praxis
Initiation
The ritual admission of an individual into esoteric knowledge or a sacred order through a formal rite of passage — testing, ordeal, or ceremony — marking a definite before/after threshold in the initiate's status and access. Distinct from hidden_sayings (the doctrine being concealed, not the rite of admission to it) and esoteric_lineage (the historical chain of transmission across generations, not a single individual's admission).
72 passages · 2 traditions
theosophy44
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page xvii]] INTRODUCTORY.
------- "Gently to hear, kindly to judge." -- S HAKESPEARE.
S INCE the appearance of Theosophical literature in England, it has become customary to c…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 2)
“"When Buddhi absorbs our E GOtism (destroys it) with all its Vikaras, Avalokiteshvara becomes manifested to us, and Nirvana, or Mukti, is reached," "Mukti" being the same as Nirvana, i.e.
, freedom from the trammels of "Maya" or illusion.…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 4)
“*** According to the same tradition the now desolate regions of the waterless land of Tarim -- a true wilderness in the heart of Turkestan -- were in the days of old covered with flourishing and wealthy cities.
At present, hardly a few ver…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 8)
“This statement is rendered more credible by a consideration of the following facts: the tradition of the thousands of ancient parchments saved when the Alexandrian library was destroyed; the thousands of Sanskrit works which disappeared in…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 10)
“Helped by his knowledge of landscapes left behind him, he can get a general and pretty correct idea of the transmural view, if he will only climb to the loftiest summit of the altitudes in front of him.
Once there, he can gaze at it, at hi…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 2)
“2.[[3.]] " D ARKNESS" RADIATES LIGHT, AND LIGHT DROPS ONE SOLITARY RAY INTO THE WATERS, INTO THE MOTHER DEEP.
T HE RAY SHOOTS THROUGH THE VIRGIN-EGG; THE RAY CAUSES THE ETERNAL EGG TO THRILL, AND DROP THE NON-ETERNAL ( periodical ) GERM, W…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 3)
“unable either to measure the first abstraction yielded to you by the Deity, or to get hold of it, you still hope to subject to your measurements the mystery of the Secret Sciences which emanate from that Deity?
.
.
.
.
And what would y…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 13 (part 6)
“Others moving in parabolic curves generally escape destruction, owing to their velocity.
Some very critical readers will perhaps imagine that this teaching, as to the cometary stage passed through by all heavenly bodies, is in contradictio…”
Show all 44 →western_esoteric28
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | Preface-f
“My heart was beating so hard that at each beat a loose brass knob on the bedstead rattled.
Fortunately for me, my friend saw that something was seriously wrong and she sent for my family, who fetched me away.
They were exceedingly suspici…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | Preface-h
“Moreover, there is a considerable literature on the subject to be found in quarters where one would least expect it - in accounts of folk-lore and ethnology, in the State Records of witch-trials, and even under the guise of fiction.
These…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 3. A Case Of Modern Witchcraft-a
“THE part played by the ex-witch in occult attack is very marked.
Again and again do the investigations of independent psychics point to witchcraft in a previous incarnation when trouble of this sort is afoot.
The motive is nearly always v…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 5. Vampirism-d
“It was, in fact, the same method that I was instructed to use in dealing with my were-wolf, but it is a much more formidable task to absorb and transmute the projection of another person than to absorb one’s own, and could only have been ac…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 7. The Pathology Of Non-Human Contacts-c
“They are never living normally in full possession of their faculties.
An equally difficult problem is set to the non-human who is drawn into our midst.
A single-element creature is bidden to control and assimilate an additional three elem…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 7. The Pathology Of Non-Human Contacts-d
“The great Orders have their definite contacts and work strictly within them, keeping a firm hand on neophytes; outside the Orders there is a good deal of chaos and banditry, and it is unwise to venture far save in the company of an experien…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 7. The Pathology Of Non-Human Contacts-e
“It is neither giddiness nor mountain sickness, but a curious oppression of the spirits by the overwhelming grandeur of nature.
The same force, when not at a poisonous concentration, inspires the passion ate love of the hills or of the sea…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 7. The Pathology Of Non-Human Contacts-f
“I smashed my way through two entire tea-sets and all the mantelpiece ornaments.
The ornaments just fell off the mantelpiece one by one of their own accord.
I actually saw two of them do it.
I did not know at the time that the Element of…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 8. The Risks Incidental To Ceremonial Magic-b
“We now come to the consideration of Positive Evil.
This again has a “negative’s and “positive’s aspect.
Its “negative’s aspect is pure chaos, unformed substance and unco-ordinated force.
It has been aptly called the Cosmic Abortion.
To…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 8. The Risks Incidental To Ceremonial Magic-c
“The uninitiated occultist goes ahead gaily, juggling with such Names of Power as he has picked up from the innumerable books on the subject now available for the general reader, thinking that if he does not invoke the demons he will not get…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 8. The Risks Incidental To Ceremonial Magic-e
“Enough must be hinted, however, to reveal what, under certain circumstances, may be experienced.
