Alright folks, today we have a real treat.

Lyam Thomas Christopher, author of the new book Kabbalah, Magic, and the Great Work of Self-Transformation has graciously agreed to submit a short blurb on his new work. Below you will find an article written by Mr. Christopher for the Llewellyn publication New Worlds of Mind & Spirit.

Please visit his website HERE
And look for his new book as you can already pre-order on amazon, barnes and noble, etc.

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Llewellyn Worldwide will release Kabbalah, Magic, and the Great Work of Self-Transformation in August of 2006. This new course, more than before, centers on the bare essentials of change from human to spiritual adept. By systematically applying the Kabbalistic vision of the original Golden Dawn, the student can affected a transformation that puts into his hands the missing quintessence of techniques that are currently beyond his grasp.

"A complete initiation into the Western esoteric tradition, using the practical teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn as its framework. The author shows how ritual magic is relevant to the modern world, and how it can be used for personal empowerment. Readers seeking to weave together the numerous threads of Western magic into a coherent whole that they can apply in their own lives will find all the guidance they need in this book."


"Kabbalah, Magic, & the Great Work of Self-Transformation is a masterful blend of tradition and innovation. Rather than rehash the old Golden Dawn rituals, Christopher provides a curriculum that remains true to its source--the influential Order of the Golden Dawn--while including well-tried and practical innovation for the solitary practitioner. Simultaneously lyrical and informative, this book is at once a self-training guide, reference work, and handbook of practical Theurgy."


"In Kabbalah, Magic, & the Great Work of Self-Transformation Christopher has taken the Golden Dawn teachings and reduced them to their bare-bones essentials, presenting them in a dense, power-packed curriculum for the aspiring adept."

For decades now, scholars have been debunking Christianity. The movie The Da Vinci Code dramatizes some of their findings, revealing how the church fabricated its own lineage in order to remake itself into a holy, governmental authority. Where does the truth lie? Was Jesus actually married? Did he father a child and a bloodline? In years to come, more evidence of Christianity’s true origins, no doubt, will surface.

Yet does this controversial information, true or false, really strike a blow to the monks and nuns all over the world who have found illumination by using the Christ as a symbol? Do their spiritual insights suddenly vanish in the face of undermining evidence? It would appear that, for some, a discredited system of spirituality is still effective in spite of damage to its academic reputation? When a mythology, properly handled, has the power to change a person, can any amount of debunking invalidate it?

Scholarly research has poked holes in the magical traditions as well. Modern witchcraft, for example, claims to be of an ancient European heritage, while numerous authors reveal that it is actually a relatively young tradition pieced together in the 1950s by Aleister Crowley and Gerald Gardner. Rosicrucianism has a fictional origin too. There is no historical record of its mythical founder, Christian Rosenkreutz. And even the Golden Dawn, the most cited magical tradition in Western occultism, has a counterfeit charter in its origin. Despite these damning findings, people are still drawn to Western occultism. Why? Is there any substance behind the veil of facts?

There is, but it is kept safe from prying eyes. Our hero, the Scholar, unwittingly hides the entrance to the path of initiation with his “correct” analysis. He proves the legends never happened. He exposes the contrived lineages, the inauthentic publication dates, and the mutually exclusive accounts of genesis. But his informational chatter is of little consequence to the practitioner. Whether the scholar proves or disproves the angels and demons of the Kabbalah to exist, for instance, this has little bearing on the magician’s ability to employ them.

To remedy today’s tyranny of “correct” information, we would do well to remember that all information on a spiritual path is false. Information is not reality; it merely talks about reality. Myths and symbolic language don’t have to be “true” to deliver truth. The cloud of information, in the hands of a scholar, becomes a murky veil. But presented in another manner, it becomes a powerful lens, concentrating spiritual light.

The book Kabbalah, Magic, and the Great Work of Self-Transformation provides information in just such a manner. It reconstructs the broken image of Hermeticism, which has been mishandled by “correct” scholars for hundreds of years. The already widely published magical techniques of the Golden Dawn, when reconstituted into a coherent step-by-step system, comprise a powerful transformational formula. Part myth, part science, and part discipline, the book provides the solitary student with a path for self-initiation into the ancient tradition of Hermetic magic.

But it is not an easy path. Finding the mystical power beyond facts requires dedication and persistence. Some people are not ready for naked truth. “The magical work is nothing to be taken lightly,” warned a former teacher as she commented on Kabbalah, Magic, and the Great Work of Self-Transformation. Her concern was that the solitary student would be unable to handle the results of a truly effective magical curriculum. Some adepts feel that the student needs guidance to use the Golden Dawn in this way. True, some who start the step-by-step course in Kabbalah, Magic, and the Great Work of Self-Transformation will falter and fall short of successful change. They may initiate a troublesome process of physical, mental, and emotional transformation—and may get lost half way through. The book may bring some danger. But it is perhaps more damaging to leave the average reader at the whim of the scholarly cloud of words that currently conceals the real potential of magic.

