BaguaKicksAss

The only problem with this would be finding all those threads!  Though there could be links to them all in the first post.  But imagine 50 some odd threads about Agrippa all in Hermetic somewhere!

This was much easier when I was tech and could just move stuff around lol.

Hey guys,

 

I wasn't really concerned about "desecration" or criticisms. I was thinking more in the lines of this: imagine you stopped at page 15. You came back one week or one month later, and you forgot which page you stopped at. Are you going to re-read the 15 pages again? My eyes go X_X when I do that. A temporary solution is to bookmark the page, but there are problems with that as well...

 

Right now it's not a problem because this thread is only 6 pages long. I was thinking about the future, when we have gone through one whole book, and the thread reaches like page 20+. So yeah, like I said, I am just a bit of a neat freak.

 

Ignore my suggestion for now until we've reached at least 20 pages.

 

 

 

Larxene

But if we start early, by the time it reaches 20 pages, it'll be all organized and such .

I suppose 'superior' is central or pure or originating form .... considering the complex hierarchies that were in place ( still evident in Enochian and Kabbalistic systems today).

 

I imagine at the beginning Agrippa will have to write in passing about some things that will be outlined in detail later when he gets to those sections . One has to start somewhere in an intro to a subject.

 

 

The poem ... been a while since I read that ... I like it, it outlines things we still do today (and part of the work I used to do in BD agriculture ... and get paid for it ! I am sure todays Moon planting guides and our BD timetables {and ideas about 'cosmic flux' and Moon Saturn oppositions, etc } are somewhat different from then ... but the principle seems the same).

 

The 3 requirements / types of philosophy are interesting. " and in the Aspects, and Figures of the Stars, upon which depends the sublime virtue and property of every thing". Perhaps this also demonstrates the idea of superior influence ? ... every living thing 'below' them ( I used em that time as I didnt mean 'below' in just a physical sense)

 

And the elements start of with a strong theme of circulation. I like that. I think the principle of circulation is an important natural process that we try to emulate in many arts .. and may well be a crucial process if not the crucial process.

 

It seems a bit of a confusing way to start, with the four elements like that ... with the ' modifying qualities' attached to the Elements , instead of a precursor (but that is the way it worked back then I guess ... and I am still coming from an agricultural and modern hermetic perspective - ie. start with light , temperature, moisture ( and the polarities of each) .

 

Also I liked the way me explained why his order of elements were the way they appear here; by sharing secondary qualities.

 

( It annoys me when people just declare stuff, without saying what their reasons are. )

What does BD stand for?

This might be alluding to the nine spheres (introduced by Plato?). We are in the first sphere, that of the Earth. The next sphere closest to us is that of the Moon. Next is Mercury, Venus, Sun...until Saturn, which is the eighth sphere. The final sphere is the sphere of the fixed stars. The further we move away from Earth, and the closer we are to the fixed star, the more "perfect" we become and the closer we are to God (which may be represented by the Form of the Good).

Does Agrippa speak of this particular layout later on in his book? I don't actually remember, been quite some time since I read it cover to cover.

Personally I took it to mean either the various worlds of the astral, etheric and etc. planes, or perhaps the myriad of neverending worlds similar but different to ours.

So anyway, Agrippa asserts that it is possible for us to ascend through these spheres and become closer to the Creator, who created all things (here perhaps we see the Christian influence, although Christianity was arguably influenced by earlier Greek philosophies as well). The part in bold reminds me of a certain Christian prayer.

I would be interested to know what the original Greek prayer/text was which the prayer you are thinking of was based on? Not that I know which one you mean since I'm not up on my Christian prayers, but I do find it interesting to dig up the original sources of them. No one has some up with a handy cross reference website for this yet .

People.seem to keep a very good distance from me when i practice at bus stops while waiting dor the bus lol. Did zz today.

I could always do a seperate sub forum for each chapter if i were to do all this in my ppf, however not as many folks read/keep up with the ppfs.

I like the table of contents linking idea, if anyone would like to do parts of it i can edit the Forst post to include it. (or y'all can wait about a month when i have no classes

see my post #10 above. It depends on the file. The Kindle does all that stuff very nicely, and has bookmark funcitons, dictionary, translator, etc ... but only if the files are the proper format.

So they are not like a cel phone where what is on the screen just gets larger, no matter what the format is?

The thing with pdfs is that pdf is not necessarily pdf. There are a lot of ways to make one of these files. If it's a good quality pdf with real text, then scrolling generally isn't a problem. A monthly magazine from the publisher in pdf format will scroll like any other file. A scanned book in jpg/tif/pdf format will not. And then you also can't change text size or font, or do anything else that can do with real text.

 

The Kindle lets you hide images and use a simple text format (I assume all e-readers have this function), but only with files that are formatted correctly.

All of what I will be reading is scanned books . Many of them thanks to the lovely folks at google. However google's PDFs don't look any different than anyone elses so likely not the fancy sort you are talking about. They do tend to have been put through OCR though.

Hmmm, now I wonder if Kobo takes kindle files, and vice versa....

Thank you for the suggestions everyone .

Which ones of these can you make the text/images on the screen larger and smaller by touching the screen? (like a smart phone) Also where you can slide across the page? I have trouble reading little tiny text. Fortunately I have been peeking over people's shoulders lately who have been using various devices, and the text looks large enough. Though their devices look a little larger than the 6" standard...

