I always have been strongly against internet forums as a genuine format for magickal teaching for that very reason. I do think a few people here are very very good sorcerers, but the problem with an internet forum is that all opinions are equally valid so it is hard to tell what is gold and what is not. As everyone should know by now I personally believe in a traditional Order structure with proper Masters who are actually listened to. Of course, the modern occult has degenerated to such a degree that a lot of Orders are nothing more than glorified New Age cults. That is the problem really. Itās near impossible to separate good info from the bad. I personally strongly believe that one should find an Order that is genuine, not incompetent, and not fraudulent (MAKE SURE OF THAT TOO). Either that, or sort through occult books until you find a few good authors your trust. Forums like this are useful for sharing, but not really for proper teaching. I really donāt think BALG should be a platform for beginners seeking to learn magick at all. To debate and discuss perhaps but definitely not to teach.
@Warlock My views on occult teaching are different from most here. I donāt think that a communal Forum model or a business like BALG can ever be a substitute for a more traditional Order. The problem with businesses is that thereās no camaraderie, no oaths, no pacts, no Brothers nor Sisters, no real commitment to a single cause. Just a bunch of customers and a producer of goods. No one cares what you do with the information they sell because all they have to do is sell it. There is no real loyalty because everyone is just a customer and not Brothers and Sisters bound in pacts of blood. Honestly, as far as methods of disseminating occult material go I really donāt like the BALG approach. By all means, I have nothing against selling books, I am a vocal supporter of Martinet Press after all, but magick at its core should not be a business. We still need the traditional Order. Traditional Orders that write and sell books for public consumption sure, itās always great when these Orders decide to share their secrets, but still Orders that are magickal Orders first and authors second.This is getting off topic really fast, but I just wanted to give a proper answer to that question.
To @TheStorm , Iāve found this forum to be brothers and sisters and not just a business. There are examples of people here speaking against EA and the others, but stay here for the brethren and information shared.
To OP, this exact notion and comparison has made me doubt myself and my abilities far more than I ever should. Iāve had quite a few people tell me to stop comparing myself to others and just allow my abilities to speak.
I agree, in certain things there should be order and level, but if we are not all a part of an order or practice the same thing, there is no need for such things.
@KingOfHearts616 Itās good to doubt your own abilities though. Not in a self-pitying way but in honest self-analysis. The idea that everyone is a Living God is the single most damaging notion in the modern occult.
I would say that you take a handful of books containing grade ceremonies. Pick them apart, ritual by ritual, leaving pretty much rituals, patterns, and symbols with divine names and codes. Integrate all five into one coherent self initiation rituals.
Do one each month or two and go on to the next. There is information out there, it just depends what your principles are, what theirs are, and if they mesh.
If they donāt, then gut it anyway and take what can be used.
At each grade, you have to ask if you mastered the elemental grade before. Exhaust all techniques. Find outside systems, test and compare. At some level youāll know whatās over your head or too strong for you to take down.
I agree with that.
Calling yourself a master after your first successful sigil spell, as an example, is foolhardy at best. Being honest with yourself about your abilities is one thing, claiming something you arenāt is another.
By others definitions, Iām an adept, but I class myself as a beginner. There is reason for this.
Right now, for example, Iām looking over a Transformation ritual. It says first to set probationer temple, perform watchtower ceremony, then Middle Pillar. Draw energy into the fortified and opened temple. Then Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram, Supreme Invoking Ritual of Luna Hexagram.
Beyond those, there is little more than symbols, patterns and invocations with divine names. However, if I were to create that without using a divine name ā¦ Some parts of the above are over my head, some dome a few times.
And this is supposed to be Theoricus Air Grade, but its more like Air Adept Grade.
Then again, becoming a living god, evolving, forces you to mould it outside interference into what you want around you.
@Fuego1 I hate Golden Dawn style rituals with a passion but thatās its own story. I really donāt think thatās how magick should be done. When I say ātraditional Orderā I donāt mean them. Just FYI. Another thread. Another time.
I am a lvl 115 on wow Shrug
Ha! The only place level matters 
Its no sweat. Its just the background and tools I have at my disposal. I would venture as to so much as to rewrite the order ceremonies into other pantheons, such as Celtic or Greek. Celestial invocation and conjuration is what Iām interested in, as well as Gematria, particularly the ancestry of mine (Scottish/Irish. I had an inclination to witchcraft. I remember a great aunt that could read tea leaves. I have an interest in south pacific and Japanese rituals from studying ninjitsu. And each of these line up to past lives I know of. But, with the resources I have ā¦ I can work probationer to adept in a year. Each time I read anything I pick up a new key ā¦ Now to separate those from JCI, that is the great work.
