More sources on the topic of initiation

From Anthroposophy

The topic pages on Initiation provide a view focused on the teachings of Franz Bardon, Rudolf Steiner, and Daskalos.

However this is an extremely broad topic very much alive in the world, albeit within minority segments. Many blogs, forums, and groupings of practitioners abound in various traditions.

Therefore this page provides an extension to further reading and exploration. The scope has been extended to spiritual science in general, complementing sources of spiritual science.

It is by no means meant as exhaustive, or as a particular recommendation. However, these authors are part of the broader tradition and are definitely interesting reads.

The current small selection will be extended, please send in your suggestions (page was initialized but is not providing a balanced overview yet).

Note also that most literature and additional references are mentioned on the 'Further reading' sections on all topic pages.

Initiation

Many systems of initiation exist as part of the different cultures and spiritual streams. For example the Islam has the Sufi way, there's Buddhism, the Chinese Neidan/Neigong. India has a culture of the yogic way, there's the Hebrew Kabbalah, etc.

This website focuses on the Western European way with modern initiation as taught by Franz Bardon and Rudolf Steiner.

As a second system that works and spread broadly also in the Western world, the system from Kriya Yoga coming from India is also covered.

Kriya yoga

  • Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952)
    • was a discipline of Sri Yukteswar (1855-1936), and brought the basic teachings of Kriya to the West in 1920 in the US, where he met with ao James T. Lynn, Shelly Trimmer and Hamid Bey (see more below).
  • Satyananda Saraswati (1923-2009)
    • discipline of Sivananda Saraswati (1887-1963), the founder of the Divine Life Society in 1936. Sivananda himself wrote 296 books on a wide variety of subjects, emphasizing practical application of Yoga philosophy over theoretical knowledge.
    • wrote over 80 books, ao 'A Systematic Course In The Ancient Tantric Techniques Of Yoga And Kriya' (1981)
  • Sri M (1948-)
Other
  • Ennio Nimis: 'Kriya Yoga: Synthesis of a personal experience' (freely downloadeable on the web, see also the book's website)
  • more info here

Various subcategories

Other subcategories that could be listed are: alchemy, astrology.

Magic

  • Draja Mickaharic (1912-)
    • Practice of Magic: an introductory guide to the art (1995)
    • Magical practice (2004) and Magic simplified (2002)
    • Magical Techniques (2002) and More Magical Techniques (2003)
    • Gaining life experiences
    • and more, oa
      • first publications: Spiritual Cleansing: A Handbook of Psychic Protection (1982), A Century of Spells (1988), A Handbook of Psychic Protection (1993), Practice of Magic: An Introductory Guide to the Art (1995)
      • then many (between 10 and 20!) smaller booklets from 2002 onwards, including oa The Long Lived, Immortality, Magical Uses for Magnets, Psychic Attack, several books on spells, etc
    • bio:
      • Draja Mickaharic was born in 1912 in Bosnia and arrived as an immigrant in the US in 1937, became US citizen in 1940 and lived in New York City until 2002, when he moved to Philadelphia to stay with a former student. For many decades he was a consultant on the occult and other matters, and after retiring started writing on the topic of occultism and magic. His work features a unique practical blend of various types magic (including folk magic, spells, etc).
  • Bob Makransky
    • Thought forms (2010)
    • Introduction to magic
      • Vol I: What is magic?
      • Vol II: Magical living
  • Josephine McCarthy
    • Magical Knowledge I: Foundations - the Lone Practitioner
    • Magical Knowledge II: The initiate
    • Magical Knowledge III: Contacts of the Adept
      • see also Quareia for a number of free books
  • Donald Michael Kraig: 'Modern magick' (2010)
  • Edward C. Peach - pen name Ophiel (1904-1988)
    • The Art and Practice of the Occult (1976)
    • The Art and Practice of Astral Projection (1961)
    • The Art and Practice of Creative Visualization (1967, 1972) and The Art and Practice of Getting Material Things Through Creative Visualization" (1978)
    • The Art and Practice of Clairvoyance (1976)
    • and many more: Oracle of Fortuna (1971), The Art and Practice of Contacting the Demiurge (1978), The Art and Practice of Talismanic Magic (1979, 1981, or 1973?), The Art and Practice of Caballa Magic (1975, 1976)
    • as well as: 24-Lesson Occult Foundation Course; 12-Lesson Astral Projection Course; Ophiel's Additional Material/Illustrations For Beginner/Advanced Studies; The Ophiel "Sealed Lessons" Series #1-#5 "Vignette" Collection

Germany early 20th century

After the turn of the century, there was a revival of esoteric praxis, witness of which a few of the authors below, some part of occult lodges such as the Fraternitas Saturni (founded 1926). Several authors organized initiation exercises in 7, 10, 12 steps.