I will accept that as a compliment.

Hold on a sec, aren't you the member who PMed me several versions of the TTC, as well as commentary on it?

Since this was first posted and my initial responses my attention to this has been drawn to greater sensitivity and here is what I now clearly see and feel:

 

There is an energy field cloud that puffs out of my iPad about 6 inches. As my fingers begin to peck, energy from this cloud definitely moves up into my forearms and if I breath it into my space from these fingers it will definitely reach well within my chest.

 

The energy is "dry" and can be very slightly itchy. The awareness of it now is not distracting and the very subtle energy is not felt beyond my fingers and hands if I do not put my attention on it - but now as I start to use the pad with my fingers I cannot but notice as the tips of my fingers reach into the cloud.

Any different with wifi on and off?

Gregory, like your bio .

No I haven't read your book yet.... I have quite a stack here to go through, first.

A friend of mine who keeps up on such things found this: http://www.davidhalperin.net/the-box-of-crazy-ufos-and-ezekiels-vision-part-1/

One day, I will be able to surf the internet on the ipaper version, not backlit, now that would be awesome!

I'm in Canada...

I don't want one of the ones which plays movies, since those are backlit, and well... may as well use my laptop. Trying to get away from reading lit screens, do that enough..... on TTBs lol.

Can you read PDFs on the kindle?

I always try to provide online references where possible, this sometimes means doing a lot of searching just to make a post. For older books online copies are available, but for newer ones there is always the library and the miracle of inter-library loan. I have sometimes been amazed at one can get through inter-library loan. Once you have it you can scan it and then study it at your leisure.

 

Now that you are posting more chapters, I will comment more. I do hope that you will provide some of your own insights, as I think that your experience and perspective is valuable.

 

I will probably start with a discussion of how to read Agrippa and then an analysis of the larger structure. I will also give some references to the worldview of the time to understand how Agrippa saw the world in which he lived. This is particularly important because the "Scientific Revolution", of which I have indicated Agrippa's The Vanity and and Uncertainty of Arts and Sciences, indirectly contributed is one of the biggest blocks to our understanding of Agrippa and how to apply his rules of magic practically. I will also do a detailed analysis of the elements and have some recommended reading from older sources about them.

 

I am now doing some teaching locally and related to that I am going back and revising teaching material that I wrote in 1986-87, which was a very good (if I do say so myself), practical introduction to Natural Magic and explains in detail what Agrippa taught and how it affects practice. These are lecture outlines, but I am thinking of writing them out as essays and I might post them here online, though if I do it will probably be in my Personal Practice section.

Oh! I would most definitely be interested in such writings from you. Will check your PPF regularly.

Also thank you muchly for sharing your how to see things from Agrippa's perspective writings.

1 point for Canada

 

I agree these can get a little messy, but it could be good in order to answer people's concern's as one goes along. I don't know if you have read the tread from the beginning, but I was at great pains to make clear the context of Christianity at the time Agrippa wrote as part of my analysis of his letter to the reader.

 

To symphathise with him, we need move into his shoes, to "be" like him, to take on his mindset and values.: I completely agree with this approach and it reminded me of something I posted earlier:

 

 

To understand Agrippa in his own terms is a laudable goal and the only real way to benefit from the Three Books of Occult Philosophy, it is a lot of work, but absolutely worth the effort.

I'm on page 7 so far, and having trouble figuring out what I should be looking for and getting out of it? Help?

PS, have to love TTBs members who provide links to free books when recommending them!

Canadians like to troll nazis as well http://onepeoplesproject.com/index.php/en/arts-culture/music/1489-canadian-punk-band-put-out-record-on-nazi-record-labelbut-wait-until-you-read-what-they-did

I can't seem to find a lineage chart anywhere on the site?

180 day practice? Awesome about the 100 days though.

Should organize those....

Looks like this will get messy.

 

Michael, I am kinda purist, but it's more like, I want to examine one perspective in great depth before moving to the next perspective. It is like trying to understand a person. From the outside in, we can "understand" what a person is going through, but we may not sympathise with him. To symphathise with him, we need move into his shoes, to "be" like him, to take on his mindset and values. This approach, both outside in and inside out, is richer and more comprehensive.

 

But yeah, I think we'll get along.

 

 

 

Hey BKA,

 

I wish I can participate, but right now I'm tied to some $%^&ing assignments. It's partly my fault for leaving them until the last minute...

 

 

 

Regards,

 

Larxene

TTBs is just perfect for those little breaks you need when your mind is about to melt... .

Just join in when you can.

I'm currently doing work during the day, then night classes learning to make better jewelry, so Agrippa is getting a bit neglected until December. Only 2 more weeks!!!!

With your approach mentioned above, looks like you may be reading, and researching Agrippa for quite some time (though at a guess, you already have been for at least awhile).

Chapter 1: Why shouldn't there be etheric "rays" coming from the stars? This was generally assumed in ancient astrology, magic and alchemy. Even Nikola Tesla believed in something like this.

I've always understood etheric more as the nearly physical dense energy you get with manifestations and such.... never thought of it being the same stuff relating to and around stars... hmmmm.....

Of course there's also the magnetic pull to look at, the moon isn't the only lump of rock up there which does that from what I understand .

Interesting stuff.