Kabbalah, Magic, and the Great Work of Self-Transformation provides a method by which to navigate through that cloud. It is a simple and direct course of symbolic essays and exercises that, if unwaveringly adhered to, carries the student onward to the realities behind the veil.

Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.
Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. grants permission to use this article as originally printed in:
New Worlds of Mind & Spirit
2143 Wooddale Drive
Woodbury, MN 55125-2989

Thanks for your kind words and your interest.
--Lyam

Very nice excerpt from the book Lyam! I'll be looking for the book when it comes out in August. Sounds like this one will be a great addition to the book shelf. I've been interested in reading about the Golden Dawn for quite a while and from the reviews I'd say that this sounds like it would be a great book to start with.

Has anyone read this yet?

It's just the 10th of August, the book just came out 9 days ago (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Give it another 2 weeks or so, possibly more, for someone to buy it, get it shipped, and read it and re-read it before posting a review (If someone from SM buys the book, ahem, Nero?). I know though, I am as anxious as you to see what is said of it, lol! Though I don't follow the Golden Dawn Path; from perusing bits and pieces of Mr. Lyam's site in the past, I really look forward to this book (Hell, I want to buy it, just not now, lol! It's on my "Wish List")

-F.F.

Here's a review by some friends.

http://www.hermeticgoldendawn.org/lyam.htm

Well, the book cover looks really good so that's definitely beneficial. However, I was on Amazon and I noticed that there's no look inside. Would you be adverse to posting a table to contents Lyam?I would like to see what's actually inside the book. I would assume it's something like Modern Magick, which is an all time classic but perhaps a little more geared to the more advanced magician, with a more classical edge.

Hi all,
First post here. I'm also no book reviewer, so be gentle (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Although a beginner in ceremonial magick, I recently purchased a number of books, to aid my studies in this area - and this was one of them. Another was the Ciceros' 'Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition' (SIGDT). I bought the Ciceros' book, with the hope that it wouldl read more like a novel with exercises, and less like a grimoire - ala Regardie's Golden Dawn. Instead of realizing this hope in that book, I found it in Christopher's Kabbah Magic (...and the great work of self transformation...).

What I feel a beginner wants to see in such a book is a detail of the exercises, followed by an explanation of their purpose, and effects. SIGDT, I found, took for granted one's knowledge of the exercises' purpose, and instead dived straight into the symboligy, theory and mythology. Christopher's Kabbalah Magic did not consider you a GD convert, and offered a more solid foundation onto which one could build their knowledge of western magick. He gave possible timelines for the completion of each grade (Neophyte through to Portal), coupled with the psychological and magickal experiences a student may experience at each stage. The whole system seemed much more real, and clearly written by a practicing magician. The entire book is clearly aimed at the beginner, however, I believe, does not limit more advanced students.

I felt he dwelled a bit too much (in each chapter) on explaining the evolution of life (from the Beginning), however, his writing throughout was lucid and unpresumptious. He too stressed the importance of study into Egyptian mythology, hermetic philosophy, divination, etc., etc. Although the book includes quite a lot of theoretical information of this nature, it cannot compare with SIGDT which boasts a greater array (and depth) of such material. This, however, should be inconsequential, as he recommends books from which one can (and should) supplement their reading.

I would liken it to DMK's Modern Magick, in terms of how exercises are set out, developed, and supported by theory thereafter. Both dip into the Kabbalah to tie the whole system together, however, despite the title, I think Christopher's book is as much a GD exposition as is Moden Magick - (i.e. not solely Kabbalah-focused). A difference between the two works, is the tone. It may only be me, but I feel as though Kraig never stressed the difficulty of this path. He gave it an air of 'easygoingness' which did not work for me. (I think Bardon falls into the other extreme). Christopher was the most believable for me, in the balanced way he conveyed the nature of the Great Work.

I am currently at a loss for what else to write. This book may not be the best for everybody, but I found the efficient, open manner in which it laid out the entire system much to my liking. He is very honest in his writing, and not one instance of arrogance can be cited.
Bardon's books were written with an air of clinical detachment (perhaps a product of the several translations, and several decades since) - whereas Kabbalah Magic had the human factor which the other seemed to lack. Though this may just be me.

If anybody has any specific questions relating to this book, I'll be happy to attempt to answer them - as per the extent of my abilities.

Best,
Petar

Well thank you Petar for a wonderful personal review ! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I actually found it most useful and appreciate your effort! It was well written and clear, as well as sincere. Thank you Petar!

-F.F.

P.S. And thanks Lyam for pointing to the other reviews (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

This post has been edited by Frater F.A.M.E.: Sep 17 2006, 01:21 AM

The book appears to be doing well, though it is really too soon to say.

