26-9-2008 by hILB3rT]

LOL o.k.

Let me see.....using our imagination for a sec.

Two people in the woods both can shoot fire out there hands. One uses it to light a fire for warmth and cooking. On the other hand the other person uses this same ability but to kill the other person for whatever reason. Now the 'magic' used wasn't good or bad, but the people using it were the good/bad. So its not necessarily white or black but how you use it.

Does that make a little more sense?

Good point about the magicians. Sorry for the confusion earlier. Sometimes I'm the only one that understands my thoughts. Go figure lol.

Hey there emmy,

Your intuition obviously steered you well ... it's an absolute minefield out there trying to find books on the subject that give good clear guidance.

Other books that I would recommend to newcomers to the craft are;

'Living Wicca' by Scott Cunningham

'Embracing The Moon' by Yasmine Galenorn

'Making Magick' by Edain McCoy

Woody

My wife has recently been very interested in these topics as well and while I recommended readings from my past...

Crowley, Agrippa, and even Castaneda she found "The book of Lies" published by DisInfo to be of great help in getting a basic understanding of some of the magickal principals.

There is much out there and a lot of it is useless rubbish, but there definitely are some gems to be discovered. If you take your time and go with what feels right you will find the type of magick and divination that works best for you.

Good luck!

This thread has great potential, so I figure as OkamiZaku is considering, or in the least curious, about a future in the esoteric arts, we at least owe him/her the stories of how we ourselves started.

Myself, many a moon ago, I was studying to become a pastor within my local church down here in the Gold Coast (Australia).As I was still quite young (17) I still associated with friends from high school and through a friend of a friend I had found myself in an extremely serious relationship with a Hellenic Pagan.

Long story short, she had opened my eyes to world I had not known. Christianity preached against paganism but had they listened to what they had to say? I began to see the world from "the other side of the fence", and so began my quest for knowledge.

Regrettably a year after proposing marriage, she has left me, but my obsession has not.

Regardless.....my quest for knowledge began where most do, in the Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal writings, most notably the Book of Enoch and began my search for the truth.

I found myself reading all of Agrippa's, Crowley's, Dee's and Blavatsky's works, and I found myself deeply immersed in the Goetia and other grimoires attributed to Solomon.

To be honest, OkamiZaku, after many many years of commitment and obesession, I now know 3 languages and spend all my days and nights sitting in my library knowing after it all, one fact...

The world we see, is not the world you know.

Blessed be to you my friend and I hope somewhere in this post you might find the inspiration to step through what 'you are supposed to believe' and
find something that you truly believe. But be ye warned, what is merely a casual hobby can truly become obesession.

I will continually visit this thread so if you have any questions feel free to ask, and I truly recommend visting "Woodwytch's" site as I can guarantea it is truly a great place to start your search for whatever it is you are seeking..

Woodwytch, In the spirit of sharing (while I visit your site once again, great site ), I would love to know the story of how you found yourself in the world of higher thought and belief.

[edit on 27-9-2008 by Mathyn Rain]