Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Aaron Leitch, author of several books, including Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires, The Angelical Language Volume I and Volume II, and Essential Enochian Grimoire. The subject of the use of blood in magickal rituals arises every so often in modern occult discussions. And, as you might expect, it tends to be a rather polarizing force. Some are willing to use blood—either their own or that of an animal—in their sacred rituals, while others consider it animal cruelty and are vehemently against the practice. Sadly, these discussions usually get off on the wrong foot from the very beginning, thanks to a very distorted view of ritual sacrifice

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Jean-Louis de Biasi, author of Secrets and Practices of the Freemasons, The Divine Arcana of the Aurum Solis, and the forthcoming Rediscover the Magick of the Gods and Goddesses. Jean-Louis is also Lifetime Grand Master of the Ordo Aurum Solis and Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross. Today in the Western occult world, initiations can be defined as private (or secret) ceremonies that are performed in a sacred temple. These rituals can be purely symbolic, magical, or theurgic. The goals can be diverse, but most of the time the ritual officers try to illustrate moral principles or to create a deep reaction in the psyche of the candidate. This

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Jean-Louis de Biasi, author of Secrets and Practices of the Freemasons, The Divine Arcana of the Aurum Solis, and the forthcoming Rediscover the Magick of the Gods and Goddesses. Jean-Louis is also Lifetime Grand Master of the Ordo Aurum Solis and Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross. As a teenager, I was fascinated by photos of mysterious initiations and rituals. Even if Internet didn’t exist at this time, books about initiatic Orders provided some photos of these Mysteries: Freemasonry, the Golden Dawn, and Wicca constituted a large part of these publications. When you read the descriptions of Qabalistic rituals from the 18th and 19th

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Chic Cicero and Sandra Tabatha Cicero, Chief Adepts of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn as re-established by Israel Regardie and authors of a vast number of books, including The Essential Golden Dawn, Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition, and Tarot Talismans.   The phrase “common sense magic” probably seems like an oxymoron to non-esoteric folk. But anyone who is sincere in their ritual practice eventually comes to the realization that magic requires a sensible approach and discrimination. Although magic is meant to stimulate one’s psychic abilities and cause change in one’s environment, it can also stimulate