Here's a bad review. It gives some perspective:

http://www.jwmt.org/v2n11/work.html

--Lyam

The Table of Contents is more provocative than informing, so I might as well post it as a shameless attempt at promotion:

Chapter One: Though Only a Few Will Rise
Chapter Two: The First Steps
Chapter Three: The Secret Lineage
Chapter Four: Neophyte
Chapter Five: That Darkly Splendid World
Chapter Six: The Mind Born of Matter
Chapter Seven: The Liquid Intelligence
Chapter Eight: Fuel for the Fire
Chapter Nine: The Portal
Chapter Ten: The Work of the Adept
Appendix A
Appendix B

Lyam,

if it is not too much trouble would you mind giving us a few details about each chapter? Nothing too deep, just an overview of what topics each one covers. I believe it would be very helpful.

BTW, I think it was very brave of you to post a link to the review. JWMT is a very reputable online magazine of the western mysteries and I am sorry that they panned your book. I believe the views orginated from what they perceived as your attempt to "water down" the golden dawn system. Everyone has their own opinon but I for one believe you have contributed a great resource for beginners and seekers alike.

I think your readers can see what was happening with that review. It's actually a fairly good advertisement.

Heres the overview that I used to propse the book to the publisher. It's a little flashy, but it is a sales pitch afterall:

Kabbalah, Magic, and the Transformation brings between two covers three increasingly popular genres: Kabbalah, the occult, and fantasy. For the first time on the book market, a secret Kabbalistic method will be applied to the grade system of the Golden Dawn, making the vast landscape of Rosicrucian symbols and spiritual development accessible to the once perplexed student of magic. The book presents itself in an easy step-by-step format, interwoven with a narrative of the birth of the universe, human evolution, and a history of magic. In one package, the reader will find a Kabbalistic mythology, a suspenseful story of the struggle between good and evil, and a well-mapped plan of action—all of which combines into a manual for spiritual transformation.

The multi-level appeal of the book will surely make it a must for every occultist’s library. Writers today not only must offer substance, but must very notably keep the reader’s interest locked to the page, cover to cover. Kabbalah, Magic, and the Transformation employs the fantasy of Kabbalistic myth to raise a sense of drama and suspense. It portrays life as a “battle” between sparks of light and shards of darkness that are seen as scattered invisibly through the world. The individual spark of light, or Higher Self, has fallen into the confusion of matter, and the broken, fallen shards of darkness, characterized as the many faces of necessity and conformity that all-to-often smother the dreams of youth, work to obscure its purpose. In this Kabbalistic context, the book reveals the struggle of the individual to awaken within the setting of an evolving Western culture. A hidden history of spirituality is revealed, showing the reader that there are invisible currents at work behind our culture, and that the individual, properly trained, can learn to better navigate them in his progress through life. Kabbalah, Magic, and the Transformation reveals a modernized Hermetic vision of the universe as it takes the reader both mythically and scientifically through the following periods:

1. The “Big-Bang” and creation of the Universe (discussed in terms of physics and Lurianic Kabbalah)
2. A story of the evolution of life, humanity, and civilization (scientific and Kabbalistic accounts of the process).
3. The development of ego-consciousness, the fall from grace, and the human predicament. The decline of the Goddess.
4. The seeds of Hermeticism in the Babylonian, and Egyptian, and Judio-Christian worlds. The development of Kabbalah.
5. The Renaissance, the re-awakening of the Goddess, and the Kabbalah of the Renaissance man.
6. Rosicrucian Kabbalah, modern-day Hermeticism, and the Golden Dawn.

Most importantly, each of the these periods of mythological and historical suspense is paralleled by one particular level of the student’s development. As he reads about the stages of history, he proceeds through the grade system of the Golden Dawn using a never-before-revealed Kabbalistic technique. The mind of the student is thereby linked to greater powers via the correspondences that exist between stages of the individual and the stages of the universe. Microcosm is linked to Macrocosm; consciousness is linked to collective unconscious; the individual finds his place in life.

Not only through this process does he experience increasingly exalted states of consciousness, but the Hermetic vision of the cosmos that unfolds allows him to bring the highly esteemed system of magical correspondences used by the Golden Dawn into the context of his own life and world-view. Kabbalah, Magic, and the Transformation contains insights, deeper than have been published before, of Golden Dawn’s key symbols: the pentagram, hexagram, rose cross, and Tree of Life.

If the student is successful at marrying within himself the different realms of theory and practice, of myth and science, of archaic and modern, he will create a transformed consciousness that is capable of utilizing almost all of the published practical magic of Kabbalah, Paganism, and other schools. Such a synthesis makes Kabbalah, Magic, and the Transformation a gateway to the understanding of almost all occult lore. Not only is it a special type of book-learning that makes magic possible. A well-planned, disciplined series of rituals and exercises must be utilized to transform the individual and flesh out the intellectual skeleton of Kabbalistic theory. Kabbalah, Magic, and the Transformation brings myth, science, and spiritual practice together in one dramatic, highly readable package.

Wow. That actually is pretty good copy! lol! Thank you for sharing it with us Lyam, it is much appreciated. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

-F.F.