Roman Catholic Worried... Options

As you can tell from the topic title, all this stuff interests me and I'd like to be able to perform some of it, but everything about the Golden Dawn, Hermeticism, and Ceremonial Magick in general tends to freak me out. I'm a Roman Catholic and I'm obscenely worried about my spiritual self getting into some trouble by doing this stuff. Are there any 'Judeo-Christian' roots to these rituals? I mean it doesn't take a lot to notice the archangels and God's names in the rituals, but seeing videos of people using sinister voices and generally acting like they want to be Lucifer's best friend during said rituals is a little worrisome.

If anyone has any advice for me I'd really appreciate it. I want to be closer with my HGA and thereby God by doing a little magick everyday, I desperately want Him to work through me, but what if unwittingly I allow myself to be worked by an entity with less than amiable goals? Etc., etc.

Thanks in advance..

hi ... most of what everyone practices is ritual based on some deeply (or not so deeply) held spiritual beliefs. the roman catholic church is deeply committed to ritual and magic. unfortunately, the leadership of the church do not share with the people the magic of the rituals. you can learn about the more mystical and magic involved in the every day rituals of the catholic church by studying those rituals on a deep level ... through the teachings of the jesuits or rosicrusians. just walking into any church or cathedral harkens all kinds of magical design through the use of sacred geometry and the like.

most of everything the catholics do is based on older rituals from more ancient belief systems ... and the same is true about all modern religions and rituals. after all, if god is good and god created everything ... what's the real problem with anything except that superimposed by man?

as a christian, i can attest that jesus christ wants you to know god whichever path that takes you down ... perhaps you cannot be a "good christian" according to someone's dogma or doctrine, but jesus taught that "I AM" is the way ... start studying what "I AM" means in the jewish faith, and perhaps you can get a glimpse of what jesus meant versus what religious people have claimed he meant.

This post has been edited by business voodoo: Jan 15 2007, 02:06 AM