Bruh's Initiation Into Hermetics

Journals, Group Rituals & Free Readings
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This Journal

I’ve decided to work through initiation into hermetics. While I’m usually a fan of staying silent on the things I’m currently doing, I decided for this I might need some public accountability. I move from practice to practice a little too easily, so I’m hoping a little public embarrassment will keep me on track this. If anyone is willing to check in occasionally and shame me if I’m not practicing I’d be willing to return the favor.

This won’t be a daily journal. I’ll post once a month on the third Sunday. I’ll update on the progress I’ve made and what my practice currently looks like. I’ll also post how many days of practice I’ve missed.

My History With IIH

IIH was one of the first books I got after I realized all this occult stuff was real. I’ve owned it for years, read it multiple times and have started practicing it on and off. I’ve had A Bardon Companion for a comparable amount of time (RIP Rawn Clark). I have the Merkur translation which I hear is the worst one.

I’ve wished I started when I first got it, imagine how far I’d be now. But there is a part of me that is glad I’m starting now that I have experience. I feel much better equipped to understand what Bardon is saying and why it is important. I also know that many of the exercises in IIH have migrated into other works, so if I have trouble with an exercise I know where to look for more modern instructions. Where no better instructions exist I can use my preexisting knowledge to create my own solution.

My Current Practice

Step One
As of writing this I’ve completed all my morning practices of the first day.

Morning:

  • Wash face, chest, and arms with cold water

  • At window or outside get a deep breath of morning air. Go through a couple basic stretches. One more deep breath and a breath hold to stretch the diaphragm.

  • Drink a mug of plain hot water

  • A little exercise, no more than 15 minutes.
    A note about this routine according to A Bardon Companion the routine used in IIH is just example. This one I made is partly based on IIH but also things I learned from the works of John Micheal Greere. I don’t do the body brushing because I already integrate exfoliation and pore opening into my regular hygiene (because of a previous attempt to work through IIH).

  • Thought control 5 minutes
    Each time I get through this without getting distracted I’ll increase by one minute. If this would lead me to increasing it past ten minutes then I’ll start the thought discipline practice.

  • Conscious breathing for health 7 breaths
    I set a ten minute timer and increase the breaths by one each day. When the practice takes longer than 10 minutes I’ll stop counting breaths and just use the timer. At the end of every week I’ll see if I’m satisfied with the intention, if no I’ll continue with health, if yes I’ll move on to calm.

  • Add items to my black mirror for 10 minutes
    I’ll continue for one week if at the end I have 100 or more traits listed I’ll move to the next step. If I have less than 100 I’ll continue another week.

Throughout the day:
These things I’ll do as they occur, instead of a set routine.

  • Conscious eating and drinking for health
  • Magic of water to remove illness, weakness, and overall bad health
  • Adding traits to the black mirror as they occur to me

Night:

  • Add traits to black mirror for ten minutes
  • Conscious breathing for health, 7 breaths
  • Thought control for 5 minutes
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Time for the update

Since my last post I missed 0.5 days. I made it through thought control and thought discipline and started on vacancy of mind. I finished my black mirror and am working on organizing the white mirror into elements. I’ve successfully manifested with the three spells learned so far, but I want to master them a little better.

My Current Practice

Morning:

  • Wash face, arms, and chest with cold water

  • Get three breaths of morning air. On the third breath do a hold after the inhale until you feel the need to breath

  • Drink a mug of plain hot water

  • Stretch

  • 10 minutes mindfulness of thoughts

  • 10 minutes focus on a single thought

  • 5 minutes vacancy of mind
    Everytime I can do this without distraction I increase by one minute, if this would lead pass ten minutes then I would have succeeded at step one mental exercises. Vacancy of mind is pretty daunting to me, like in most meditation traditions absence of thoughts is advanced and most definitely not step one.

  • Breath in wish for ten minutes

  • Organize white mirror into elements
    For this I spend at least 60 seconds focusing on one trait and then picking an element. I do 8 traits per session since I want to complete this process in a about a week and do it twice a day. The number of traits I need to organize divided by 14 rounded up. I had some trouble finishing the white mirror which is why I’m a little behind schedule.

  • Transmute water
    I have been finding it helpful to practice for the conscious eating and drinking. Throughout the day the practice only takes a couple of seconds so I want once per day to have a more intensive practice. This practice literally only takes about a minute. I focus on the water being my wish for 30 seconds, then drink the water, then for 30 seconds imagine the water transforming me.

Daily:
Done as it comes up

  • Conscious eating and drinking
  • Conscious washing
  • Maintaining self awareness and mindfulness

Night:

  • Organize white mirror into elements
  • Breath in wish for 10 minutes
  • 10 minutes, mindfulness of thoughts
  • 10 minutes, focus on one thought
  • 5 minutes, vacancy of thought
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