I do not think it in the least likely, however, that the Qlippotic demons will be encountered save through the use of ceremonial magic.
They…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 8. The Risks Incidental To Ceremonial Magic-f
“I cannot here enter into either the precautions to be taken against untoward happenings in practical occult work, nor the remedies to apply if they take place; I will merely indicate the signs by which such an eventuality may be recognised.…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 8. The Risks Incidental To Ceremonial Magic-h
“Fornario, is receiving the attention of the authorities at the present time.
Miss Fornario was found lying nude on the bleak hill-side in the lonely island of Iona Round her neck was a cross secured by a silver chain, and near at hand lay…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 8. The Risks Incidental To Ceremonial Magic-i
“She spoke from an Eastern standpoint and judged Western esoteric conditions by those she had seen in the East, where Tantric magic has become depraved in the hands of Dugpas and similar sects.
In the dense and materialistic atmosphere of t…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 9. Distinction Between Objective Psychic Attack And Subjective Psychic Disturbance-a
“PSYCHISM, however genuine, is a fruitful cause of self-delusion.
A psychic is invariably highly sensitive and suggestible.
This is the basis of his gifts.
Psychism not being a normal development, among Europeans at any rate, the psychic…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 9. Distinction Between Objective Psychic Attack And Subjective Psychic Disturbance-b
“It is necessary to use very great caution in drawing conclusions from the psychic impressions of an inexperienced student, who is apt to be as full of alarms as a two-year-old thorough bred.
On the other hand, the instinctive reactions of…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 10. Non-Occult Dangers Of The Black Lodge-c
“But quite apart from any form of coercion, unwary persons may, while filled with enthusiasm or glamoured by the new revelation, part with considerably more money than they can comfortably spare; they may even literally lay their all upon th…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 10. Non-Occult Dangers Of The Black Lodge-e
“Needless to say, the correspondence was sent straight to the authorities.
The problems which we have considered in this chapter are not peculiar to occult fraternities, but are common to any organisation which does not discriminate as to i…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 11. The Psychic Element In Mental Disturbance-d
“The older faiths knew this, but popular Christianity, which has no roots in tradition, has forgotten it.
Protestant Christianity threw away its occult aspect at the Reformation.
All the pagan pantheons have gross aspects of divinities as…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 11. The Psychic Element In Mental Disturbance-e
“Hence it is that when the unstable soul advances by the Path of Saturn that bridges the Astral and enters the Sphere of Luna, he touches her Hecate aspect and finds himself en rappart with the Gamaliel, the Obscene Ones, whose chief is Lili…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 12. Methods Employed In Making A Psychic Attack-e
“The curser declares, “I curse you by so and so.” This is the form of evocation which calls the ensouling essence into the thought- form, thus making an artificial elemental which is endowed with an independent life of its own.
If we want t…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 13. The Motives Of Psychic Attack. I-d
“This poor girl, lonely and unsuspicious, gave herself up unreservedly to this task.
Presently, however, she began to grow uneasy.
Her common sense asserted itself, for she found the meditations she was required to perform were having a ve…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 14. The Motives Of Psychic Attack. II-a
“IT is a matter of general knowledge among occultists that it is not a pleasant thing to fall foul of an occult fraternity of which one has been made a member by means of a ceremonial initiation and to which one is bound by oaths.
As we hav…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 19. Methods Of Defence III-e
“That for many past lives she had been upon the Path, and that in her last life, a male incarnation, in order to speed up her progress she had travelled in the East, and eventually took initiation into one of the Thibetan Orders, which unfor…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 20. Methods Of Defence IV-g
“No one has said harder things of the occult movement than I have, and if I thought that there were any organised system of evil influence, I should not hesitate to say so, for I have the integrity of the movement very much at heart; but I h…”
The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) | Page 2 (part 2)
“ANDROGONY: Key to the 2nd Septenary 133 7th Card--The Chariot (Zain) 135 8th Card--Justice (Cheth) 138 9th Card--The Hermit (Teth) 142 10th Card--The Wheel of Fortune (Yod) 145 11th Card--Strength (Kaph) 148 12th Card--The Hanged Man (Lamed…”
The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) | Chapter XVII (part 1)
“CHAPTER XVII.
THE INITIATIVE TAROT.
Ch.
Barlet's Essay on this Subject--Involution and Evolution--The Hours of Apollonius of Tyana--The Phases of Initiation represented by the Tarot.
THE INITIATIVE TAROT.
APPLICATION` OF THE TAROT TO T…”
The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) | Chapter XVII (part 6)
“He is the animal that in the morning (that is to say, in the infancy of humanity) goes on four feet (4 being the number of realization, expresses matter and its instincts, the visible world); at noon (that is to say, in the maturity of his…”
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