Key of Solomon

[destiel3]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and would love some insight on The Key of Solomon!
Through various outlets, I have grown interested in occult knowledge and using ceremonial rituals to my benefit. The most prominent grimoire I have found in my studies thus far is The Key of Solomon. From what I have read of it- and believe me, that shit is hard to read- it seems to require extreme precision. Is this too difficult for a beginner? If so, what would be a possible recommendation for an alternative. Any tips are welcome, and I apologize if I come off ignorant, but as you can see I'm merely on the tip of the ice berg.
Thank you.

[chris3]

I would recommend you start with Initiation into hermetics then you can choose any magick current you like becouse many grimories can be quite difficult to grasp for the begginer. Then if you are interested in ceremonial magic the golden dawn tradition is what I would recommend. It is based on the kabbalah to understand that better you could also read mystical kaballah by Dion Fortune, Bahir and Sepher yetzirah. Then for the golden dawn dawn tradition I would recommend the Israel regardie black brick. All of those books should easily be found on google. If you can't find any of the books pm me. Good luck [happy] [happy].

[corvidus]

Have you any experience of the Divine in relation to using the Keys? Keys only open the doors of perception, and if you have no conception of what lies behind the door, how will you know what questions to ask yourself, or how to use those energies?

For any Qabalistic magick to work, you must practice Qabalistic meditations and techniques of ecstacy in order to 'unlock the door'.

[Desecrated]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and would love some insight on The Key of Solomon!
it seems to require extreme precision. Is this too difficult for a beginner?

Yes.
There are some new schools that would Disagree with me. BUT, following the book and doing the rituals exactly as the books says would be impossible for a beginner. It might even be impossible for a common human.

A.E. Waite has a book called The Book of Ceremonial Magic. It tries to explain the key of solomon and other books in the same tradition as solomon.
It's not perfect, but it's an interesting study on the subject.

[destiel3]

I would recommend you start with Initiation into hermetics then you can choose any magick current you like becouse many grimories can be quite difficult to grasp for the begginer. Then if you are interested in ceremonial magic the golden dawn tradition is what I would recommend. It is based on the kabbalah to understand that better you could also read mystical kaballah by Dion Fortune, Bahir and Sepher yetzirah. Then for the golden dawn dawn tradition I would recommend the Israel regardie black brick. All of those books should easily be found on google. If you can't find any of the books pm me. Good luck [happy] [happy].

Thank you for responding! I think I'll most definitely look into the Golden Dawn Tradition! Also, thank you for recommending books that could be potentially useful- it helps a bunch!

[Clockwork Ghost]

Yes, magick that involves extremely old and powerful spirits such as those listed in the Ars Goetia or in the Kabbalah is too advanced for people who don't have a solid grounding in ceremonial magick, demonolatry, or a system that allows the practitioner to distance themselves from the energies these spirits represent. Using magick such as this without prior experience and training would be like jumping into a Formula One car without any knowledge of how to drive.

[corvidus]

Using magick such as this without prior experience and training would be like jumping into a Formula One car without any knowledge of how to drive.

And expected to compete in a race

[Desecrated]

Just to comment on the two books mentioned here.

Israel regardie - Golden dawn.
Crowley was only in the golden dawn for about 18 months and was never officially initiated in the inner circle. Israel regardie worked as a secretary for crowley for 2 years before writing that book.

It's an interesting book because it contains some material that are confirmed to be true and original, but it also contains both some crowley-esque interpretations and some of regardies own.
It is over 800 pages on paperback so it's not an easy read.

Initiation into the hermetics.
It's actually 3 books that are connected, IIH is just the first. These books are stupidly expensive and sometimes hard to find.
The first book is more of a guide to practical techniques then a book of theory.
It's really the second book "The Practice of Magical Evocation" that might be more reasonable for this issue. But I still want to point out that Bardon is one of these newer schools that differs from the traditional methods.

[Kryon]

I'd recommend Donald Michael Kraig's Modern Magick, Lon Milo Duquette's The Chicken Qabalah, and anything else by him really, Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune of course, Techniques of High Magick by Francis King, Ritual Magick Workbook by Dolores Ashcroft Nowicki, The Magical Philosophy series by Denning & Phillips,Real Magic by Isaac Bonewits, Foundations of Practical Magic, Garden of Pomegranates, Tree of Life, The Middle Pillar, The One Year Manual by Israel Regardie, Magick Without Tears by Aleister Crowley, Visual Magic by Jan Fries, any Paul Foster Case book on the Tarot, but before getting into any real magic or qabalah books i would honestly start with basic subjects that lead to a better understanding of magic from the start like books on NLP, meditation, concentration, yoga, mythology, psychology, tarot, astral Projection, like Joseph Campbell, Mircea Eliade, Julius Evola, Swami Vivekananda, Carl Jung, certain books by Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson, John C. Lilly, Carlos Castenada, Antero Alli, William Walker Atkinson, Ouspensky and Gurdjieff, so many more...

[Clockwork Ghost]

...start with basic subjects that lead to a better understanding of magic from the start like books on NLP, meditation, concentration, yoga, mythology, psychology, tarot, astral Projection, like Joseph Campbell, Mircea Eliade, Julius Evola, Swami Vivekananda, Carl Jung, certain books by Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson, John C. Lilly, Carlos Castenada, Antero Alli, William Walker Atkinson, Ouspensky and Gurdjieff, so many more...

This - times a bazillion. Start with the basics, learn the basics, use the basics. Then build upon those basics - magick is a series of skills, like how making an awesome meal is a combination of skills, or painting quality art. You can't expect to have all these skills when you first begin - would you expect to be a top quality mountaineer from just having a go at climbing a big boulder?

[Vovi]

A lot of great advise here for sure. But non of it will help you much until you learn to tap into your intuition in order to find the path that is yours. I've read most of the books that were listed above of course... but I can honestly say that it was my intuition that led me to those studies to begin with. Some you will love, and others won't mean much to you because all paths are not the same.