What Is Cm? Options

hello, i was looking into all the different paths that exist and i was wondering if anyone could explain to me the beliefs of a cm, and the traditions of a cm or recommend a good book on ceremonial magik for begginers.

thanks,
night

P.S. so i don't have to take up space by posting another thread i will just ask it here. i was also wondering the same about enochian beleifs and traditions, so thank you for your time and recommendations.

This post has been edited by Night: Oct 23 2006, 11:23 PM

You will find that the beliefs of a ceremonial magickian are just as varied as those of people you meet in your day to day life. Don Kraig’s “Modern Magick” is a good place to start. “Magick in Theory and Practice” by Aleister Crowley would also be a good book to use to understand the basic drives of the more iniatory traditions such as the OTO, GD, etc.

Basically, Ceremonial Magick is doing magick in ceremony, as in using ritual to summon entities or make changes.

As Ashnook says, what Ceremonialists believe varies, since this system can be used by people with all kinds of faiths or belief systems in some form or another, since it is not a religion in itself, but a way of doing things.

For me personally, it is about evocation and connection.

For others its about making changes, although many have said that it is often far easier to make the changes in the material world.

Enochian Magic for Beginners by Tyson is an easy read; not sure if I think its a good book or not since its not my preference, but it is certainly easy to come by.

MM by Kraig or Anything by Greer is a an excellent start ...I wouldnt suggest Tysons Enochian book for a beginner even though its labeled as one

If you were asking me personally what I would recommend for a beginner, I would say Bardon, but I am hopelessly biased here (IMG:style_emoticons/default/13.gif)

Franz Bardon will take you through beginner stage because he explains things in depth and then you can take many years to do it all to perfection, but yes, I should have said Modern Magick by Donald Kraig for a real starter in ritual and maybe a few Regardie books depending on if you wanted to look at ritual or understand magick or consider the qabalah. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wandwizard.gif)

My attitude is that life is short, just do something to get going (IMG:style_emoticons/default/partytime.gif)

Well, although I don't disagree with Ashnook (or others), I think it can be narrowed down a bit

Ceremonial magicians tend to applied thier work, and world view, to a fairly defined and structured set of models; these may include the kabalistic Tree of Life (Otz Chiim) with a hierarchy of Godnames, Archangels, Angels . . .
or Enochain arrangements of Aethyrs with Great Names, Kings, Seniors . . .
Whatever the Model, there is also an inherently consistant formula and set of rituals used to refer-to and interact with the model structures and "entities" inhabiting it.

Wide and varied yes . . . though well defined within each model/paradigm. This is fairly similar to most western approaches to magic . . . only CM'ers tends to intentionally operate at a "higher order" (as opposed to wiccans/neopagans) with regards to thier elaborateness of the model, the degree of specificity of their rituals, and where they (tend) to place themselve in thier cosmology.

And that . . . really can only be said about the ideal or model Ceremonial magician . . . most "real" magicians mix/switch/modify thier personal models/cosmologys/ritual-set to suit thier particular affinities or other magickal paradigm-specific practices (don't we all have those . . . often too many... lol )

I'd just be echoing the above CM book suggestion, but . . .
I would recommend Ben Rowe for reading on Enochian. His isn't really beginner material . . . but really, as far as enochian goes, what is !! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lightning.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/evil2.gif)

This post has been edited by palindroem: Oct 24 2006, 03:47 PM

thank you all for the info, it helps alot. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thankyou.gif)

Greetings, I'm in agreement with Ashnook, and Radiant Star,and palindroem has a interesting point although CM does't always use the Kabbalist ideas, it really depends on the type of tradition explored, of course most availible information use Kabbilist ideas. Modern Magick is a good start, and Book 4 Magick in Theory and Practice, and so is Enochian Magic for Beginers with The Complete Enochian Dictionary by Donald Laycock. Often overlooked, Foundations of Practical Magic, and Tree of Life by Isreal Regardie are good to. Of course I have to agree with Radiant Star once again about Bardon. Read also Nero's Post (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wizard.gif) Redhand

This post has been edited by redhand: Oct 24 2006, 05:45 PM

yep yep . . . kabalistic approach is not the only way. Although I didn't do a good job of my examples . . . it was really just trying to show that whatever paradigm/practice one take in CM . . . its the well defined model /set-of-rituals/ cosmology that nearly defines the "ceremonial" aspect of CM.

This post has been edited by palindroem: Oct 24 2006, 06:12 PM