Apprentice Core Lessons in Magickal Traditions

What is Magic/k? Throughout history, mankind has placed a lot of their imaginative power into saying that it exists? Why? Is it simply the delusional ramblings of ancient peoples who were struggling to understand the world? Was it simply a ploy to wield power over another? Why would such complex ritualistic systems be developed around it if there were nothing to it? In this Guild, we explore the esoteric traditions of humanity, or to put it another way, we explore the history of magic/k. For your first assignment, begin by telling me what you think magic/k is. Do you believe in it or is it silly superstition? Does magic/k have a place in our modern world, or is it something that is best left in the past? Share your thoughts in your journal.

Define the following terms in your journal:

Alchemy-
Animism-
Astrology-
Black Magick-
Ceremonial Magick-
Chaldean Magick-
Chaos Magick-
Cipher-
Corpus Hermeticum-
Draconian Magick
Druidry-
Enochian Magick-
Esoteric-
Faery Faith-
Free Masonry-
Gnosticism-
Green Magick-
Hermes Trismegistus-
Hermeticism-
Hoodoo-
John Dee-
Magic-
Magick-
Martinism-
Natural Magick-
Necromancy-
Neoplatonism-
Neopagan-
Norse Magick-
Prisca Theologia-
Qabalah-
Rosicrucian Order-
Santeria-
Shamanism-
Shintoism-
Symbology-
Taoism-
Tarot-
Thelema-
Theurgy-
Vajrayana Buddhism
Voodoo-
White Magick-
Wicca-

What makes something Esoteric? Are there different ways to view it? How do you understand it? Share your thoughts in your journal.

Research the Seven Hermetic Principles. Do they seem familiar? How do they relate to the study of Esotericism? Why would we use them as part of our foundation in the Order? Make an entry in your journal concerning each one and how they may be determined based on the different interpretations of esoteric knowledge from the previous lesson.

It is said that many of the magickal orders of history developed complex symbolic language to hide their secrets from the uninitiated. In many cases, these secrets could be displayed out in the open because most people could not identify what was being presented. We find this again and again in writing, art, and architecture throughout history. Look over the Occult Symbols, Magical Symbols on the Symbol Dictionary website. Do any of them strike you as interesting? Have you seen them before anywhere else? Pick five to share in your journal, including the history of the symbol and its meaning.

Cryptography is an important aspect of Esoteric Tradition. For millennia, practitioners have been trying to safe guard their secrets from people that were not ready to receive them. Like the use of symbols that we learned about in the last section, transmitting information required utmost secrecy and as a result, the use of codes and ciphers became a prominent method in magickal practice to pass on wisdom, or information. Here are a set of lessons from Khan Academy on Cryptography. Some are computer science specific, while others are a little more accessible to the methods used for cryptography. Take a look through them and then share your understanding of Cryptography from an esoteric perspective in your journal.

Research some of the Contemporary Esoteric Groups that are still active throughout the world. These could be the Free Masons, Neopagans, Rosicrucians, Gnostics, or any other that currently holds to an Esoteric tradition. Share some information about them in your journal.

Congratulations! You have come to the end of your Apprentice Lessons. These were meant to provide you with a very basic introduction to the Esoteric. In the Journeyman Lessons, you will begin a specific exploration of a particular esoteric system and conduct a research project on it. Touch base with your mentor and wait for their approval to move on before starting the Journeyman Lessons on Esoterica.