Metaphysics of the Real—Beyond Crowley, Magick and Occultism

Secret of Alchemy and Cosmic Mind

For this episode we return to a new book, as yet unpublished, called Magick Here and Now. We begin with Alchemy—Stone of the Wise. Learned men and women with academic qualifications are no better than the common or garden New Age or online ‘gurus’ when it comes to construing the meaning of the stone of the wise, the secret of alchemy. This does not, it seems, stop anyone from pretending they know what it means all the same. Worse still, these pundits and bloggers probably believe in all sincerity they really know the secret. The second part of this episode is concerned with Cosmic Mind and Group Mind—two things that are frequently confused today. The relatively modern notion of a group mind, a kind of collective mentality that no doubt owes something to popular psychological theories, is very mistaken when applied to initiation—unless the organisations are pseudo-spiritual or even anti-spiritual. Part One: Secret of Alchemy Part Two: Cosmic Mind and Group Mind The music is called Alchemy Zero, and was composed and played by myself, Oliver St. John, on guitar and other instruments especially for this podcast.

Law of Thelema—Hidden Alchemy

Last year, our very first book was rewritten from top to bottom and re-published under the title Law of Thelema—Hidden Alchemy. The new book shows how much our views have changed in the last five years and so the old content is seen in a totally different light. Included here is an abridgement of the Preface and two chapters from that book, of which the second is a much needed clarification on what the ‘Holy Guardian Angel’ really is. Part One: Law of Thelema—Hidden Alchemy Part Two: The Star of Revealing Part Three: The Holy Guardian Angel The Antichrist, mentioned in Part One, is not an individual or a group but is a completely impersonal, demonic force that is the sum total of the anti-spiritual in all forms. Thus in other works we refer to this as the System of Antichrist, as it is more like a machine than any kind of living being. It is sub-infra, in so far as it is barely in the realms of manifestation—yet it is the dominant influence on all worldly affairs today. The irony of imagining rebellion where only conformity and subjection exists, naturally escapes the followers of Antichrist. The music I played on the guitar is Prelude 3 from Cinq Preludes, composed by Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Magick Here and Now

This episode is drawn from a new book, soon to be published and titled Magick Here and Now. In the introduction we make it clear that ‘ordinary life’ is a very serious obstruction to magick and yoga. This will be explained. We then move on to a discussion of the magician, since there can be no magick without a magician and so far as initiation goes everything must start from the human state. The second part concerns the question of what a magician really is? Some of what we will reveal might be quite surprising to some. The third part of this episode moves on to Magick as Science and Art. As well as dispelling some false notions including populist theories about magick as ‘occultism’, we will explain some little known facts about what magick really is. Part One: Magick and the Real Part Two: The Magician Part Three: Magick as Science and Art The music, Invocation, was composed and played on guitars, five-string electric bass, keyboards, Egyptian and Turkish drums by myself, Oliver St. John.

Nihilism and the Dark Side

The first part of this episode is a reading from my book, Advaita Vedanta—Question of the Real. It may seem strange to begin a book that serves as an introduction to Advaita Vedanta Non-dualism, which is primarily a Hindu darshana, with a critique, albeit a brief one, of the corrosive influence of Western philosophy. So far as nihilism goes, while there might be very few persons that would declare it as a ‘path’, a way that they follow, our purpose is to show that nihilism in a very general sense arises inevitably from the humanism that now dominates the world, in spite of its pretence of being rational and its claim to support individual self expression while crushing all difference—and all opposition to its uniform values. The second part is a reading from my book Dreaming Thelema and Magical Art and focuses on one of HP Lovecraft’s most compelling and prophetic tales, Nyarlathotep. Part One: Nihilism and the Western Malaise Part Two: Dreaming Thelema; Nyarlathotep The music Nightjar (Return) was composed and played on the guitar, five-string electric bass and Egyptian drum by myself, Oliver St. John.

The Soul and Yoga Powers

This fourth episode of Metaphysics of the Real picks up the thread from where we left off with Advaita Vedanta—Question of the Real. The listener that has assimilated the previous episode on Reincarnation, Talismans and Familiar Spirits will be well prepared. The initiatic Journey of the Soul is to get initiated and realise she is infinitely greater than tanything she has previously supposed. The soul fears death greatly because she is identified with body and mind and the body at least will surely die and become nothing but a pile of ashes. The question is, what is it that dies? It is certainly not Atma, which is deathless, immutable. The second part of this episode examines two of the Supernormal Powers of the yogin, from Metamorphosis—Hermetic Science and Yoga Power: How to Read Minds and How to be Invisible. Part One: What is Death to the Soul? Part Two: Yoga and Yoga Powers. How to read minds and how to be invisible The music Gypsy Caravan was composed and played on the guitar and other instruments by Oliver St. John. This recording features local field ambience from the West Penwith Peninsula, including the river Stennack and a couple of blackbirds in the early evening.