I don't know if you're still taking asks, but. Is the "initiation into hermetics" by Franz bardon good for a relative beginner in magick?
Always taking asks!
The answer is both yes and no.
Bardon makes mention of various subjects that a relative beginner would be clueless on. I can’t recall the exact discussion but i remember someone on Rawn’s old forum breaking it down that Bardon expected someone picking this book up would be fairly literate in astrology, alchemy, and the overall hermetic view.
In my personal experience I find that is true as well as doing a bit of chaos magick for pure results based experience. This produces the first few cracks in the rigid belief structure of what is possible, opens up the imagination/creativity a bit and usually explains how to meditate or get into gnosis in a more clear cut way. It also shows the limitations on what magick can do at that stage. So, the student/initiate can then see that while magick works there are certain limitations based on some various x factors (usually character traits/beliefs and lack of magickal will). That is usually when I introduce them to Bardon.
Someone fresh off the bus will usually not read into some of the nuances that are in IIH.
If you have a decent understanding of western magick past and present, psychic research that is up to date and have fired a few sigils or dabbled in stuff like the LBRP then ya, start working Bardon!
Some of my main tips I tell anyone pursuing it is always to pay attention to when he says initiate and when he says magician. An initiate is you, working the book up until you have completed step 10. A magician is someone who has completed step 10. That differs from my usual use of the word on this blog of course. A great tip is to understand all of the theory section before moving on to practice. Make it your intellectual property and to understand the world from that perspective. Another is to see how each step reflects the tree of life itself (but in reverse...I know weird.) See how Step 1 is reflected in step 10 from a kabbalistic standpoint, or how some of the practices are actually alchemical processes. Bardon never says, specifically says these things but the attentive reader who understands the processes of physical alchemy will see them as glaring. Finally, the best tip for early on is to mine your passive observation meditations for soul mirror work, things that constantly pop up are usually rich veins for understanding your soul. Same is true for things that distract from single pointed meditation, beyond minor distractions, if something keeps pulling your attention away it is worth noting for further study.
Search my tags for IIH and Bardon for tons more tips.