As usual TheStorm, I can rely on you to give an open, honest and well considered / informed response. Thank-you.
I find the concept of levels meaningless, but the world would be better if people only taught what they themselves can reliably do, and in magick that means being able to create changes in manifest reality.
The process of compiling this into teachable format will have value to the aspiring teacher, because it requires going back to the beginner mindset to start laying out the words, and then proceeding from there through to taking the student to at least that point of competency.
If everyone on here only taught what they are capable of, and laid out stages of what they have done in any thread sharing a working, concerns about a lack of āmastersā or that old favourite āthe blind leading the blindā would become meaningless.
Why?
Because you do not need to be a perfected human being to be a powerful black magician, and that spans the entire field from healing to curses - you just need to have methods and/or spirits that work.
Anything else starts verging on the idea that only one worldview, personality type, or lineage can ever accomplish powerful magick, which is bullshit.
@TheStorm, sorry ā¦ Typo ā¦ PTO was supposed to be OTO, Ordo Templi Orientis or something. A Crowley pilot or spinoff, is my hunch. ODR, Ordo Dragon Rouge I know about through Qabalah Qlippoth and Goetic Magic by Karlsson.
I think corruption occurs within any group or current eventually, or weakens naturally.
BMoA and Book of Mormon was referring to the vast extreme between the two.
So for example, back in September 2017, I listed out how to be adept level in a year.
So since I slacked off a bit, hopping back on, just adding one grade level to initiate into and assimilate. Two months per element.
So
Months. Self-Initiation-GD MM OAA
Feb/Mar. 0-1 (complete Earth). 1-3. 1-4
Apr/May. 2. (Complete Air) 4. 5-7
Jun/Jul. 3. (Water) 5. 8-10
Aug/Step. 4. (Fire). 6. 11-14
Oct/??? 5. (Portal). 7-12. 15-18
So daily ā¦
Rising
Stretch, Relaxation Rituals
Morning solar adoration
Morning Salutation
Qabbalistic Cross
Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram (IAS)
Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram (I)
Qabbalistic Cross
Shem, Classic, Greek, Celtic Middle Pillar
Invocations
Prayer of the Elementals
Noon
Noon Solar Adoration
QC/LRP (IAS)/QC
SMP/MP/GMP/CMP
Study grade material
Invocations
Evening
Asana, Pranayama, Meditation
Evening Solar Adoration
Evening Salutation
QC/SIRP (IAS)/QC
SMP/MP/GMP/CMP
Rose Cross Ritual, Watchtower
SMP/Evoke Angels of the two signs
Divination - Relaxation Ritual, Breathwork
Goetic Evocation
Study grade material
Invocations
Astral Work
Prayer of the Elementals
Midnight
Midnight Solar Adoration
QC/LRP (BE)/QC
LRH
SMP/MP/GMP/CMP
Study grade material
Invocations
Fall Asleep to Positive Affirmations or Power of the Presence of God (HGA) GDCD.
Set goals.
So for me, do all those every day.
Introduce color visualization and add daily hexagram invoking for the planet of the day.
Get astral senses and travel going.
Get perfect.
Itās not about your level so much as do you know the proper and effective way to do certain things?
Magic is a result-oriented field. You either can do things or you canāt. That requires centredness, breathwork, focus, visualization, ability to bind thoughts to objects and link them, development of certain trance phenomena and psychic abilities, some supraluminal communication skills or a connection to natural objects for illumination.
You donāt always need a lot of skill to do certain things. With natural magick you just need to follow the routines, or there are shortcuts such as blood magick or petition/name papers for calling spirits quickly. But generally, magick presupposes you have certain psychic or psychological skills the average person doesnāt have.
This is how i measure my ability in this game. Thereās a lot i canāt do, but i know a few things. Ymmv, so find your own way to keep your score so you can gauge your true ability. When you know what you honestly can and canāt do, you know what needs work and you donāt bite off more than you can chew.
I also wrote this in 2015, after nearly a decade of doing magick every day. it offers some food for thought and a few reasons iāve personally been involved in that explain why the magick didnāt work. As iāve said before, my personal success rate is around 2/11, so for every 11 rituals i do, 9 of them either fizzle out or i get something other than what i expected. I can only claim 2 perfect results out of every 11 attempts. With that said, some of my results have been fucking incredible, so take that fwiw.
Sometimes I deemed necessary to humbly reset myself as an atheist or Christian (well, not completely so), while studying again the basics of Magick or some esotericism (e.g. Evola, GuƩnon). According to an Italian folk book of magick, progressing from novice to initiate and finally master would be automatic, as the magician studies and practice; the first almost begs, the second uses persuasion and the last one commands.
well on WoW i used to be lvl 24