  • Karl Brandler-Pracht (1864-1939)
    • How to Develop Your Occult Powers (1907 in DE as 'Lehrbuch der Entwicklung der okkulten Kräfte im Menschen', 2007 in EN, system in 10 steps)
    • 'Geistige Erziehung (1921)
    • 'Geheime Seelenkräfte' (Unterrichtsbriefe zur Entwicklung der Willenskraft und der okkulten Fähigkeiten)
    • 'Suggestions-Atem' (1936)
  • Georg Lomer (1877-1957):
    • Seven hermetic letters (1920-30s)
  • Eugen Grosche (1888-1964) writing under the name 'Gregor A. Gregorius'
    • 'Magische Einweihung'
    • 'Die magische Erweckung der Chakra im Ätherkörper des Menschen' (1954, reprinted 2005) - PDF download
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Quintscher (1883 or 1893-1945), also under pseudonym Rah-Omir
    • Das Buch der magischen Praktik (1932)
    • Das Wesen der Magie
  • Karl Spiesberger (1904-1992), the 1930
  • Herbert Döhren (1906-1975) who wrote under pseudonym H. E. Douval: ‘Bücher der praktischen Magie’ (12 steps)
  • Frater Johannes: 'Praktische Vorbereitungen Zur Magie'
  • Hans Müller: 'Die praktische Anleitung zur Konzentration für jedermann' (1929)

Other

  • Adolf Martin Oppel (1840-1923) - also known as A.M.O.
    • Das Adeptenbuch (1906 first edition, 1922, 1979, still bein reprinted today)
    • Zu "Flita" (1910)
      • Essay on the novel 'True Story of a Black Magician', by Mabel Collins
    • Der mystische Mensch (1919)
    • Praktische Mystik. Ein erprobtes Schulbuch (1923)
    • Mystische Wertungen (1931)
    • Der Denker
    • about the author:
      • Adolf Martin Oppel (1840–1923) was a painter and sculptor (ceramics and sculptures can be found on art auctions) and founding member of the Theosophische Gesellschaft Halkyon (Tempelgesellschaft) in 1897 with Francis La Due - the same year that Franz Hartmann founded the Internationale Theosophische Verbrüdering (ITV) in Germany. He was considered one of the most important representatives of the Theosophical Society in Germany, and it appears he was highly valued by (and published with) Rudolf Steiner (for example, parts of the Adepts' Book in 'Lucifer Gnosis' in 1904 and 1905). He was also in Steiner's circle of trust as a Committee member of the Theosophical Society in Germany (together with Gunther Wagner)
      • 190X-GA034

        The Theosophical life in this place is very active. Recently, two important works have emerged from it. Members of the Theosophical Society in Stuttgart have translated the two works by Mabel Collins, “Flita” and “History of the Year”, into German. As mentioned in previous issues of this journal, both works are of great significance for the German theosophical movement. It should also be noted that Mr. Adolf Oppel, an old member of the Theosophical Society, is active in Stuttgart. He has a loyal circle of students to whom he is extremely important due to his significant and rich insights into theosophical life.

      • The author is not to be confused with Adolf Martin Oppel (1837–1870), the German geologist and paleontologist known for his work in stratigraphy.
      • Note: The book 'AMO' was published by Frater Albertus (Albert Riedel) from Paracelsus College  in 1983 as the 'first English translation of the original German by Robert Firmage, with an introduction by Frater Albertus'
        • "It is not every day that one comes in contact with something so unusual that the question arises: “Did it really happen?”  Such is the case with the following correspondence that took place when the editor of a German language newspaper in the United States received a contribution to a “Readers Corner,” where individuals send letters to the Editor and voice their own comments on issues of interest.  When reading what follows it will be seen that schools of Initiates did exist and still do exist, that differ from outward initiations, so common in our times. ... As the life story of AMO unfolds, which is actually a lengthy correspondence between Amo and the editor who published these letters, and as soon as the informative introduction is finished, the story begins with Amo’s torturous climb to the ‘Roof of the World’ in the Karakorum Mountain range of the Himalayas, to the ’Place’ of Master Z."
  • Hamid Bey (1897-1976)
    • was an Egyptian master and spiritual teacher that moved to the US in 1927 where he met Paramahansa Yogananda; in 1937 he founded the Coptic Fellowship and started lecturing, travelling and writing (period 1940s-60s). Part of his mission was to make public demonstrations to show how Man as a spiritual being can control all functions of the physical body - ao (but not limited to) by being buried alive and going into a state of catalepsy for longer periods (like 3h, 24h upto six days) and allowing medical controls during the process by eminent physicians and surgeons, and coming out alive and well. In his autobiography (see details on this page) he describes his training in the Temple Masters in Egypt and also processes such as the above.
    • books:
      • The Lectures of Master Hamid Bey (7 volumes)
      • God Creation Eternity - The Great Eternal Cosmic Drama
      • The Physical Senses and Extrasensory Perception
  • William G. Gray (1913-1992)
    • Language of the Gods (2009)

Spiritual biographies

The following section groups some inspirational reading in two formats:

  • biographies and autobiographies
  • literature below written by others in a narrative format, describing interactions with a spiritual teacher
European stream
Famous bestsellers
  • Paramahansa Yogananda
    • 'Autobiography of a Yogi' (1946) - available online in many versions, eg here
  • Thich Nhat Hanh
    • At Home in the World: Stories and Essential Teachings from a Monk's Life (2016)
  • Don Juan Matus
    • Carlos Castaneda (1925-1998): 'The Teachings of Don Juan' (1968) .. and a series of follow up books
    • Don Juan Matus (approx 1891-1973) is the teacher in Castaneda's storytelling, a indigenous Yaqui magician/sorcerer from northern Mexico.
  • Frank Fools Crow (ca. 1890 – 1989)
    • Thomas Mails: Fools Crow: Wisdom and Power (1976, 2016)
Lesser known

but recommended

  • Hamid Bey
    • 'My experiences preceding 5000 burials' (autobiography; 1938, second edition 1951 - freely downloadable on the internet)
    • Peter Wehle: 'Hamid Bey: Mind over Mystery' (2022)
  • Muhammad-Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo (founder of Subud, see also John G. Bennett)
    • 'Autobiography: The History of Bapak R.M. Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo' (1990)
Other
also in the biography category
  • His pupil: 'The initiate' (1920)
    • the story of the adept Justin Moreward Haig, a real person, though his true identity is concealed (for reasons explained in the book)
  • Draja Mickaharic
    • Luke Cullen: 'Growing up with Draja Mickaharic' (2009)
  • Melvin Higgins or Goswami Kriyananda
    • Ray Grasse: 'Urban mystic: recollections of Goswami Kriyananda' (2019)
    • Goswami Kriyananda (1928-2015) studied under Shelly Trimmer and is the founder of the Temple of Kriya Yoga, based in Chicago, Illinois.
  • James T. Lynn or Rajarsi Janakanda
    • James T. Lynn (1892-1955) was Yogananda's most famous pupil, a successfull American businessman
    • 'Rajarsi Janakananda: A Great Western Yogi' (1996) - PDF freely available on the web
storytelling

People sharing their life experiences

  • Robert Wolff: Original Wisdom: Stories of an Ancient Way of Knowing (2001)
    • Psychologist Robert Wolff went to live deep in the mountainous jungle of Malaysia with the aboriginal Sng'oi, and experienced a different type of consciousness and a different way of living
  • Thom Hartmann : 'The Prophet's Way' (2004)
    • about his meeting with Kurt Stanley, who was a coptic master ordained by Hamid Bey in 1937

Related pages

References for further reading

Websites

The following sites have large libraries of freely downloadable PDF books:

Also interesting are:

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